Who Was Jesus
A Humanities Essay That Teaches The Study of The Bible As A Historical Document
I felt a very positive impression of who Jesus was after finishing the Book of Matthew. I had a new image of someone who was a down-to- earth, caring individual. I did not find quotes of Jesus that claimed being superior to the common man, of whom sinners could not look upon (a view that most people had of their Gods for centuries before). Matthew 12:49-50, Jesus announces to multitudes that they are his mother and brothers. In that way, he puts himself at an equal level to the people, rather than claiming to be a God above them. This reflects the whole attitude of the book.
Chapters 6-7 of Matthew quote Jesus as he is presenting rules to live by to the multitudes. To me, all of these sounded like hints to leading a happy life for yourself. Jesus reflects a God that does not expect virgins or animals to be sacrificed in His name; but, a God that is pleased by followers that love not only God, but each other also. These seem like simple, logical rules to live by. But, they reflected a time in history where that kind of love for one another was hard to find because of the hardships inflicted upon the people. I find some conflict in Jesus' actions, however. Jesus never (as far as I know) says to ignore to commandments of God in the Hebrew Scriptures; however, constantly breaks the Sabbath (Matt 12:13 and others), and gives VERY flimsy and unconvincing explanations for it. I am not sure what his message was in those actions. Perhaps he didn't care?
In general, Matthew was a good, entertaining story to read, with a very dramatic ending, and great character development (a little sarcastic humor here)!
I was very surprised to find much of the Book of Mark a repeat of what was written in Matthew, but with a little less detail, and a few stories omitted.
Jesus goes a little overboard on the parables! Most of the parables needed to be...
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