| Session 1 Summary by Lynda Keren |
We need to study the Jesus of the Gospels carefully because the Jesus of the Bible may be entirely different from the Jesus we know or heard about. Many times, we can reduce Jesus to become someone just like us. We are called to rethink and relearn the Jesus of the Gospels.
Now, we can imagine how the disciples experienced the Jesus of the Gospels by reading between the lines of Luke 5 & 6. It starts with Jesus calling the disciples, Simon (Peter), James and John. Then Peter caught the catch of his life. When he entered home, his family including his mother-in-law would have felt great about their fisherman. But Peter told them that he is dropping the net for good and was going to follow this new rabbi.
Then we read about a man with an advanced stage of leprosy. It was a culture where lepers lived outside the town and had to ring a bell to announce their coming. They came into the towns for food which people left for them outside their door. But Jesus reached out and touched the untouchable leper.
Then they were in a house holding a meeting where the paralyzed man was let down on a mat through the roof. Jesus, before healing him said, “Son, your sins are forgiven”. This was the first time the crowd heard someone forgive sins. And to everyone’s amazement, the paralyzed man was healed, picked up his mat and walked.
After this, Jesus had an encounter with a tax collector called Levi or Matthew. Tax collectors were hated among the Jews because they were working for the Romans. But Jesus accepted to be the guest of honour at the banquet arranged by Levi and many of his unconventional friends joined him. Finally, on Sabbath, Jesus healed a man with deformed hand. He even allowed His disciples to pick and rub the heads of grains which was prohibited on Sabbath. Thus, He profoundly redefined Sabbath.
This Jesus of Luke 5 & 6 was radically different to His traditional peers. Jesus Himself talked about pouring new wine into old wineskins which would only burst them. Similarly, we may try to fit the Jesus of the Bible into our own old ways of thinking and belief.
Peter and his family and many others who were following Jesus must have been challenged by this Jesus of the Bible. Unless we are careful, we can also reduce the Jesus of the Bible to a Jesus of our convenience. Because the real Jesus reached out to the suffering, healed, forgave sins, accepted the outcasts, and ate with the tax collectors.
Have we reduced the Jesus of the Bible to someone who is just like us or do we really know the Jesus of the Bible? Have we really studied the gospels to comprehend fully the Jesus that they portray?