Jesus in Galilee (Part Two)

Religious figures who gain a following many times are referred to as a charismatic leader.  This is certainly true of Jesus.  It was in Galilee that Jesus began calling people to be his followers.  He started out with some brothers who were fishing partners (mt 4:18-22; mk 1:16-20; lk 5:1-11) and began adding to their number.  Apparently, many of them traveled with Jesus without a permanent home.  Being a follower of Jesus meant, for most people, a radical change in their lifestyle.

One young man came to Jesus when Jesus and his disciples were getting ready to travel across the Sea of Galille.  The young scribe said to Jesus, "Teacher, I will follow you anywhere."  Jesus replied that, while even animals have a place to live, he has nowhere he can call home.  Jesus used the expression "son of man" sometimes simply instead of saying "I," but other times as a title referring to his fulfillment as the "coming Son of Man."  Another disciple said to Jesus, "Lord, let me first go and give my father a proper burial."  Jesus rebuked this disciple by saying, "Leave the dead to perform the burial rituals for their own dead."  In this enigmatic answer either he was referring to his non-followers as those who are dead (spiritually dead?) or he was actually making reference to those who have already died as those who will perform burial rituals for the newly dead.  Luke adds a third disciple who wants to go home to say good-bye.  Jesus draws an analogy to farming, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." (mt 8:18-22; lk 9:57-62)  Those who go with Jesus were called upon to forsake the luxury of home, to abandon domestic duties and even to sever family ties.

Jesus called Matthew, also known as Levi, to leave his job as a despised tax collector in order to follow him.  Levi invited Jesus to his house to celebrate and invited his friends to join them.  Jesus' enemies, the "scribes and Pharisees," berated Jesus' disciples, "Why does your teacher defile himself by eating with the impure riff-raff of society, the "tax collectors and sinners."  Jesus' answer is highly significant:  "Those who are healthy have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."  The typical understanding is that Jesus was referring to the Pharisees as the "self-righteous."  However, the analogy would lead us to the conclusion that the righteous are those who are the healthy and have no need of the physician.  But Christian theology would say, as Paul writes, "There is none righteous" (Rom. 3:10).  The solution is to understand Jesus words in their historical and cultural context rather than read in to them the Christian theology of later centuries.  In the context of the Hebrew Bible, the Jews were made righteous before God by virtue of their inclusion in the chosen people.  Another term to express the cultural meaning would be "insiders."  Those Jews who participated as God's covenant people by means of temple sacrifices and observance of the law were the "insiders."  Non-Jews and those Jews who were not observant Jews, whether it was because of disease, physical defect, occupation, or status, were all considered "outsiders."  The dynamic equivalent for the term "sinner" would be "outsider."  Jesus said, "I did not come to call back into the fold those who are already inside, but those who are on the outside" (mt 9:9-13; mk 2:13-17; lk 5:27-32).

Jesus had compassion on the people because he viewed them as sheep without a shepherd.  Matthew quotes Jesus as using the words "harassed and helpless" to describe them (mt 9:36).  The prophets used the analogy of sheep and shepherd to illustrate the leaders of Israel who did not care for their flock, the common people.  Instead they cared only for themselves while the people went hungry and oppressed.  Jesus then mixed his metaphors when he described the people as a harvest and his disciples as the harvesters (mt 9:35-38; mk 6:6b;34; lk 8:1;10:2).

Jesus gave his disciples explicit instructions not to go among the Gentiles or Samaritans, but only to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel."  The expression "lost sheep" is another way of describing the outsiders.  They are further described in his admonition for his disciples to "heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons."  There is no mistaking the context of judgment.  Those towns that refuse them and will not listen will be marked for the day of judgment" (mt 10:1-16; mk 6:7;3:13-19a;6:8-11; lk 9:1;6:12-16;9:2-5;10:3).

Jesus warns his disciples that they will be persecuted in days to come.  He instructs them when that time comes, they need not prepare a defense beforehand, since the Holy Spirit will teach them what to say.  As the Gospel of John has it, "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."  Jesus goes on to warn them of the day when family members will be pitted against each other, his followers will be hated, and even put to death (mt 10:17-25; mk 13:9-13; lk 12:11-12;6:40;21:12-19;jn 13:16;16:2b;14:26;15:20).

Jesus also cautions his disciples to remain faithful, to proclaim the gospel no matter the consequences.  He tells them in no uncertain terms that the one who acknowledges him when put on trial, Jesus will acknowledge in heaven, and the one who denies him, he will deny before his Father in heaven (mt 10:26-33; lk 12:2-9).

The one whom we call the "prince of peace" told his disciples that he did not come to bring peace on earth.  Rather than unification, Jesus came to bring division among family members (mt 10:34-36; lk 12:51-53).  In fact, if a person has more allegiance to family than to him, they are not worthy of him.  Being his disciple would take a total commitment, even to the extent of sacrificing their own lives (mt 10:37-39; lk 14:25-27;17:33).  The reward of being a disciple is that he acts on behalf of Jesus.  To welcome one of Jesus' disciples, even just to give him a drink of water, is to welcome Jesus (mt 10:40-42; mk 9:41; lk 10:16; jn 13:20).

