Who Are You, What Have You Sacrificed?

Last updated on: April 16, 2017 at 3:36 pm by Tom Swiss

Who Are You, What Have You Sacrificed? 2017-04-16T15:36:58-04:00 Tom Swiss

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

(This is something I wrote a few years ago. Happy Easter to those who celebrate; the resurrection of that poor mystic carpenter need not have happened to be true, for those whom it touches.)

If you grow up in a majority Christian society, sooner or later you have to come to an accommodation with the mythology of Jesus. How did such a story spring up around this guy? Indeed, was there ever even such as fellow as Jeshua son of Joseph from Nazareth? Or is it all just a constructed story?

(I like to use the name “Jeshua” to refer to the fellow to try to separate the actual person (if there was one) from the mythological character “Jesus”.)

It’s pretty clear that a large part of the story was constructed, drawing on previous myths. On the other hand, it seems reasonable to suppose that some guy named Jeshua started preaching and kicked up enough trouble to get tortured to death.

So here’s some speculation, based on half-remembered bits of my Catholic upbringing, my intuition, and my experience with the mystical state.

Imagine: a group of people in the Middle East chafing under occupation by a foreign empire. (Any potential relevance to modern geopolitics is strictly coincidental.) The people of Judea and Galilee are hoping for a Messiah, an anointed leader to unite them and kick some Roman ass. It’s possible that they’re specifically looking for such a leader to arise as a descendant of the royal line, though it seems more likely that Jeshua was made an heir of David via the intervention of his chroniclers, well after his death. (On the other hand, being of the royal line helps explain how and why he gathered so much attention so quickly once he started preaching.)

If we take seriously the story in the Gospels about young Jeshua wandering off from his parents and being found in the temple in deep discussion with the priests, we might imagine him as having an interest in spiritual affairs from a young age. So when he hears about this fellow John (maybe his cousin, maybe not) who has started preaching and leading intense water-based purification rituals, it makes sense that Jeshua might want to give it a try.

Mystical Experience

The thing about ritual work, that you really have to have done it in some fashion to understand, is how it can catalyze a sudden spiritual transformation. The excitement of the crowd, John’s intense preaching, the hot desert sun, the sudden immersion in the cool water, maybe even a little oxygen deprivation depending on John’s style — it all really gets to Jeshua. He has a big time capital-letters Mystical Experience, and his understanding of his relationship to his self and to the Universe is changed. He gets filled up with acceptance and inner peace. If he was doing this in a Zen context, we’d call it satori. If he was a Hindu, maybe Krisha would appear to him. Being a Jew, his cultural conditioning led him to hang it on Jehovah, so he explained by saying things like “The Father and I are One.”

So Jeshua starts preaching too. Maybe he’s a little better at it than John, maybe he’s more naturally charismatic, maybe he is of royal blood which always gets people’s attention. He gives some good speeches. He starts to attract crowds. He starts to piss off some of the more orthodox leaders of the Pharisees.

And then some folks get the idea that Jeshua might have the qualifications to be the Roman-ass-kicking anointed one the people are looking for. They convince themselves that he is the Messiah. Jeshua tries to tell them that politics isn’t really his line — “Render on to Caesar what is Caesar’s” — but some of his fans don’t get the clue. This pisses off the Romans.

And so Jeshua’s fate is that which often befalls people who piss off both the religious and political leaders of their cultures. (Hey, it was just preemptive self-defense by the Romans. At least Jeshua got something resembling a trial, unlike so many victims of today’s violent world-spanning empire.)

The Retcon

But here’s the clever part. It rapidly becomes obvious to Jeshua’s followers that their dead leader is not going to lead a rebellion against the Romans. So does that mean he wasn’t the Messiah? No! They deploy the power of the retcon: the Messiah’s job was never to free us from the Romans, no, it was to free us from, um, sin, yes, that’s it. And Jeshua did it! Hooray! He was the Messiah after all! Of course, this was a strictly metaphysical victory, so, there’s no evidence of it on Earth, sin appears to be with us as much as ever, but trust us, it’s been defeated.

Stained glass image of the Resurrection in St. Colman's Cathedral, Cloyne, County Cork, Ireland. Photo by Andreas F. Borchert via Wikimedia Commons.

Stained glass image of the Resurrection in St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cloyne, County Cork, Ireland. Photo by Andreas F. Borchert via Wikimedia Commons.

Throw in some rather standard resurrection mythology and a few typical miracle stories, let bake in oral rumor and storytelling for a few decades before anyone writes anything down, and after a while the poor mystical carpenter’s son who talked about peace and love is the Only Son of God, the King of Kings, and so on.

Seasonal Musings

Christianity

Jesus

Previous Post

April 16, 2017

Remaking

Next Post

April 22, 2017 What Science Is And Isn't

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2017 52 Makeup 2020 52 Makeup Always Roaming With A Hungry Heart Art Because I Could Not Stop For Death Caught On Video COVID-19 Culture Discordianism Ethics, Virtue, and Right Living History Magic(k), Ritual, and Mysticism My Blogging Life and Times Philosophy Podcast Poetry Random Wednesdays Religion & Politics Seasonal Musings Techno-Pagan Theology Uncategorized Warrior Path Zen

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 March 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 September 2024 August 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 October 2022 September 2022 June 2022 April 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Jezreel" mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

God fights God defends God sows God reigns