What was it about Jesus that inspired
strangers to follow him? Without a doubt there was something about Jesus that
drew people to him. We can call it charisma, and an inexplicable magnetism. Of
course we can always give credit to Jesus’ all consuming love for God that he
saw in all with whom he came in contact. Jesus personified the incarnation
of God and that by and in itself could explain his powerful attraction. I
suppose we can leave it right there but I think there is more. People meet Jesus
and somehow they are transformed and then they in turn need to relate their experience with others.
Isn’t this what’s going in this Gospel (John 1:43-51)
I am reminded of the beautiful
essay, One Solitary Life. We know that Jesus’ ministry lasted only a few
short years and while we rely on Paul, the Gospel writers and historians, to
help us follow his teachings, could these few short years and limited writings have
been enough to have had the impact on people over the centuries? Just think
about it. Perhaps the interaction between Nathaniel and Philip helps us
understand how Jesus’ magnetism really works. One to one, person to person the
word becomes flesh in each of us and we pass it on as it was passed on to us.
It’s more than just paying it
forward or karma or one good deed begets another. No, there’s no quid quo pro
in our interaction with one another; nothing is expected in return, In fact
looking for payback is a waste of time. Rather, it’s putting on the mind of
Christ in all that we do as we recognize God in all human beings. Perhaps the
significance of Jesus’ Baptism has much to do with our receiving the Holy
Spirit and ability to spread God’s love one person at a time.
.
It was no accident that the first to follow Jesus were Jews. Jews were a conquered nation. They had no national respect, their religion was at best tolerated by the empire and headed by stooges for the Romans, they were taxed to the point of mere subsistence. There had been messiahs before who had led people in successful uprisings that restored independence. Jews saw the intervention of God in these episodes of their history. So I suspect that the signs and teaching of Jesus at the beginning of his ministry led his followers to expect a new uprising that would lead to a better life. When he began to make it clear that he wasn't that kind of leader, disciples began to desert him, to the point that he turned to the twelve and asked, "will you leave me too?" The response from Peter, "Where can we go? You have the words of everlasting life." shows that the post-resurrection church that remembered this episode understood that Jesus could indeed conquer the sense of hopelessness that fills people's lives. The fact that in today's world more and more people are defecting from Christianity suggests that people today are seeking solace in other ways or denying the fundamental need for meaning beyond ourselves.
ReplyDelete