Who was this Jesus?
The illegitimate son of a Galilean Roof Builder and woodworker, I suppose what we would call a handyman, called Joseph Ben David. He was born in rather lowly circumstances, probably because dad could not afford a bed for his pregnant wife. Grew up as an apprentice handyman, and supposedly caused a stir at the age of twelve in the Temple, probably his Bar Mitzvah.
Like many Shamanistic peoples, went into the wilderness to purify and fast. To find his Spirit Helper? Strange seeing that the only Spirit he found was the Devil. Anyway, after having his vision, he wanders off for a bath, I mean the guy’s been on top of a mountain for about a month, and he probably reeked.
He arrives at the Jordan River, and jumps in, where he meets some bloke called John, who promptly takes advantage of this half starved and smelly individual, and performs a sacrificial laving ceremony on him. I mean the guy hasn’t eaten for a month, probably quite delirious, and this equally smelly hermit gives him a bath. Probably fed him some grasshoppers and honey to revive him.
He then starts telling anyone who will listen, what he believes has been revealed to him, and gathers around him a small group of followers, launching his career as a prophet and dreamer, ( beats falling off the roof). I have no doubt that the itinerant roof builder, Jeshua Ben Joseph, had a vision of how he would perceive the world to be, or at least how he would like it to be. One must remember that at that time in history, the surrounding country side was full of “Prophets", all trying to send a message to the population of Israel about many things, from the coming of a messiah, to the overthrow of the Roman occupation, and of course the old standby, the end of the world.
So in a way, the very beginnings of the teachings were politically motivated. The only record we have of this mans life is that left by his followers, men who had a political investment in what was said. There is no corroborating evidence, from any independent source, as to the nature and divinity of the man, except maybe from the Roman Emperor Claudius, who was quite indifferent in his diagnosis of the new religion called Christianity. The man was not deified until the 1400s, along with his Mum. The Stonemasons did not complain they were back in business, building statues.
I suppose the church kind of melded the Hebrew religion, the new Christian Religion and the Roman Pantheon. This would have kept everyone happy, besides Constantine had already made it unlawful to worship the old Gods, some years prior. Despite the fact that, the Deification was in direct contravention of the first three Hebrew Commandments, the Bishops just went ahead anyway. Even creating a “Pantheon" of their own, only these were called saints, and were modeled on the old gods. It was quite okay to pray to these.
Apart from the " Healings", a feat carried out by Shamans world wide, his only claim to fame was that he was the only one to enter the temple and cause a bit of a stir. And in a country that was basically a Theocracy, sacrilege was punishable by a mandatory sentence of death, the sentence of course needed to be approved by the head of the occupying force, some guy called Pilot. The political and cultural differences between Rome and Israel were such that he could see no wrong, as in Rome the laws were different. Besides, faced with a possible civil disturbance over the matter, he would have had no choice but to either acquiesce, or just opt out of the decision making process. So what did this unemployed roof builder actually do? He questioned the religious and political system of his time, pointing out the inequalities and injustices of the system then in place. Lambasting the supported Priesthood, who were using the "Law," to keep the population compliant?
He questioned the practice of using the Temple as a means of fleecing the poor of all their cash. Now if that is not being subversive, what is? The simple fact is, that he was a traitor to the political system, and it became expedient to just neck him, to shut him up.
Ever since, successive political systems have used his teachings as a base, expanding and creating a mythology around the man to justify their existence. Even to the point of making him a God. Every culture has, somewhere in their mythology, a story of a Dying God. The early church did not have one, so they had to invent one. It is interesting that the ancient Hebrew teachings involved a trinity, the father, the mother and the God being the central figure, ( chokmah, Binah = Kether), the only way to maintain this doctrine was to make Jeshua Ben Joseph a God. Did he marry? Not sure, but he did seem to hang around Hookers. The interesting thing is that he preached in the Temple. My understanding is that to be allowed to do this, without being stoned, (literally, not figuratively), he had to be married, especially to be called “Rabbi".
Hmmm somebody out there will probably want to crucify me for this, but hey, what's new. It is the nature of the Beast, called religion, to shut anyone up who disagrees. Maybe I should change my nick to "Devils Advocate", but I feel that the writer’s job is to question, without fear or favor. I do not argue about religion, I just do not feel that strongly about the subject. Besides, I have a saying, “Violence is the Last Refuge of the Feeble Minded".
Robin A Spicer © 30th may 2003
Edited 10th march 2005
