10 things they never told me about Jesus|| Righteous Indignation

Let's do a little defining...

If righteous means virtuous, ethical, and legitimate, it also means: Justified... Justice, if you will.

If indignation means resentment and displeasure, it also means: anger.

So we're going to be figuring out how Jesus reacted to situations with Righteous Indignation.... Justified Anger

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This topic calls out something I've been thinking for a long time. Some people don't think Jesus could have ever been mad (probably the same people who were thinking that Jesus was undernourished as well!). My first response to that is always, "Sure, what about that time he turned over tables in the temple!" It isn't that hard... if you read scripture, you can see that Jesus was angry a few times. I mean, when he told Peter: "Satan get behind me!" he wasn't exactly calm. It's a human trait, but it's also a divine trait, right? God was angry with the Hebrew people way back when on a few occasions, so anger is nothing new. Besides, that anger is always coupled with unconditional love, and that's what matters.

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That's what happened in the temple. Jesus scolded them and told them to get out of the house of prayer because they were practicing unjust economics. Not only were animals to be sacrifice priced too high for some, but the rate at which money was managed was unfair. Have you seen the bumper sticker that says, "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention!" ? I finally get it. This is exactly what that bumper sticker is talking about... "To do nothing, to remain calm in the face of this iniquity would be to condone the discriminatory practices" (116). It's about standing up in the face of injustice. I think it was Bonhoeffer who said, "Not to act is to act." By not doing something about injustice, we are being bystanders... and bystanders are what allowed the Holocaust to happen. We cannot take refrain from expressing outrage because that means we are in agreement with those who allowed it to happen in the first place.

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Another instance when Jesus showed righteous indignation was when the lawyers "load[ed] men with intolerable burdens" but would not help them lift the load (Luke 11:46). Jesus did not show them a kind, don't do it again, kind of attitude... instead he became a "scathing advocate for the marginalized and persecuted, exposing the unquestioned cant and privilege of their oppressors" (118). Well said, John Bell, well said.

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Indifference is not an option in the face of injustice.

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It wasn't only these kinds of instances Jesus got angry, though. On a more personal level, Jesus got angry with people who KNEW better... particularly the disciples...

--"How little faith you have!" (Matthew 8)

--"How long shall i be with you? How long must I endure you?" (Matthew 17)

--"When Jesus saw it he was indignant. (Mark 10)

--"He turned and rebuked [the disciples]." (Luke 9)

Jesus showed exasperation to some people who he thought should know better... as far as I can tell, he simply spoke the truth in love... because Jesus' anger seems to be rooted in justice and/or love.... ALWAYS. And as said before, if this is true for God, we must model this as well.

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"Anger is not the opposite of love, just as doubt is not the opposite of faith. Indifference in both instances is the real enemy" (121).

10 things they never told me about Jesus|| Business Lunches

Definitely my favorite chapter so far. There are all of these images and ideas that Jesus was undernourished. Why? Why do people think that? I feel like we always talk about how food and meals were so important in the gospels, yet we still picture Jesus as thin and slender, not to his own choosing. However, what we know about Jewish hospitality tells us that most likely, whenever Jesus went to someone's house for anything (and especially if he was curing people), it wouldn't take long before he would be offered a meal. Bell lists at least 20 occasions when Jesus would have potentially eaten food-- anything from the wedding feast at Cana (John 2) to the breakfast barbecue on the beach (John 21). At this point it would be easy to say that he was well-fed.

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Let's debunk some myths for as to why Jesus would be slender.

1. Jesus walked a lot.|| We have no idea whether or not he traveled more than anyone else at the time.

2. People were undernourished in those days in general.|| Archaeologists have figured that Jesus' daily intake would have been about 1800 calories a day.

3. Jesus must have been an ascetic since he was holy.|| Jesus never alluded to this. (Although I can see Jesus saying that you need not over-indulge... but still.)

4. "He was known as a 'man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, an object from which people turn away their eyes.'" || Nope. That comes from Isaiah 53.. not the gospels. It was a prediction.

5. He is always pictured that way.|| "This is absolutely true, but that doesn't make it right" (99).

6. We need a skinny savior.|| We always picture our heroic figures standing in solidarity with the oppressed by being frugal. Gandhi, yes. Mandela and Tutu, not so much. People have a complex about this

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So food plays an important role in Jesus' life and it should play an important role in ours too. Bell lists 16 parables (from the synoptics) and 10 phrases from Luke's Gospel alone that refer to food. There are several good reasons for eating...

1. Meals bring people to the same level.|| This is why eating with the marginalized was so important... doing something they do with them was important. (And is an important rule for us today too.)

2. Meals are where children could join the adults. || We always get caught up in this kid issue. But it feels wrong whenever the kids have to sit at a different table for Christmas or Thanksgiving. When they can eat with the adults, they feel special... like they fit in.

3. Meals are times of giving and receiving.|| "In all this, [Jesus] allows people to give to him their experiences, their secrets, their stories; for he has come to people to know that God relies on them" (104).

4. "Hospitality is a cardinal virtue... not an optional extra" (105). || God models hospitality for us (Psalm 23:5) and so therefore we should model it as well.

