Emmanuel
Merry Christmas to all! :) For the most part, my Christmas was very normal with exception to a slight switch in the "routine", a change I was skeptical of since I am quite fond of traditions, but it actually was really nice. Things didn't wrap up at mom and dad's house until about 7 or so, when normally we all leave about 3. So, the new version of the family Christmas was actually an extended version. And I approve. :)
In addition to extending my love on Christmas, I also wanted to mention this book I just finished. It's by Anne Rice, an author well known for her historical and cultural accuracy. This one is about Christ, as you may have inferred from the title. This isn't your typical book on Jesus, however, as it is told in first person narrative (the first person being Jesus) between the ages of 7 and 8. The story's center is two fold: the physical journey of the family from Alexandria, Egypt where Jesus had lived since fleeing Bethlehem, to Nazareth coupled with the spiritual journey of Jesus as he discovers the mystery surrounding his birth and the fact that perhaps there is a greater purpose to his life.
It is a very interesting book, to say the least. Although obviously, there is no biblical context on which to base the book, Rice's description of the cultural and religious ways of the time is engagingly informative as she tells the story from such an intriguing view: that Jesus did not always realize that he was God. Which makes sense, but is something I have never thought about before. Jesus was born human; he was born a baby. Which means he had to learn everything in the manner humans must: how to walk, how to talk, how to interact with people. He essentially had to grow into himself just the same as we must, figuring out who he was and what his purpose was here on earth. Although the idea is something I had never thought of before, it all makes sense when realizing that he did not even begin his "ministry" until he was 30. From birth until then, he studied, he worked, and essentially, he grew. "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men." - Luke 2:52.
All this to say, the book is very interesting. Very thought provoking. At the very least, it's a fictional book laced with accurate descriptions of the times surrounding Jesus' childhood and the customary ways in which he would have been raised. For me, it was somewhat difficult to read at parts due to the depictions of a country at war with itself (something I was not expecting). However, the image of Jesus as a boy, the compassion and love he poured out on others even then, the idea of him "growing" into his ministry, it was all very encouraging and interesting. Definitely worth the read.
An interesting idea was presented several times throughout the book though, and I'm not quite sure what I think. So I pose this question to you. Please let me know what you think and feel free to back up with scripture if you so desire. Or don't because I'm not sure if there are any scriptures to argue either way. My question is: Do you think Jesus felt fear? And how does your answer play into Jesus being both fully God and fully human?
Alright, folks. Thanks for playing. Merry Christmas. In case you don't know them by heart (because I certainly don't), check out the lyrics to O Holy Night. I think last night, for the first time, I truly understood the lyrics and melted due to the amazing grace of God. "Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth." Amazing. Blessings and love to all. :)
posted by BJ at 10:01 PM
7 Comments:
This is really the first time I've ever really put any thought into the question of whether or not Jesus felt fear or had fear. In looking through some of His preachings I've noticed that He tells many of His followers not to fear. It seems that He would be the best at practicing what He preached. He said in Luke 12:4-5, "I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. 5 "But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!" He was telling them not to fear the displearsure of men, but the displeasure of their Heavenly Father. Now, because of Luke 2:52, "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.", we know that he did not have all the wisdom and faith when He was born that He had when He was thirty. So, maybe there were times in His childhood when He did fear more because of His lack of wisdom and understanding, but I don't know that it lasted long. When He was around twelve He was already teaching adults. Which, by the way, seems apparent He wasn't too afraid of being separated from His parents.
Anyway, somehow He knows what fear is. It is one of our most basic feelings. How else could He relate? I just don't know when He felt afraid. I would say though that He probably wasn't afraid nearly as often as we are if He felt it at all. Was He afraid of being run over by a camel in the crowded streets of Bethlehem? Maybe...but later on in His life at the one moment that He should seem afraid...He doesn't. In Matthew 26 it reads, "And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. Then He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me." He was stressed out before He was crucified, but not afraid of being crucified. When the soldiers came He went and met them and the rest ran away. At that very moment Jesus was more afraid of displeasing His Father than being horribly murdered by men.