In spite of this rigor, Matthew quotes Jesus as saying, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (mt 11:28-30).  Jesus was calling those who labored under the duress of pharisaic regulations to come and follow him.  Rather than the yoke of their teaching, they should come and learn from him.  His teaching would not lay undue burden upon them, and they would find rest instead of the turmoil of legalistic minutiae.

Once when Jesus was told that his mother and brothers were outside waiting to speak to him (there are indications that his family thought he was strange and wanted to take him home (mk 3:19-21), he ignored them saying that his disciples were his mother and brothers.  Those who are obedient to him are his family (mt 12:46-50; mk 3:31-35; lk 8:19-21).

Near the end of Jesus' ministry in Galilee, he began to speak more of what he perceived to be his destiny in Jerusalem.  While at Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do people say I am?"  The various replies included John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the prophets.  He then asked, "Who do you say I am?"  Peter's answer was, "You are the Christ."  In Matthew's gospel we find the additional phrase of Peter, "The son of the living God."  And in Matthew alone we read the words of Christ, "you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.  Catholics and Protestants have been arguing this text for centuries.  Catholics believe that this verse supports the apostolic succession beginning with Peter as the first Pope.  Protestants have tried to say that Jesus was not referring to Peter as the foundation upon which his church is to be built, but that it is his confession of Jesus as Christ that is the foundation.  However, this makes no sense in the light of the following verses in which Peter is said to be given the "keys of the kingdom of heaven."  Peter's authority here must be acknowledged as foundational.  The more important issue is the word for church.  It only appears here and one other place in the gospels and both are in Matthew.  In the letters of Paul, the word for church becomes the technical expression for the gathering of believers.  In its broader usage, however, it refers to any type of assembly of people, either religious, political, or civil.  It is the term used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament for the assembly of the people of Israel.  Jesus could have meant that Peter would be the foundation for a rebuilding of the assembly of Israel, rather than reading into this expression a later Christian understanding of the idea of the church from the writings of Paul (mt 16:13-20; mk 8:27-30; lk 9:18-21; jn 6:67-71).

Jesus told his disciples that if they wished to follow him, they would have to deny themselves and take up their cross.  After all, what profit is there if someone gains the whole world, but has no reward in the world to come.  Judgment will come when the Son of Man comes with his angels to repay everyone for what they have done.  Jesus then informs his disciples that there are some standing there "who will not taste death before they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom" (mt 16:24-28; mk 8:34-9:1; lk 9:23-27; jn 12:25).  It is possible that Jesus meant that he believed that the day of judgment would occur in their lifetime.  He had told them when he had sent them out to preach "I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel, before the Son of man comes" (mt 10:23).  Yet the placement of the next story suggests that there was an immediate fulfillment.

Jesus took Peter, James and John to a high mountain to pray.  It was there that Jesus was transfigured; he went through a metamorphosis.  His face shone and his garments gleamed white.  The disciples saw Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah.  Peter was enjoying the mountain-top experience so much that he wanted to make a tabernacle or tent for each one of them.  But it was as though Peter's words profaned the sacred moment, for the texts say that there was a cloud overshadowing them, and they heard a voice, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him."  The next thing they knew Jesus was there with them alone.  Jesus told them not to tell anyone what had happened, and once again spoke of his impending death and resurrection (mt 17:1-9; mk 9:2-10; lk 9:28-36).  The disciples asked him to clarify something for them.  They had been taught that before the day of judgment, Elijah must come first (Mal. 4:5).  Jesus told them that indeed Elijah had come, referring to John the Baptist.  In like manner, the Son of man would also suffer (mt 17:10-13; mk 9:11-13).

One of my favorite stories as a boy was Robin Hood.  I liked to play around in the woods and would shoot my home-made bow-and-arrows.  It's a good thing my sister didn't have a pair of green tights; I probably would have worn them.  Here was a character who sought to protect the common people who had been neglected, abused with heavy taxation, and treated as less than human.  Robin Hood and his merry-men opposed the ruling authority and longed for the day when the king would come and set matters straight.

Before we develop our Christian theology about Jesus -- which we will do -- we need to understand him in this primary context.  Jesus was something like a Jewish Robin Hood.  Along with his band of disciples, Jesus sought to care for the masses of people who had been pushed out of the mainstream of Jewish social and religious life.  The elders of Israel had become false shepherds who cared only for themselves and overlooked the needs of the people.  Jesus rejected the authority of the temple and the palace, lived among the people, and healed, fed, and taught them.  The result of his work was to be a day of judgment in which the tables would be turned, and God's kingdom would reign.  The Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest is Jesus of Galilee.