185. Jesus Christ in the eyes of a non-Christian. Part one.

 

This mote is not a Christian, not even a follower of any religion. I am a practicing apprentice mystic. I will try to describe what I think of Jesus Christ and why I think so. Furthermore, in another section, I will narrate my differences from some of the assumptions of Christianity which are contrary to my understanding of God’s system.

Jesus was one of the greatest, if not the greatest, person that walked on this earth. One does not find any imperfections in him. His greatness lies not in the fact that he was sinless (he could have lived in wilderness, in isolation, and be sinless), but that he laid the foundations of a system for others to follow. In order to do that, He had to pay with his life. To me, his greatness lies in the following aspects of his life:

1. His message 
2. His miracles.
3. His death, which he chose as painful
4. His resurrection
5. Power of God manifested in all these activities, and was supporting him through these manifestations

Message. His message had three broad components, amongst others (taken from the Gospel of Marks, the earliest of Gospels, and thus the closest to truth). Love God with all your heart, love your fellow human being as yourself, and live a life of inner purity. There is a fourth message, but it is not found in gospel of Mark, and that is of non violence. For that reason I am not sure about it.

The first two messages were emphasized by Jesus Christ. Here is the excerpt:

“Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

²⁹ “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^{[a] 30} Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’^{[b] 31} The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[c] There is no commandment greater than these.”(Mark 12:29-31New International Version; NIV)

Why is love for God so important?

Because, you love something which is bigger than yourself. The more you love God, less you love worldly things. As if, your mind was like a room with limited space. The more you put one kind of furniture, less you can put the other kind of furniture. Selflessness will ennoble your inner life.

If one loves God, God notices that person and rewards that person. This is a law of nature.

Love your neighbor means love humanity. Jesus explained it in a lengthy example (Luke 10:29-37).

“And, who is my neighbor?” the man asked.

Jesus explained with a story. ‘A Jewish man was travelling. He was attacked by bandits and left half dead by the side of the road. A Jewish priest passed by but did not help the wounded person. A temple assistant saw him, but crossed over to the other side of road. Then a despised Samaritan came along, and felt deep pity for the wounded person. He soothed his wounds with medicine and bandaged them. He loaded him on his donkey and took him to an inn and cared for him.

³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii^[a] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

³⁶ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

³⁷ The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:35-37; New International Version; NIV)

This story illustrated that the Jew and the Samaritan were each other’s neighbors. If they were each other’s neighbor, then law of logic dictates that members of all races should be each other’s neighbor. World becomes a better place if its inhabitants love one another.

Now, let us discuss inner purity. Jesus explained:

“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? ¹⁹ For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

²⁰ He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. ²¹ For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, ²² adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. ²³ All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”(Mark 7; 18-23)

What was Jesus saying? Keep your thoughts clean, and then your actions will become clean. The world will become a better place if there were no such evil actions such as those he mentioned in the above paragraph.

To be continued