Many Scholars, many people have attempted to once, and for all, grant clear insight into HIM, but TRUTH is, what is to be known of HIM, exists in the Gospels, and throughout the entire BIBLE. Surely, at least to me, there is DIVINELY sound reason why DETAILS of HIS Earthly life are obscured...
Personally, I try to refrain from reading these attempts to clarify HIS human life, because often, one is left with less connection than before, as authors take us into areas which leave us second guessing! I RELY ON THE WORD as my source for understanding HIM, because I BELIEVE with all my being, that it IS DIVINELY manifest, through CHOSEN human instruments!!!
History repeats itself in the human condition, and so, even today, we hear the whispers, "WHO is this Man, JESUS"?, as we expect signs, wonders, and tangible proof of HIS PRESENCE in our lives...
It helps, at times, to peer into Theological assessments for answers, and insight...
By anyone's account, Jesus of Nazareth is the most significant person who has ever lived. He has influenced more lives and had more written about him than any other person in history. He is the only one who ever made a credible claim to being more than just another human being and to this day almost a billion people revere him as the supreme revelation of God.
Jesus was in every respect a master communicator. He employed methods that were sufficiently familiar to his hearers to make them comfortable but sufficiently different to arrest their attention.
At least three things combined to make Jesus' very presence an unsettling challenge, a call to decision---
First and foremost, he embodied what he taught, and what he taught seemed clearly beyond human capacities. Yet he embodied those principles to the highest degree without any embarrassment or arrogance. Was he more than merely human?—that was the implied question on everyone's mind.
Second, his teaching was derived solely from the Old Testament, which was, of course, God's Word, and it was mediated directly through himself; he identified directly with it. The rabbis found it necessary to bolster their interpretations by extensive references to one another. Jesus never quoted another rabbi. "You have heard it said, but I say unto you" is how Jesus taught. God's word and his own words merged into one.
Third, Jesus' words were backed up by demonstrations of power. Anyone can claim anything, but only one with more than human authority can say to the waves "Be still" and have those waves obey him.
Jesus' very presence caused the crowds to gather, but what he said caused them to gather as well. His teaching method was very much like the parables that he taught. It was designed to reveal enough of the truth to draw people it, but to conceal enough to cause people to stop and reflect.
These people had heard biblical truth on many occasions; Jesus' task was to cause them to hear it afresh, perhaps even to hear it as a reality for the first time. To accomplish this Jesus would sometimes bury his meaning somewhere below the surface, so that people would have to dig for it.
Sometimes Jesus' words were seemingly self-contradictory ("The first will be last, and the last will be first" — Mark10:31 Mark10:31 ) and at times even shocking ("Cut off your hand cut off your foot"— Mark 9:42-48 Mark 9:42-48 ).
In all of this, Jesus' creative use of language was designed to force his hearers to a decision. He knew that giving them information was not enough. They must be challenged to embody and act on that information in order for it to change them. When attempting to do that they would be forced to confront their own inabilities and cast themselves on God, which was Jesus' ultimate intention. So Jesus and his message and his method of delivery all blended together to challenge the people. They either believed or they were offended and left.
More to come...
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