BEHOLD THE MAN: THE REAL JESUS

Aryeh Kaplan

Many people are fascinated by the person of Jesus. Even when they find it impossible to accept Christian theology, they still feel that they can identify with Jesus the person. They see him as someone who preached love and peace, and whose life embodied the greatest ideals.

When we look at Jesus in such idealized terms, many of the things done in his name seem very strange. How could the Crusaders have pillaged and destroyed entire communities in his name? How could the Inquisition have tortured people to death in the name of a man who taught that the foremost commandment was “love your neighbor as yourself”? How are such contradictions possible?

It is much less surprising that his followers did not live by Jesus' teachings when we realize that even Jesus himself did not abide by them. Christians like to present us with an idealized picture of Jesus the man, but a careful reading of the Gospels dispels this picture very quickly.

Let us look at a few examples.

One of the best known teachings of Jesus is (Luke 6:29), “If someone smites you on one cheek, turn the other cheek.” This might have been a beautiful ideal, but Jesus himself did not live up to it. When one of the High Priest's officers struck him, Jesus did not turn the other cheek at all. Instead, the Gospel tells us that his response was (John 13:23), “if I spoke amiss, state it in evidence at my trial. If I spoke well, then why did you smite me?” He did not meekly and quietly submit, as he himself is alleged to have preached.

Throughout history, it seems that the only one who ever “turned the other cheek” was the Jew.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus instructed his followers (Matthew 5:43) “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, and do good to those who hate you.” This might have been a fine lesson if Jesus himself lived up to it. But when it came to his own enemies, Jesus declared (Luke 19:27), “Take my enemies, who would not have me rule over them, bring them here, and kill them before me.”

Jesus might have preached against vindictiveness, but he did not practice as he preached, when he said (John 11:39), “I come to the world for judgment. I may give sight to the sightless, but I will blind those who see.”

Some of us may have a picture of Jesus preaching love and peace, as when he said (Matthew 5:22), “Anyone who nurses anger against his brother must be brought to judgment. . . If he even sneers at him, he will have to answer for it in the fires of hell.” The picture, however, changes very rapidly when Jesus himself is put to the test. We then find him declaring (Matthew 10:34), “Think not that I have come to send peace to the world. I come not to send peace, but the sword.”

Jesus subjected anyone who dared oppose him to the most awful abuse, curses and threats of dire punishment. When the Jews tried to defend their ancient faith, Jesus answered them by saying, (Matthew 23:33), “You snakes, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell?”

Jesus did not limit himself to his immediate opponents, such as the Rabbis and teachers. He spoke against all those who dared not believe in him, branding them as outcasts, subject to divine punishment. We thus hear his pronouncement (John 3:36), “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life. But he who does not believe in the Son shall not see life, but shall suffer the everlasting wrath of G-d.” He may have preached love, but it was a very restricted love. He thus said (John 3:5), “I surely say to you: Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of G-d.”

In contrast to this, the Rabbis, whom Jesus hated so much, did not place any such limitations on G-d's love. It was the Rabbis of the Talmud who made the statement (Tosefta, Sanhedrin 13), “The righteous of all nations have a share in the World to Come.” They saw G-d's love as available to all people, and not only to Jews.

An even stronger statement can be found in our Midrashic literature, where a rabbi declares (Tana DeBei Eliahu Rabbah 9), “I call heaven and earth as witnesses: Any individual, whether gentile or Jew, man or woman, servant or maid, can bring the Divine Presence upon himself in accordance with his deeds.”

The Jewish attitude toward non-Jews is most clearly expressed in King Solomon's prayer, where he says (I Kings 8:41-43), “When a stranger, who is not of Your people Israel, but comes from a distant land . . . turns in prayer toward this Temple, then listen to his prayers.”

Jesus, however, was not so broad minded. When he sent out his twelve disciples, he charged them (Matthew 10:5, 6), “Do not take the road to gentile lands, and do not enter any Samaritan city. Go only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

The Rabbis who lived in Jesus' time taught (Avos 4:3), “Do not despise any man.” They likewise declared (Baba Kama 38a), “Even a gentile who studies Torah is equal to a High Priest.” These Rabbis saw G-d's salvation freely available to all men. Contrast this with the terrible sentence proclaimed by Jesus (John 15:6), “He who does not abide in me is thrown away like a withered branch. Such withered branches are gathered together, cast into the fire and burned.” This terrible statement was later used by the Catholic Church to justify their practice of burning non-believers at the stake.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus preached (Matthew 5:43:44), “You have been previously taught to love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you: Love your enemies and bless those who curse you.” Jesus may have said this, but the Gospels are aflame with his own words of hatred toward those who did not accept him. Time after time, he displays the same appetite for revenge as any other mortal.

