When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples,“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
“Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”
Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:13-16)
Read: Genesis 50:1 – Exodus 2:10, Matthew 16:13-17:9, Psalm 21:1-13, Proverbs 5:1-6
Relate: Here’s some unorthodox views of Jesus that you might find a bit startling. Or… one of these might be what you believe and what I personally would call orthodox is a view you are uneasy with.
1) The teenage Jesus left his homeland in Galilee and traveled through southern Asia. There he learned some yogic traditions and returned to become a guru to the Jews. When He says things like, “I and the Father are one”, Jesus is confirming the truth that everyone, through disciplined spiritual practice, can actualize their own universal god-consciousness. The Christian Bible in no way contradicts this since it says absolutely nothing about Jesus after his boyhood visit in the Temple until he began his public ministry at the age of thirty.
2) The humanity of Jesus is what is important. Put aside those dogmas of Jesus being God and when you read the gospels you see a man of great presence, energy, and compassion with significant psychic abilities. He has a gift for conveying profound truths using simple images and stories like how he slept in the boat as the storm raged around him are proof that he was a man who had moved beyond the mundane cares of the world. The buddha said, “Even if robbers were to attack you and saw off your limbs one by one, should you give way to anger, you would not be following my advice.” Jesus demonstrated this truth perfectly as, even while he hung on the cross, he said, “Forgive them because they don’t know what they are doing.”
3) Jesus was a prophet. he was a messenger of God sent to the children of Israel to bring a new set of scriptures. To aid in his ministry to the Jews God granted him the ability to perform miracles beyond that of any other prophet from that time since. Jesus only appeared to have been crucified but in reality, because of his submission to God, was raised up to heaven. He never did claim to be the Son of God or to be God and such scriptures putting those words in his mouth are a corruption of what he truly said. One day Jesus will return to the earth to restore justice and to defeat the false messiah.
4) Jesus needs to be rescued from the Bible. The earliest and most accurate picture of Jesus has no need for all the mythological miracles added to turn Jesus into something far more than he really was. Even more important than this, however is that Jesus actually taught that the way to heaven was through a difficult path or working to live a good life rather than an easy path of simply believing in a salvation provided by his death. It is the original apostles, not Paul and the revisionists who twisted everything to conform to his doctrine.
React: Each of these four views comes from writings representing a very large segment of our population. They are a paraphrase of 1) Hindu, 2) Buddhist, and 3) Islam. The fourth is disseminated from a website “Atheists for Jesus” and to one degree or another is representative of many liberal Christian, secularist, or atheist views. It is so easy for us, when presented with an opinion outside our box, to figuratively tear our clothes, throw dust in the air and start yelling like a Pharisee, “You were steeped in sin from birth. How dare you lecture us!” But Jesus Himself asked His disciples what others, not His disciples, had to say about Him. It is good for us to understand and learn what we can from as many sources as we can what people believe on this most important questions.
Respond: As good as that is, the most important question we can ask ourselves is who we say Jesus is. So, who is He? Who do you say He is?
THE RIVER WALK 
always great to hear from you, hope all is well with you
greg
I like your premise, BJ. Keep up the good work. I’ll be happy to walk with you.
Good to keep folks thinking and considering…thanks for sharing.
Jesus is my living Savior whom I meet every morning, who goes with me everywhere, who grieves when I do wrong and sustains me in my commitment to do more right than wrong, the One whom I expect to meet at His wedding feast one day.
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
bible thumpers better look in the mirror because as we all know..if Jesus were alive with today’s version of the bible, he’d burn it…there is a reason why Jesus always & only spoke the WORD (NEVER-EVER wrote it)…for HE knew how evil men aka “men of false faith” could misinterpret written words…
Why do you think Jesus would burn our modern Bible? What about it do you think He would take issue with?
I believe in Jesus…not so much the BIBLE..Jesus spoke and lived the Word of the Lord..he never ever wrote anything down…and there is a reason why he never did…the bible writes there is “ONE” way compared to Jesus who says there is “A” way. There is a huge difference between “this”, “that”, “his”, “her”, “their” way compared to “A” way…Just like God works in mysterious “ways” ..so too does Jesus allow the children of GOD many ways into the Kingdom of Heaven..If that makes any sense 🙂
You say, “but Jesus says…” Without the written record, how on earth can you know what He said?
in my opinion…Jesus purposefully wanted and went out of his way to make sure the WORD of the LORD would be passed down ORALLY so that his real followers could Find their way….compared to the bible..that writes that there is “this” way..or “that” way, etc…the true beauty in life is that there is always “A” way…not just “one” way, or “his” way or “her” way or “their” way 🙂
That doesn’t answer the question. But it does raise another. If Jesus was so adamant that His words not be written down why are two of the four gospels written by some of His closest followers? Were they not listening? And if not, how could we trust any oral record passed down?
