BLUE VIEWPOINT
Jesus is not Who most people think He is.
This is the point Philip Yancey makes in his book The Jesus I Never Knew (1995). I do have to commend Mr. Yancey in his effort to get people to rethink the Jesus they know. He brings out facets of His personality that most either gloss over or fail to notice because they are too busy looking only for the part of Him with which they are familiar. Yet, at the same time this author is successful at bringing the real Jesus into the light, he leaves the church that supposedly worships Christ in the dark hole of paganism. What do I mean by this?
Throughout the book are examples of how the real Jesus differed from the Sunday-sermon Jesus that we hear from the pastors. There is an effective summary of this in Chapter 14 where another author, Scott Peck, is quoted:
I was absolutely thunderstruck by the extraordinary reality of the man I found in the Gospels. I discovered a man who was almost continually frustrated. His frustration leaps out of virtually every page:"What do I have to say to you? How many times do I have to say it? What do I have to do to get through to you?" I also discovered a man who was frequently sad and sometimes depressed, frequently anxious and scared.... A man who was terribly, terribly lonely, yet often desperately needed to be alone. I discovered a man so incredibly real that no one could have made Him up.
It occurred to me then that if the Gospel writers had been in PR and embellishment, as I had assumed, they would have created the kind of Jesus three quarters of Christians still seem to be trying to create...portrayed with a sweet, unending smile on His face, patting little children on the head, just strolling the earth with this unflappable, unshaken equanimity.... But the Jesus of the Gospels - who some suggest is the best-kept secret of Christianity - did not have much "peace of mind," as we ordinarily think of peace of mind in the world's terms, and insofar as we can be His followers, perhaps we won't either.
The book message starts out well, but...
As honest and romantic as this is, there is much in the book that denies the existence of the "real" church of this "new, real" Jesus, and leaves us with practices that point to a set of very unholy, paganistic rituals of a church that will not examine itself in the light of the scriptures. I mean, if you have a mushy church worshiping a mushy Jesus, and then you find the real Jesus, wouldn't you want to find out the right way to worship Him? Need an example of how we are not doing this?
On page 210 of his book, Yancey tells of a time when three of his friends died in quick succession. On the day on which the last of these friends died, he was reading a book describing a Greek Orthodox Easter celebration. The difference between the Greek Orthodox Easter and "our" Roman Catholic Easter is that the Greeks celebrate their holidays supposedly at the same time as was practiced in the days of the Apostles. This makes their "Easter" fall on the first Sunday after Pascha (Passover), while "ours" falls at the Spring Equinox and has nothing to do with Christianity. However, that is not what I meant in the opening paragraph about the "dark hole of paganism".
Really, Easter eggs?
At the end of this solemn ceremony, the Greek Orthodox priest handed each person an ornately wrapped set of three Easter eggs! Now, while they are claiming to keep the dates for celebration as the original Christians did (though the original Christians never celebrated Easter or the resurrection), this "Orthodox" church then mixes in a pagan symbol! Not only that, but Christians are never told to even celebrate resurrection day! Yet, everyone walked away feeling solemn and special, after direct disobedience of the God they worship.
Not a "holiday"
The only "holiday" for that day is the offering of the Firstfruits right after the closing of the Sabbath day moving into the first day of the week that begins after Passover. (There is also a weekly ceremony called Havdalah, separating the holiness of the Sabbath from the rest of the week, but that is regular and not specifically for the Firstfruits ceremony.) Firstfruits is the beginning of the period called "the weeks", the 50 days leading up to Pentecost. This has nothing to do with a new day of rest, or gathering for worship! While Firstfruits looks forward to the resurrection of Christ, there is no "new day of worship" or "new holiday" indicated.
Too harsh, you say? O.K. Please let me know where in the Bible you find any reference to eggs as a part of any ceremony - especially as a symbol added to the Passover ceremony (that would be the Last Supper, Communion, Eucharist, or whatever other name we have given it today to remove it from the Jewish concepts presented in the Bible).
I have to agree, I never knew this Jesus either
I don't know a Jesus Christ that, against His own words (Deuteronomy 12:30-31
30and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, "How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same."
31You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.
), would allow worship of Him to include pagan symbols and rituals. That would be us acting like the Nicolaitans, and you remember how He hates their deeds (Revelation 2:6
6But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
). How can the resurrection of our Lord and Savior be represented by a pagan fertility symbol on a day that we celebrate with the name of the fertility goddess for which the pagans named it? How many ways can we find to get this story wrong? Mr. Yancey has a great start with this book. If only he would do the same in-depth scrutiny for the modern "church of Christ", then perhaps the Lord would actually find more true faith when He returns, instead of the "politically correct" fabrications of the world today. Mr. Yancey has found a Jesus that he still doesn't know, and does not seem to want to follow.
Disagree? Find an error? Contact us at glenjjr@gmail.com and give us your view.