One of the basic teachings of Judaism is (Leviticus 18:19), “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This commandment is so important that Rabbi Akiva declared that it was the fundamental principle of the Torah. Even though this is openly stated in the Torah, written over a thousand years before Jesus' birth, many people still think of it as one of Jesus' teachings.

But even in explaining this commandment of love, Jesus was not above displaying his vindictiveness. The Gospel (Luke 19:29), records that he was asked, “But who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied with one of the best known parables in the Gospels:

A man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho is attacked by robbers. They plunder and beat him, leaving him half dead by the roadside. A priest comes along and sees the injured man, but he promptly crosses the road to avoid him. A Levite then happens to pass by, and he also crosses the road to avoid him. Finally a Samaritan comes by and is touched by pity. He binds the stranger's wounds, carries him to a secure spot, and tenderly cares for him. Thus, the Samaritan becomes the perfect example of the good neighbor.

At first glance, this looks like a most beautiful story. But when we look beneath the surface, we see Jesus' vindictiveness only too clearly.

Let us carefully note the three persons who saw the unfortunate victim. They are a priest (Cohen), a Levite and a Samaritan. Anyone familiar with the three classes of Jews called to the Torah, knows that they are Cohen (priest), Levite and Israelite. We would therefore expect that after the Cohen and Levite passed up the victim, the story would tell us that the third person was an Israelite, an ordinary Jew.

Instead, however, Jesus substitutes a Samaritan, a member of a tribe who had been enemies with the Jews for almost five hundred years. This Samaritan then becomes the example of moral love. The Priests and Levites, who were the religious leaders of the Jews, were thus downgraded, while the hated Samaritan was praised. What Jesus is implying is that every Jew, even a religious leader, is incapable of even a simple act of mercy.

Even in his parable about love, Jesus was not above demonstrating his spite toward the Jewish leaders who rejected him. “Good Samaritan” is a byword among Christians to this very day. Many churches even bear the name, “Church of the Good Samaritan.” But Jesus' vindictiveness assured that there would never be a church with the name, “Church of the Good Israelite.”

Jesus was even able to be vindictive against a tree. When he found himself hungry, he was not able to restrain his too human emotions. The Gospel thus records (Matthew 2 1:18, 19), “In the morning, on his way to the city, Jesus felt hungry. Seeing a fig tree near the road, he went up to it, but found nothing on it but leaves. He said to the tree, `may you never bear fruit anymore.' The tree then withered and died.” The Gospel of Mark (11:13) makes it plain that it was not even the season for figs.

Did this innocent tree deserve such cruel punishment? It was not even the season for figs, and the tree was merely fulfilling its nature. If Jesus merely wanted to show his miraculous powers, as the gospel seems to indicate, why did he not command the tree to bring forth fruit?

Indeed, the Talmud (Taanis 24a) brings a very similar incident, but with a very different ending. Rabbi Yosi's son once wanted to provide his father's field hands with food. All he could find was a fig tree, but it was not the season, and the tree was bare. He cried out, “Fig tree, fig tree, send forth your fruit so that my father's workers may eat.” The Talmud tells us that the tree produced fruit before its time and the men were able to fill themselves.

If Jesus were truly capable of miracles, he could have done the same. Instead, he chose to display his vindictiveness.

A primary teaching of Judaism is expressed by the Psalmist many generations before Jesus. He declared (Psalm 145:9), “G-d is good to all, and his love extends over all His works.” No distinction is made between Jew and gentile.

Contrast this with the following event in Jesus' career (Mark 7:25-27): “A woman whose daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit heard of Jesus, and came in, falling at his feet. She was a Gentile, a Phoenician from Syria. She begged Jesus to drive out the spirit from her daughter. Jesus replied, `Let the children be satisfied first. It is not right to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs.”

From the context, it is obvious that the “children” mentioned by Jesus refer to the Jews, while the “dogs” were the gentiles. These “dogs” must be satisfied with scraps from the table.

Now compare this narrow view with a teaching of the much maligned Pharisees (i.e. rabbis). They declare in the Talmud (Gittin 61a), “We arc obliged to feed the gentile poor in exactly the same manner as we feed the Jewish poor.”

We can bring many such contrasts between Jewish and Christian ethics. In every case, the margin seems to be on the side of Judaism. Jesus may have taught many beautiful ideals, but unfortunately, he never seemed to be able to live up to them himself.

Apparently, it was difficult even for “Christ” to be a Christian.

Footnote:

The Real Messiah, Aryeh Kaplan, 1997, Olivestone, New York, NY

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