In the world of religion we often look up to many significant figures and moments for guidance. One of these occurrences is life of and the man himself, Jesus. For myself Jesus is the main staple in my faith upbringing, being the relative symbol of what to strive for and do in our lives. As I enrolled into the class of Catholic Vision I knew I was going to gain some more perspective on him, but to what extent I had know clue. Now leaping forward to almost the end of the term I recognize that my knowledge of Jesus has gone to places I was not prepared for. This has happened through the teachings and readings from the book, Jesus the Christ, the catalyst for my new awareness of Jesus and Catholicism as a whole.
As a child I knew that Jesus was supposed to be an important figure in my life through school and my parents. But to what extent, I did not know. I slowly began to learn the answer to that question as the Catholic schooling kept teaching me year after year the importance of faith and who inspires it. Jesus to me was one of those inspirations that ran common throughout all the different classes. Realizing this I thought it would be important to never be satisfied with what I know about him.
As this quest began for me I soon realized that I am going to have to learn an incredible amount of history and faith. This would prove to be hard because all religion classes don’t just talk about Jesus the whole time, I’d have to come up with questions and hopefully understand the answers to get where I needed to be. When I think about this it always brings a smile to my face, because I’m happy I made that choice to learn about someone whom would is the foundation of my faith today. It gave my outlook a positive path to follow in terms of education and going to church as a youngster.
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What I learned in the first three quarters of my life about Jesus was pretty much your garden-variety background and interpretations of him and his life. Everything from he was the son of Mary and Joseph by Immaculate Conception to him dying for us on the cross. I always wondered why though, why this man, was there any other men or woman like him in history that we would learn of? I soon understood that the answer to that was a very stern no. He is the standard, the primary source, and the Son of God, with respects to many others; no one can touch his divinity and impact in religion to me.
Resulting from my newly gained perspective, church became a much better venue to learn and absorb Catholicism and Jesus Christ. I was slowly beginning to be able to relate myself and my experiences to all the teachings and readings that would be verbalized to me during the masses. It was so much more enjoyable to be educated to a certain extent about my religion and it’s foundation while sitting through “God’s” class Sunday mornings at eleven. Having confidence and patience from this resulted in a attitude change that would make religion an optimistic section of my life.
An optimistic boost in my life through religion is just what I needed too, because life only gets harder. I had to look towards Jesus many times in my life. One of these times was when I lost a friend that was very close to me by an accident that seemed like it was an act of God, an act that killed her. I am so happy that my foundation of faith was so strong because I never blamed Jesus once. I had to tell myself millions of times that this was an act from above that was for reason more understanding than what I saw it as. Doing this repeatedly helped me get through the tough times it created and never stopped me in my quest of knowledge in school and church.
This pursuit still continues today in my life. Its biggest contributor is my Catholic Vision class, and even more specifically the thoughts and facts from Jesus the Christ written by Brennan Hill. Not only has this book bonded more tightly my previous learning’s and thoughts of Jesus but it has also brewed new questions concerning him. Along with these new inquiries it has also stirred up some challenging thoughts and moments for me. These ideas would be how Jesus had something in common with all of the different factions during his life, his symbolism for an equal opportunity society, his “indirect” involvement in miracles, and the pre-crucifixion tormenting, and the biggest realization of them all, the whole Jesus of History and Christ of Faith outlook.
Concerning the different factions, Jesus had at least one common bond with all of them no matter how much of a paradox it would seem. I never realized it as I learned about these people in school or what have you, but thankfully I do now. A first group could be the Pharisees, what you could find in common is that they were both simple people and always appreciated everything they had and didn’t care that they were layman. Second you have the Essenes, they shared a common devotion to Yahweh and the Torah. Next is a group called the Scribes, they mutually were educated and knowledgeable of many things, although didn’t see eye to eye on everything. A fourth group is the Zealots. Jesus and they were both honorable to God and also the book talked about their zeal to worship and to commemorate God. Lastly we have the Sadducees, although they were wealthy people, Jesus and them had the same conventional Jewish upbringings and traditions. Although Jesus had many contrasts these groups, the similarities help us see that he was all people, and all encompassing.
