WAS JESUS A CHRISTIAN?
I heard this question more than once. Was Jesus a Christian or a Jew? maybe more accurately, was he a Christian or a Hebrew? But we want to compare today’s terms, since there was no such thing as a Christian in about 33 AD, but there were Hebrews, believers in, at that time, the Torah, let’s keep apple comparison with, well, other apples.
We can do the same thing with Martin Luther. Was he a Christian or a Lutheran? I don’t think he woke up one day and said, ‘Hey, let’s start a new religion today. What will we name it? Hmm, I know-after me!”
Jesus was fully man and fully God.
Jesus was a man. He was fully God and fully man. Never had anyone come from God or from heaven and experienced what it was like to be a living breathing self on this rock. He came and took my place in line for payment of what I did, we all did. But to do so, he had to live the life of a man. He had to experience pain, laughter, joy, sorrow. I bet he told jokes. He worked with his father as a carpenter. At the estimated age of thirty, he changed course.
Thirty was middle aged back then. Jesus had lived a life normally lived in those days. He was a rabbi, a teacher. He taught in the synagogue. Looking back, that had to be weird, seeing Joseph and Mary’s kid being a teacher then talking about saving the world. After his normal life, it was then he really started what he was here to do. Get in payment line for me, taking my place.
But he was a Jew.
He told us to follow him.
Jesus told us to follow him. He never dissuaded anyone from the teachings of the Torah. On the contrary, he taught how one, predicted the other. He taught how the Old Testament predicted his coming.
But he was still a Jew. He came to earth to become, the Christ. Jesus, the carpenter’s kid, became the prophesied savior of God’s people- the Jews.
…he went beyond…
But he went beyond that group. Jesus was also the savior for anyone who believed he was the son of God, and he was the one to pay for their sins-past, present, and future and we accepted that saving. The original disciples, the Big Twelve, questioned expanding that saving to the gentiles, the non-Jews, especially when Paul, AKA Saul, was doing it. He made a living killing those who followed Jesus and now he is marketing the man to the world? There were questions about his authenticity. So, they watched him do his thing. They had meetings, they talked. They decided, yep, this is stuff the world should have.
So, we got to live our life with our sins washed away. White as snow. But at the time of his death, he was still-a Jew.
We love to put labels on things. I think it helps us identify stuff. Car companies do it a lot. Every car has a bold and exciting name to give the buyer a vision of the car. So, we worry and spend time worrying about what Jesus was.
He knew….
Jesus didn’t worry. He knew who and what he was. The son of God.
The word Christian came from what he was. He was The Christ. I don’t want to minimize it, but maybe if we think about it as a, well, a job title. He was the Christ. You, there at the table reading this, you are a doctor. The woman there, you are a principal. He was the Christ.
Those who believed….
Those who believed in what he did for them, wanted to claim that identity too. They wanted to be Christ like. Jesus kept telling us to follow him. Not only down the road, but in life. ‘Follow my teaching, my example, listen to my stories as examples.’ Imagine if the Samaritan lived long enough to read about when Jesus gave the parable in Luke about them. “That guy told my story! He used me as an example of how to live!” Yeah, I would want to change my label to Christ-something. How about if I am just Christ? Nope, can’t do that. There was only one of those. But I can be Christ-like. That’s too bouncy. I know, I can be a Christ-ian. Yep. I can be a Christian.
…follow his teaching…
Jesus was the one and only Christ. He was not Christ-like. He WAS Christ. those who follow his teaching, accept him as their lord and saving their collective butts from the infection of sin, can be and live a Christ-like life. They can be Christians.
It’s a weird semantic roller coaster. Jesus was a Jew. He had to be to live out the prophesy in the Old Testament. He was the Christ. WE are Christ-like in our lives and then can be identified as a Christian.
Like I said at the beginning, we like labels.
Enjoy the ride.
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