5. Food is a justice issue.|| Luke 12: 13-21, Luke 16:19-31, Matthew 25:31-46---- the rich man who fills his barns with corn, irrespective of other people... the rich mans who fails to alleviate the plight of a poor beggar at the gate.... those who fail to feed the hungry are damned on the day of judgment. "It is present in the contrast between the rich world, where 10-20% of a household income is spent on food, and the poor world, where it is up to 70%. Food is a justice issue" (107).

6. Food is meant for all to enjoy.|| It just is.

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So here we are... Jesus attended lots of business lunches. And ate a lot of food. Because food was important. Meals are important. That fellowship is unbelievably important to church life and communal life.

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Be intentional about meals.

Share fellowship frequently.

Be in community with others at a table.

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For surely if they took away our cross, the table would be the first symbol to go up.

10 things they never told me about Jesus|| Talking to Strangers

One of my favorite people in the world is one who LOVES stories. She always wants to know where people came from and how they got here and what they do... Always curious. She is just incredibly interested in people and these kinds of conversations come naturally to her. Well, this is the kind of thing Bell is talking about... talking to strangers. Jesus was constantly engaged with people who didn't share his nationality, faith or culture. It is certainly Jesus-like when you can converse with someone just for the heck of it.

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I think it is about ridding yourself of pride and selfishness and realizing that God loves everyone and because of that, we should be able to be in conversation with everyone. Israelites had it rough whenever they got on their high horse about being the "chosen" people. They thought it gave them room to be hateful to others who were not the "chosen" people. Even when it came to interracial marriages. We know they were looked down upon way back when, but remember our conversation about Jesus' genealogy? We are reminded in that, that the four women mentioned were not Israelites. Jesus comes from what was considered a flawed genealogy. For that matter, we all come from "flawed" genealogies and for that we should respect one another because none of us are chosen. (Here is where we could enter into a conversation about liberation theology, but I think we'll save that for another day.)

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Jesus isn't speaking broadly when he calls for people to get along and "go... to all nations" (Matt. 28). He is specific. For example, the Samaritans are particularly special to Jesus. Not only does he use them in one of his most beloved parable but he also has the longest recorded exchange with a Samaritan woman as well. He does not let the cultural and religious walls get in the way of making conversation with her or about them. Then there was the woman at the well (who we also discussed in a previous blog) who became the first evangelist. However, Bell says, her "success in not in converting others but in leading them to Jesus who enables conversion within them" (88). Jesus, through his friendly conversation and charming skills is able to bring conversion to people.

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The trick to Jesus' story about the Samaritan is not that we should be like the Samaritan and be nice for the question was asking "who is my neighbor?" Your neighbor is the Samaritan. Your neighbor is "the person, irrespective of their race [or religion], who does good to others" (92). Well that surely opens up the spectrum, huh? Our society is increasingly multicultural. This means when people of different faiths or different nationalities do good for society, they too are our neighbors. We are linked in our common bond to do good. Jesus came to "recognize and to indicate that God was the ground of all goodness, the quality of which manifests in people of all religions and of none" (93).

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Be challenged.

Do Good.

Appreciate the good of others.

Accept others.

Love others.

10 things they never told me about Jesus|| Feminine Faces

So, again, I find myself fairly progressive in the midst of reading this book. An entire chapter devoted to the fact that women played a huge role in the life and teachings of Jesus. I conclude yet again that this book points out "radical" things that we just haven't thought about before. Nonetheless, women are important.

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Bell did an exercise with a group of people. He divided the room in half... had one side name the 12 disciples and three things about them.... had the other side do the same with the women in the gospels. The group attempting the disciples found it difficult while the group figuring out women determined much about all the women they could find. I could go through and list all the women they talked about, but you could also dig deeper into the gospels and figure it out yourself :) Or look on pages 76-77 of this book to get a list. There are about 20 women who in some way either admired Jesus or followed Jesus. Somehow, we get caught up in male activity of the gospels and fail to see the richness of femininity.

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Here are four things you may not have realized about Jesus and women:

1. Jesus never tells a woman off nor does he ever speak to her as an inferior (c.f. Matthew 16:23- he does it to men)

2. It is more common in women than in men that he found examples of faithful living (c.f. Matthew 8:5-10)

3. Jesus talkes illustrations from women's experience (c.f. Matthew 9:16-17, 13:31-33, Luke 15:4-10)

4. Jesus' compassion for women is often contrasted with the disdain of other men (c.f. Mark 12:41-44, Mark 10:13-15, Luke 13:10-17).

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So, Jesus respected women. John Bell suggests that if Jesus was here today, perhaps he would have even pulled statistics in order to stand up for women, saying: "Women make up half the world's population, do two-thirds of the world's productive work, own ten percent of the world's wealth, and one percent of the world's land" (81). It was important for Jesus to recognize women in a world where men were seen as superior and dominant. Oh wait, they still are...

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This means, then that it is all of our jobs to realize and make known the importance of women in the gospel and in the world. Most of the time the disciples didn't get what Jesus was trying to say, but women, for the most part, understood and went beyond the surface of what Jesus was trying to say... He commended them for their faithfulness while condemning the disciples for their thoughtlessness.

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Women, stand up and be heard.

You are strong beyond your belief.

You are loved and are a beloved child of God.

Be empowered and encouraged for you are powerful.

**on a side note**

I am overwhelmed by people's capacity to love.

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I am overwhelmed by how many people I love.

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Graduating is such a double-edged sword.