A second major idea from Hill was that Jesus was a symbol and almost an activist for society concerning poor people and women. He did what no man would do or agree with, and that is holding these people with the same regard as everyone else in the community. The amazing thing is, that for there to be an equal society it takes one person to break the m that everyone conform to. Jesus was that person, he was the first, and never seemed to blink once, which showed his strength and more importantly his love for all people. This was an inspiring section of reading, not just for the morals but also for the idea that it only takes one sometimes, and how powerful one can be.
The next idea from Jesus the Christ in line is his indirect involvement in miracles. Thoughts that his miracles were not from him, but through him from a greater power. I agreed with this because I always thought of Jesus as a teaching tool for life, not the actual person behind it all. A miracle such as him walking on water is not he, but the greater power using him to show people what they needed to see in him, that he was the one, the person whom they should look to. As history also shows, the people whom did recognize his positive energies lived fulfilling lives, as people do today that believe in him.
A fourth new idea brought to my attention, was that prior to being put up for good on the cross he was tortured and beat due to Pontius Pilot. I knew that he carried the cross and then was crucified on the hill and what happened there, but not the hate committed before it. He was starved and beaten almost to the point where he probably couldn’t carry his own body weight. But he did and persevered with a cross on his back for us. This is something that I will never forget, and now I have more to add to the pinnacle day in Jesus’ human life.
The last and most blinding thought that I learned was Jesus of History and Christ of Faith, how they are separate and how they bond to one person I believe in. The Jesus of History is the one who walked the Earth as I do and was human. He had a life and a being just as everyone does only he had a certain special being, which is all part of us now. The Christ of Faith is the one we know now, and learn about. He is the entity whom is the anointed one in our faith and beliefs. I found this to be special because I always thought of him as a story that flowed from life to death to spirit. But it is actually two different parts that have two different meanings involving the one, Jesus.
These newly inspired ideas in me created a giant question mark inside my head that was filled with little question marks concerning them. This kind of activity in my thoughts dealing with religion is something I almost seem to enjoy because I know that when I ask I will grow. And growth is something I always strive for in educating myself. Hopefully this idea of mine will come through for me in the end with questions from Jesus’ involvement with everyone to the idea of him performing miracles a human like me.
It was hard for me to believe that Jesus had something in common optimistically with all the different factions in his society. This was due to some of the deep contrasting that some of the groups had with him. How could he be bonded with groups like the Zealots who are connected with almost nothing except violence in their community? Or the Scribes who are nothing short of wealthy and educated men whom disagree with everything Jesus is.
Another question brought about dealt with Jesus’ imagery as an equal opportunity pusher in his society. It just made me think of why nobody tried to stop him more harshly if his ideas were so against the leaders of people during his whole life. Why was he only really punished once, at the end of his life? I think maybe those so-called discriminating leaders actually turned to believe in him, like many other commoners did.
The third challenge of the involvement in miracles brought about a question I’m sure I sure with many other people. Do I really believe that a man walked on water, healed by touch, raised the dead? Are we supposed to believe in it, or accept it? I know I always just thought he wasn’t human; he was Jesus, something that has no being or category.
These new challenges and questions have reshaped my outlook on Jesus and my knowledge of him. What I learned and thought of him before was correct but now I can say that I interpret them in manner that benefits me as a human. Meaning that my attitude is boosted to levels that it hasn’t reached before in a positive air and still allows me to see that there is more growth ahead for me and my faith in Jesus and Catholicism. This gives me the impression that if I pursue knowledge of something so mysterious and talked about, meaning Jesus, anything else I go after in education will be that much easier.
What I need to do now is give thought to how I will find the answers to my questions dealing with Christ. And when I gain this information, what will I do with it? I’m sure that answer is something that I will not find until I experience it. This is the philosophy Jesus seemed to follow in his journeys and teachings, so I will try to apply the same to mine. In hopes that I will achieve the same impact, only scaled down some to fit and integrate well with my life and faith.
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