teachings toa vast crowd, he is sound asleep in the boat that is
taking them across the sea. His calm in response to the violent storm
that arises as he is sleeping I find most helpful when things are
turbulent in myown life.
I feel very caught up in the drama of it all; there is one thing after
another.People listen to him, love what he has to say (or in some
cases are disturbed or angered by it) and are healed. They can't have
enough of what he has to share with them. I'm touched by his response
to the 4000 people who, having spent three days with him in the desert
listening to his teaching, are tired and hungry. Realising this, he
uses his gifts to manifest bread and fish for them all to eat.
Jesus dies as a young man. His ministry begins when he is thirty (I
wouldbe interested to know more of the spiritual training he
undoubtedly received before then), andends abruptly when he is only
thirty-three. Fortunately, before the crucifixion he is able to
instruct his immediate disciples in a simple ritual whereby they can
re-affirm their link with him and each other (I refer, of course, to
the lastsupper) - thereby providing a central focus of devotion and
renewal for his followers, right up to the present time.
I have the impression thathe is not particularly interested in
converting people to his way of thinking. Rather it's a caseof
teaching those who areready; interestingly, often the people who seek
him out come from quite depraved or lowly backgrounds. It is quite
clear to Jesus that purity is a quality of the heart, not something
that comesfrom unquestioning adherence to a set of rules.
His response to the Pharisees when they criticise his disciples for
failing to observe the rules of purity around eating expresses this
perfectly: "There is nothing from outside thatcan defile a man" - and
to his disciples he is quite explicit in what happens to food once it
has been consumed. "Rather, it is from within the heart
thatdefilements arise." Unfortunately, he doesn't at this point go on
to explain what to do about these.
What we hear of his last hours: the trial, the taunting, the agony and
humiliation of being stripped naked and nailedto a cross to die - is
an extraordinary account of patient endurance, of willingness to bear
the unbearable without any sense of blame or ill will. It reminds me
of a simile used by the Buddha to demonstrate the quality of metta, or
kindliness, he expected of his disciples:"Even if robbers were to
attack you and saw off your limbs one by one, should you give way to
anger, you would not be following my advice." A tall order, but one
that clearly Jesus fulfills to perfection: "Father, forgive them for
they know not what they do."
--
|- - - - wassalam;
- -
And Allah knows the best!
~
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