Akbar Ganji

December 25th is considered the birthday of Jesus. Some have seriously doubted the historical existence of a specific person with this life. But billions of people throughout history have believed in him and lived with his name, memory, story, and narrative. Without that story and narrative, it is as if they lack a collective identity. Jesus, according to the Bible, is a very great, pleasant, and lovable character. Who was he?

God incarnate?

Jesus, through his words and actions, identified himself as God and Christ, and his followers recognized him as God incarnate. The personal God became human in Jesus Christ. “The Word became flesh” (John 14:1).

Jesus not only claimed to be the promised Messiah of the Israelites, but also said that God had entrusted everything to him:

“All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him” (Matthew 11:27).

The Son is one with the Father, and the Son is the only way to the Father. He said to his disciples:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; and from now on you know him and have seen him” (John 14:5-7 and John 18:1).

He considered himself equal to God and introduced himself (John 5:17-47).

This incarnate God was the forgiver of sins and the healer of incurable diseases (Mark 2:5-11).

The Jews knew and do know that God is the Creator and Owner of the Sabbath and its laws. But Jesus said, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath also” (Mark 2:28-27), and thus He can change its law.

This young man in his thirties claimed, “ Before Abraham was, I am ” (John 8:48-59). The Jews, who understood the meaning of this claim—being God—wanted to stone him, but he escaped. When God appeared to Moses, He said to him, “ I am who I am ” (Exodus 14:3). Jesus repeated the same statement.

After Jesus was resurrected and was present among his disciples, the apostle Thomas said to him, “ My Lord and my God ” (John 20:28).

Justice, truth and peace

Seeking truth, justice, and peace are liberating and liberating. Jesus said:

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matthew 6:5).

Without justice, the life of humanity will be plagued by discrimination, poverty, misery, and apartheid. His ethics and lifestyle were not those of capitalism and wealth accumulation. He considered wealth accumulation to be a cause of selfishness and lack of justice, and he said:

“Beware of covetousness, for even when a person’s possessions increase, his life does not consist in the things he possesses.” He then tells the story of a man whose wealth was his support, and when God took his life, he was questioned about this shifting of virtues (Luke 12:21-13 and Luke 16:31-19). He constantly said, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Mark 8:38).

Contrast this edict of his with the “ unbridled capitalism ” and “ discriminatory neoliberalism ” promoted in his name:

“ Go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me ” (Mark 21:10).

He said and emphasized that it is very difficult for the powerful and wealthy to enter the kingdom of God:

“How hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God… How hard it is for those who are attached to worldly wealth to enter the heavenly realm where God reigns! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:25-23).

Humans need to approach the truth in order to understand it. But the same truth, if grasped, will also be liberating. Jesus said:

“If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples. And you will know the truth , and the truth will set you free ” (John 8:32-31).

In the Sermon on the Mount, which is actually a "blessing" for groups of people with various virtues, he says: " Blessed are the peacemakers ."

|One must make peace with others before bringing one's gift to the altar” (Matthew 5:21-24).

These good virtues have great consequences (teleological ethics). It says: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

He had no relationship with the arrogant and proud, and he said: “And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 12:23).

He considered rulers, bullies, and oppressors to be small and considered serving the people to be great, saying:

“You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:42-45).

Love your neighbor.

Peace and universal love are manifested in the slogan "Love thy neighbor." He is asked what the most important commandments of the Sharia are. He answers:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, namely, love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:40-37).

He was a lover of the weak, poor, and marginalized segments of society and introduced himself as their servant. He said:

“The Spirit of God is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor: he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19).

Followers of the cross of death on their shoulders

Jesus was a pacifist, not a warlord. But he did not consider his path, which he presented as the path of truth, justice, and peace, to be an easy one. He said:

“If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 24:16).

Christ was the messenger of peace, justice, truth and love. The tragic world of war-mongering, discriminatory, exploitative people who make all the laws for the benefit of the one percent of the world has nothing to do with the message of Jesus and his followers. His true followers carry the cross of peace, justice (equality), truth and love.

Source: Goya Newsletter