So, maybe Christ's fear in worldy things decreased as His faith increased, which as I said before didn't seem to take long, and His fear of displeasing His Father increased along with his faith to measures greater and holier than we can ever imagine. Maybe that's what pushed Him to go through being crucified.
Sorry, that's kinda jumbled up, but those are my thoughts.
Beege,
I think I have cried for the last 20 hours straight and I am running out of kleenexes. Don't you think we should try looking at the bright side? Here's what I have come up with so far: I can start swearing again!!! Now go leave me some comments on my new blog, dammit.
awwww, since you just had all that time off, i thought you were going to update. guess i was wrong
i don't know you, but i just happened along this blog and I saw anne rice's book right at the top.
perhaps more amazing than any kind of illumination you might recieve from her about the early life of Jesus is her conversion to Christianity.
What Anne Rice is best known for is writing stories about vampires, the occult, and erotica...often in the same texts. her thoughts on the early life of christ are only speculation. Regardless of how well she may research her subjects, the Bible say virtually nothing about Jesus' youth. The only accurate research that may be done could only be that general information that may be discovered regarding the lives of ordinary 1st century Jews living Palestine.
Interesting...interesting...
You said you were disappointed that more people didn't respond to this post, didn't you? Well, there you go!
I think it's definitely important to 'CONSIDER THE SOURCE.' Grandpa Scooter says that once you are involved in the occult, you can spend years and years in Christian counseling trying to recover from that. One of his friends has been a Christian for such a long time, but she was caught up in the occult movement before that and she's been in counseling 20 years. Also, my mom was in a cult, and you know all about how many counselors and doctors she's seen. So all I'm saying is that yes, God is omnipotent, but you cannot disregard the power of Satan, either. Once someone has opened their mind to darkness, that is very difficult to recover from, from what I understand.
That said, I think that Anne Rice wrote the book to be a novel... which is why it says 'A Novel' right on the front cover. Novels are by definition fiction. That leads me to believe that Ms. Rice wrote this to be a SPECULATIVE work regarding the youth of Christ.
So there you go. Am I supposed to be writing on my other blog now?
In response to anonymous...yes, we all know Rice's history, but if we disregarded every written work based on the past of the author for fear that they might influence our thinking negatively rather than illuminate us towards a deeper understanding of Christ...then we would be missing out on some of our most treasured Christian literature.
Furthermore, an author's "upstanding" Christian behavior (past or present) does not protect them from the lies and deception of Satan while they are writing. Stanley, Strobel, Lucado, Rice....we have to read with caution all the time.
Nothing is the Word of God but the Word of God. Everything else has been tainted....maybe some more than others.
There are a couple of things I would need clarified before I could say that I though Jesus may have experienced fear. And perhaps they would speak best to the question.
First, as jasface pointed out, Jesus (and several angels, appearing to various people, prophets and otherwise throughout history) repeatedly said "Do not fear." (or "Be not afraid"). If fear (not the reverential awe fear we see talked about in, say, Acts 9:31, but real scaredy-cat fear) is a lack of trust in God, or perhaps the temporary absence of trust in God, then it's sinful. If Jesus lived a life without sin, then I would argue that He never experienced fear.
I make that last point, but I would point out that this is one of the biggest failings I personally have. I don't necessarily have what you'd call "fear", but I do have his ugly younger brother, "worry". Bills, being a husband, being a father, holding my job, etc., all hang over my head. Not because they should, but because I let them. I refuse to recognize that the Father has them all in control. Bingo: sin.
The flip side of this is that scripture also tells us that Jesus experienced everything, and was tempted in every way, that we are now. Would this include fear? We know it included anger, but if fear is sinful, then would He have experienced it? I guess I don't know for sure. I think I might lean a little towards no, but I then immediately find myself wondering. Hmph.
Anyway, maybe I've given you's something to talk about, maybe I've just become one of those guys people read and then laugh off. Either way, I'm done for now.
By the way, hi BJ. I took a mess of links to get here, not honestly sure how, but am glad I did. I'll try to keep up!
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