Jesus, unlike most responsible American citizens, appears to do no work and is accused of being a glutton and a drunkard. He is presented as jobless, propertyless, celibate, peripatetic, and socially marginal. He is disdainful of kinsfolk, without a trade, and a friend of outcasts and pariahs.
He is adverse to material possessions, without fear for his own safety, careless about purity regulations, critical of traditional authority, a thorn in the side of the establishment, and a scourge of the rich and powerful.
Terry Eagleton: Reason, Faith, and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate
Love the quote...Seems hard to get this image of Jesus, one that is probably more realistic, into the heads of many church-going people. They insist on seeing Jesus as someone who dresses neatly, doesn't swear, goes to church on Sunday; in other words, just like themselves. But then, haven't we all done that through all the ages? It is a worthy spiritual quest to search for Jesus, as Jesus really is and reveals himself to be.
ReplyDeleteErin E.