Continued
from previous post –
The question we
must deal with is what could possibly motivate Jesus to live his
entire life as a lie? Or did he really lived as that? He taught that
God was opposed to lying and hypocrisy, so he would not have been
doing it to please his Father. He certainly did not lie for his
followers’ benefit, since all but one was martyred rather than
renouncing his Lordship. John the Baptist was his predecessor who was
similarly chastised by Jew Priesthood for the same reason. Jew
priesthood was haunted by the presumption of their own making that
these two are their competitor in the business of religion. Even
though, the situation was not that. Neither John the Baptist nor
Jesus were interested in establishing any new religion but they only
wanted to enlighten common masses of that region, they were working
for all people and not only for Jews. Mostly they were working for
Areamian people who were living in the same region. Therefore, we are
left with only two other reasonable explanations, each of which is
problematic.
Many people have
lied for personal gain. In fact, the motivation of most lies is some
perceived benefit to oneself. What could Jesus have hoped to gain
from lying about his identity? Power would be the most obvious
answer. If people believed he was God, he would have tremendous
power. (That is why many ancient leaders, such as the Caesars,
claimed divine origin.)
The rub with this
explanation is that Jesus shunned all attempts to move him in the
direction of seated power, instead chastising those who abused such
power and lived their lives pursuing it. He also chose to reach out
to the outcasts (prostitutes and lepers), those without power,
creating a network of people whose influence was less than zero. In a
way that could only be described as bizarre, all that Jesus did and
said moved diametrically in the other direction from power.
It would seem that
if power was Jesus’ motivation, he would have avoided the cross at
all costs. Yet, on several occasions, he told his disciples that the
cross was his destiny and mission. How would dying on a Roman cross
bring one power?
Death, of course,
brings all things into proper focus. And while many martyrs have died
for a cause they believed in, few have been willing to die for a
known lie. Certainly all hopes for Jesus’ own personal gain would
have ended on the cross.
Yet,
to his last breath, he would not relinquish his claim of being the
unique Son of God.
Continues
in the next post –
You may contact
me on my Email ID given below,
You are invited to
visit my other blogs
Ashok
Kothare, http://ashokkotharesblog.blogspot.com/
for
stories
I
reckon,
http://kotharesviews.blogspot.com/
for philosophy
You
may visit blog, Freedom of Expression,
Freedom
of Expression, http://kothare-thinks.blogspot.in/
Marathi
blog, http://kothare-marathi.blogspot.in/
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