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Date:         Tue, 26 Jan 1993 15:57:41 HST
From:         Len Howard <tas@PEGASUS.COM>
Subject:      Re: Natures of Jesus

Hi Len,  You ask a good question....sometimes the definitions don't
give us the whole picture.  Let's take a sweep thru the NT.
If we look at Jesus' baptism initiating his ministry, the people were
exposed, and also Jesus, to God's affirmation of Jesus as his son,
thus validating his authority.  He then started preaching the "Kingdom
of God" in many parables that started with "The Kingdom of God is
like........" and continued with a story that turned the hierarchy on
its head.  The first will be last, the leader must be servant to all,
turn the other cheek, heal the sick, and on and on.  As I read it,
Jesus expected the Jews to hear the message, and turn away from the
extreme legalism that had come into the religion that was allowing bad
things to happen in the name of "following the Law."  In the ups and
downs of the chosen people thru the OT, whenever the rulers were
disobeying the directions of God, they were chastised by God thru the
prophets, and with the instruments of other nations.  At the time of
Jesus, God was taking another approach, by sending his only son to
tell them directly, and, ultimately, to prove what he was saying by
his resurrection.
     But the Jews did not listen, and rejected him.  Not all the Jews,
just the Priests and Scribes, and many of the well entrenched people
who saw at threat to their own security in the talk of taking care of
the poor, the weak, the sick and the aged.  Why, they might have to do
without something in order to feed the leper by the gate, cf Lazarus
and the rich man.  So Jesus persisted in telling the chosen people
about the Kingdom of God, but he told and healed others, too.  The
daughter of the Centurion makes the point that faith in the Kingdom of
God can be present, and is present in gentiles as well.
     To make a long story into about three years, Jesus gave the
authorities an Excedrine headache.  He kept on doing all these things
that attempted to change the way of order.  So they did what any other
oppressive ruler did in those days, they killed him, thinking this
woulld be the end of it.  But after three days came the resurrection.
And then the work of Jesus really came to fruition.  The disciples
received the Holy Spirit, Paul saw the light, and the message was
taken to the whole world.  The Church was established.
     Now the kernel of the question is implicit in your question...
"Did Jesus, since he was God, know that this was going to happen, and
was he playing out the role that he knew he would have to play?"  Or
was this chain of events directed by the Free Will of the entrenched
power structure, with the Death and Resurrection the big gun that
finally had to be used?  What would have happened if the people had
all listened to Jesus and made marked changes in their society as a
result of his teaching?  Was this what was intended?  I don't know,
Len, and I don't think anyone on earth really does either.
I think your job is to get the overall picture of the marvelous work
of Jesus, and to understand that his intention was t   set us free
from sin, and to life a life walking in the light.  So, like most
questions in theology, you don't get a simple answer.  Either Yes or
No could be defended.  It is how you defend your answer that is
important.  Our theology teacher made this very clear to us.  Now I
realize that you have to hew to the line of the official teaching of
the Roman Catholic Church, BUT, I also realize that the usual RCIA
teacher is not really teaching the exact teaching either, and there is
much variation in the courses.  So learn the officianswer, and be able
to  return it.  But I hope this can provide some material for you to think
about when you develop your own big picture of the Kingdom of God.
Shalom, Len                             Len Howard
                                        tas@pegasus.com
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