Who was Jesus like?
Sunday, December 22, 2013
JESUS & ME
By
Francis William Bessler
Well, Folks, it is Christmas time again as I write this. It is a time for me to think about the center piece of the season - Jesus. And what a wonderful center piece to think about. If I had been there when Jesus lived, I am quite sure I would have been one of his friends - to the chagrin, perhaps, of a lot of folks mingling out and about “Jesus and me.”
I can see it now. There we would be walking down a path together and all of us “Jesus people” would be chattering about this or that. One of us would say one thing about an issue at hand and another of us would offer a different opinion, but I would have been silent. I would not have had much to say because I might have been too timid to say anything. Hey, a lot of us are like that - too timid to say what we really believe - deep in our hearts. Then Jesus would look at me and say, “Francis, what do you think?”
That is how I see Jesus - encouraging us all to think for ourselves. “Francis, what do you think?” And that is Jesus in a capsule for me. What do I think?
Of course, that is not how Jesus has been portrayed. Is it? We have been given this picture of Jesus as one who would have said: “Francis, never mind thinking for yourself. Let me tell you what you should believe - and then if you don’t believe it, sorry, you will be among the lost forever and ever and ever.”
I don’t think so. I think Jesus would have encouraged us all to think for ourselves; and I think that is what the “real Jesus” was all about.
I am reminded of a verse in THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THOMAS - Verse 13. Jesus said to his disciples (and if I had been there, I would have been one of them): Make a comparison to me and tell me whom I am like. Simon Peter said to Him: Thou art like a righteous angel. Matthew said to Him: Thou art like a wise man of understanding. Thomas said to Him: Master, my mouth will not at all be capable of saying whom Thou art like. Jesus said: I am not thy Master because thou has drunk, thou has become drunk from the bubbling spring which I have measured out. And he took him, he withdrew, he spoke three words to him. Now when Thomas came to his companions, they asked him: What did Jesus say to thee? Thomas said to them: If I tell you one of the words which He said to me, you will take up stones and throw at me; and the fire will come from the stones and burn you up.
What would Jesus have said to Thomas that would have angered the others - so that they would have been inclined to throw stones at him? One thing: Thomas: think for yourself. Those would have been the “three” words that would have angered anyone who wants others to think in some strict pattern. Think for yourself! And you will have to admit, those are some “three” words. Right?
What was the “bubbling spring” which Jesus told Thomas that he had measured out for him? That we should think for ourselves. Never mind what others claim is the truth. Think for yourself! Why did not Jesus tell that to Peter and Matthew? Why did he take Thomas aside and tell him that in private? Because Jesus knew that the others would have resented the notion and he did not want to anger his other friends. So he took Thomas aside and confided in Thomas alone.
And as Thomas was, I am - with the blessing of Jesus. Others may paint me as some kind of “doubter” of their words, but what do I care? I am supposed to think for myself. That is what “my Jesus” would have told me - according to this verse from THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THOMAS.
Do you believe it? What is your version of Jesus? Do you think he would have been one to tell us all that we have to believe some strict message - or do you believe he would have encouraged us all to think for ourselves?
As we celebrate the life of this man, perhaps it is time to ask ourselves what we would have done if we had been there in the company of Jesus and Peter and Matthew and Thomas. How would we have responded to Jesus if he had summoned us to respond to the statement: Tell me whom I am like. What would we have said?
I think I would have said: I am not sure, Jesus, but I think you are “like me.” I see you, my friend, and I see me - just like I see me and I see you. I see no difference. Perhaps that is because I see all creatures alike in terms of worth. Jesus, I think you and I are of the same worth because we are equally “sons of God.” So to answer your question as to whom do I think you are like, I would say “me.”
And I think Jesus would have answered: Francis, you have answered correctly. I agree. We are brothers, born of the same Creation, and participating in the same wonderful mystery of life. Francis, never mind what Peter offers you or what Matthew offers you. Just think for yourself - and you will be free.
And that is how I think it would have been if I had been there. How about you? Would you have obligated yourself to the likes of another man - like Peter or Matthew - and allowed them to command you to think in one way over another - even if the question was about Jesus himself? Does any one of us have the right to tell others of us who Jesus was and demand that we believe? Sorry, that “demanding that I believe” is not my impression of Jesus. My impression is one who would have encouraged me to simply think for myself and pay no attention to any ritual or set of dogma handed down to me - even if supposedly in the name of Jesus himself.
So, as we celebrate Jesus, let me say what I think Jesus would have said to me: Francis, think for yourself. Know that you are as worthy as anyone who has ever lived - or will ever live. Know you are truly a “son of God” and let no one convince you otherwise. You have drunk from the bubbling spring which I have measured out - and that bubbling spring is only a notion that we are all THE SAME - all worthy of the Love of God because we are all one in God.
Quite a message, huh? Do you believe it? I do!
A song about “being the same” follows.
Thanks! (FWB)
The Same
By
Francis William Bessler
9/15/2008
REFRAIN:
I’m the same – as everyone.
I’m the same – and I’m having fun.
I’m the same as you, my friend;
and I’ll be the same – beyond the end.
You’re the same – as everyone.
You’re the same – you should be having fun.
You’re the same as me, my friend;
and you’ll be the same – beyond the end.
The rule of life is that you will be
just what you allow within your dreams.
Tomorrow will be like today
in the manner of soulful ways.
If you’re kind today, it will be the same
when tomorrow comes, be it night or day;
and if you’re cruel now, you’ll continue on
just as you are when tomorrow comes. Refrain.
People think they need to be different
in order to make life of consequence;
but no matter how much they insist it’s so,
underneath, they’re the same in Nature’s clothes.
If you think you can change the way things are
by finding strength in various wars,
you’re only pretending life’s not good
and blowing a chance for true brotherhood. Refrain.
In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus said to Salome,
when he was asked of whom he was a son,
he said, I am one who is from the Same
Light as me, thus having no shame.
And it’s just like that with each of us
from whom we come should be our trust.
Well, we come from Nature and the Divine
and that is what should be our pride. Refrain.
Many people are afraid to die
because they think Nature’s a lie.
They think that death should never be
but that is not the way it seems to me.
I look at life and it seems clear
that all things die – so I should have no fear
of anything beyond because the truth
must be the same for me as it is for you. Refrain.
What will happen when I die?
Probably more of the same as in life.
There is no reason for me to believe
that my soul will change radically.
As I was before, I will become again,
I will see me as virtuous or filled with sin.
If my soul continues – and the notion’s sane,
it will continue on and be the same. Refrain.
So, let us all join and celebrate
the wonder of our common state.
We are the same in what’s there to find.
Our bodies are alike – as too our minds.
What you really are, I am too –
and that, my friend, is a basic truth.
The way I treat you becomes my refrain
simply because we are the same.
Refrain. (multiple times if wished)