Ways of Christ

Logo: drawed Christian cross and earth symbol

Main text part 1, The Gospels,
chapter :

Jesus of Nazareth, his birth.

Drawing: Mary with the child

In the sequence within the gospels we come now to more human events. Traditionally, the birth of Jesus is connected with Christmas - although this may not be noticeable in many of the Christmas activities. (Luke 1, 26-56; Matthew 1-2). Faced with the central importance of the later 3 teaching years - one may ask why some present-day theologians have laid such emphasis on denying the virgin birth*) of Jesus. While the earth-shunning early "gnosticism" found it necessary to believe that Jesus only had an "apparent body", other streams of thought are of the opinion that Jesus had to go through the various steps of physical life of a human being, in order to express a certain model path. If a real search for truth were really the motivation for this discussion, more flexibility might be helpful. At a time in which connection with the transformation of sexuality and love new aspects emerge, e.g. extracted from eastern practices and reminding us of old temple customs, it (should) not be farfetched to accept a core of truth in the tradition. Buddhists – also ascribing extraordinary birth circumstances to Buddha – would have no difficulties either with the assumption of the virgin birth, or with a virginity in a mainly psychological sense, as described by R. Steiner for instance. The Koran speaks of Jesus as a being "created" by God in the virgin Mary – similar to the biblical account of the angel coming to Mary to announce the virgin birth of Jesus.

It could turn out that this characteristic of Jesus, which does not match any of the fixed ideas we have about him, is already being hinted at. However we are more likely to recognize specific qualities rather in the further course of his life. We will also encounter the importance of the possibility of being "born again" with Christ during this life **.

Right from the beginning, the life and the ministry of Jesus were interwoven with the course of world history. That already becomes apparent in the census, which was decreed by the Roman emperor, which caused Jesus’ parents to travel to the prophetically significant town of Bethlehem where Jesus was born. That fact was taken into account in theological literature when it came to the debate on the worldwide significance of Jesus.

*) The Aramaic language did not have a distinct word for "virgin". It used the term "young woman". But at that time, young women were generally virgins before marriage. There are diverging accounts about Jesus’ siblings. They might have been younger than Jesus; others might have been brought by Joseph into the marriage.

**) Extra window: Bible quote

Question:
If I have not yet experienced it, can I wish for an inner renewal from God as the source of everything?

Help: a self-examination for the work with the main text

 

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