Jesus was NOT adamant that his words not be written..He was adamant that he speak the WORD of the LORD orally ONLY…and I think you are getting confused with “a” way compared to “the” way..there is a huge difference…like for example..in every situation in my life..whether good or bad, I ask myself, “what would Jesus do” and then act accordingly…compared to Aaron in the Bible who casts a goat out into the desert (thus the term scape-goat) as a means for a person and/or a community to absolve their sins in the eyes of the Lord…
OK. Now I’m confused. First you say, “Jesus purposefully wanted and went out of his way to make sure the WORD of the LORD would be passed down ORALLY” Now you say, “Jesus was NOT adamant that his words not be written”. How on earth could He be going out of His way to make sure the Word of the Lord is being passed down orally only if there’s guys following Him around making notes of what He said? Forgetting some of the other areas in which you seem to be confused, (like the fact Jesus didn’t just speak the word of the Lord, He *was* the word) you still are making no sense with your basic premise.
dude..keep reading the word of the bible…see where it brings you…you are making something so SIMPLE into a mountain of MOLE-HILLS…just answer me these simple QUESTION – did JESUS EVER write any of his WORDS down? we already know that ANSWER! and then TELL me WHY? because he couldn’t write? Please tell me why YOU think JESUS didn’t write down anything he SPOKE? make sure you keep in mind THE PHAROSEES
Pharisees i mean 🙂
so, if you are saying that Jesus couldn’t write..that would mean He can’t read either…which brings me back to my original point about Jesus and the Bible..the Words Of the Lord can never be written – it can only be lived 🙂
there is a huge difference between speaking and living the Word of God compared to writing about the Word of God…that is why his 2 closest followers wrote down the Gospels
I definitely see the perspective you are coming from.
Jesus is God with us. He was tempted like all of us but without sin. He overcame din on the cross and had found me with His redeeming love. The application of His redeeming power has cancelled out my sin and has given me strength to shut out my sins. He shall return to judge the world and establish His kingdom. I wait for Him.
I’m still waiting for you answer as to why Jesus never wrote his words down? You sort of got it correct when you said, “He *was* the word”…now, just look a little deeper..and try to comprehend the very subtle difference very simple words “a” way AND “the” way 🙂
Paul wrote to the Corinthian church “The first man was of the earth, the second man is of heaven” 1 Cor. 15:47
Jesus is the second man of creation, aka, Adam2. He is the first man of the new creation.
thanks Beejai for this lovely post…it’s a lucid summary of some of the versions and possibilities.
So if I may ask…
Can there be an actuality that’s entirely outside probabilities and possibilities? (The actuality of Jesus, not the mere probability of Jesus being one version or the other)
In my view Jesus stands for the truth behind his seemingly blasphemous statement “I am”…when in fact God had already made that his name. (Related questions – Was Jesus competing with God? Was he negating God as an outside agency?)
To clarify, Jesus says “I am” is a physical reality, and when one comes to terms with this physical reality it leads to a higher transcendental reality. This link is what Jesus calls “the way”. Thanks again 🙂
Rubbish in Rubbish out, we focus on God’s Truth not Satan’s lies.
Who do I say Jesus The Living Word is, I agree with God not worldly fleshy Man……
God Tells us who Jesus is……..
Matthew 1:22-23 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a Virgin shall be with Child and shall bring forth a Son and they shall call His Name Emmanuel which being interpreted is; God with us..KJV
1 John 5:7 For there are Three that bear record in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these Three are One.KJV
John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life and the life was the Light of men. And the Light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not..KJV
Colossians 1:15 -17 Who is the image of the invisible God the Firstborn of every creature: For by Him were all things created, that are in Heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him: And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist..KJV
John 14:6-10 Jesus saith unto him, I am The Way, The Truth, and The Life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me. If ye had known me ye should have known my Father also and from henceforth ye know Him and have seen Him. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works..KJV
John 10:37-38 If I do not the works of my Father believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me believe the works: that ye may know and believe that the Father is in me and I in Him..KJV
John 10:29-31 My Father which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand I and my Father are One..KJV
Isaiah 9:6-7 For unto us a Child is born unto us a Son is given and the Government shall be upon His shoulder and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His Government and Peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and upon His Kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this..KJV
Colossians 2:8-10 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him, which is the Head of all principality and power:(KJV)
“Christ”ian Love and Blessings – Anne.