Jesus preached for the creation of a New Humanity.(Contd):
Creation of New Humanity: As against clear failures in the creation of a new humanity, seen in the last Post, we have many examples of genuine humanity in the Gospels. In the case of Mary, the mother of Jesus, she responded to the invitation to be the mother of God Himself although that clearly put her in danger of ignominy and humiliation if she was devoid of faith in God's promises. " 'Here am I', said Mary; 'I am the Lord's servant; as you have spoken , so be it' Then the angel left her" (Luke, 1: 38). This attitude of self-surrender in faith to God's Word was the hallmark of Mary's life even when she did not understand the full implications of many things. Mary kept up her faithfulness at the foot of the cross also even as her only son was undergoing a most painful death. Joseph, the foster-father of Jesus, rose to the occasion when it was needed to defend the dignity of Mary who was betrothed to him. He too believed the Word of God spoken through the angel that the child in Mary's womb was from the Holy Spirit and he should not hesitate in accepting her. The first thought of Joseph was to end his relationship with Mary and do it quietly, he being a just man. "Being a man of principle, and at the same time, wanting to save her from exposure, Joseph desired to have the marriage contract set aside quietly" (Matthew, 1: 19). It was within the rights of Joseph to reveal the secret and have Mary stoned to death as per the Jewish Law. Joseph went beyond the Law and took a stand on the side of humanity by deciding to protect the reputation of Mary by not exposing her publicly. Joseph practiced the commandment that one should love one's neighbor as oneself by upholding the dignity of Mary as his own.
Discipleship and New Humanity: We have the examples of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimethea, both of them members of the Jewish Council, who were secret disciples of Jesus. These two were not the only ones from the authorities who believed in Jesus, but the others were unable to acknowledge it as they were afraid of the Pharisees who could ban them from the Synagogue. John adds the reason for their behavior thus: "For they valued their reputation with man rather than the honor which comes from God" (John, 12: 43). However, the secret disciples like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimethea did not belong to the above category of people as their actions at crucial moments have proved. Once the temple police who were sent by the chief priests and the Pharisees for arresting Jesus returned to them empty-handed. To the question why they did not bring Jesus with them, the temple police answered that no man ever spoke as this man did. The pharisees wanted to make it out to be a case of ignorance and misled enthusiasm from the part of the police in support of which they asked them a question and added a remark on the crowd. "Is there a single one of our rulers who believed in him, or of the Pharisees? As for this rabble, which cares nothing for the law, a curse is on them" (John, 7: 48-49). At this juncture, Nicodemus who was one of their numbers and had visited Jesus once at night (See John, 3: 1) intervened to the dismay of the Pharisees. " 'Does our law', he asked them, 'permit us to pass judgment on a man unless we have first given him a hearing and learned the facts?' " (John, 7: 51). It was an unexpected backlash for the Pharisees from a famous teacher of Israel (See John, 3: 10), who was rebuffed by the Pharisees with a personal attack and a prejudiced interpretation of the scriptures. (See John, 7: 52).
Similar, though more pronounced, was the action of the other secret disciple, Joseph of Arimethea, at the burial of Jesus. Although Joseph remained a secret disciple for fear of the Jews, from his later action it becomes evident that the fear was not for losing high position in the Jewish Council, from the policy and action of which he had dissented, being a good and upright man looking forward to the Kingdom of God (See Luke, 19: 50-51). Both Joseph and Nicodemus rose to the occasion on the side of Jesus when it mattered most.Their dissent in the Jewish Council with regard to its policies and actions did not bear fruit because of the hard hardheartedness and selfish interest of the other members. The crucifixion of Jesus created an atmosphere of failure and gloom for the righteous with an added note of desperation by the jeering of the Jews against the powerlessness of the miracle worker. A situation of acute pressure was created for joining the winning side at the moment for anyone who wanted to live in this world honorably. Under the circumstances, it was heroic on the part of Joseph and Nicodemus to come forward on the side of Jesus. Joseph went straight to Pontius Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus for burial that could not be denied to such a person of position and authority. Pilate did not even think of consulting the chief priests as he was himself perplexed at his action of condemning an innocent person at their insistence. Joseph and Nicodemus had no second thoughts about what would happen to their high position among the Jews once they came forward to bury the body of Jesus. They considered honor coming from God greater than their reputation and position with them. This attitude was a blossoming of their earlier stand on the side of goodness and uprightness even in the Jewish Council deliberations. (To be Contd).
Creation of New Humanity: As against clear failures in the creation of a new humanity, seen in the last Post, we have many examples of genuine humanity in the Gospels. In the case of Mary, the mother of Jesus, she responded to the invitation to be the mother of God Himself although that clearly put her in danger of ignominy and humiliation if she was devoid of faith in God's promises. " 'Here am I', said Mary; 'I am the Lord's servant; as you have spoken , so be it' Then the angel left her" (Luke, 1: 38). This attitude of self-surrender in faith to God's Word was the hallmark of Mary's life even when she did not understand the full implications of many things. Mary kept up her faithfulness at the foot of the cross also even as her only son was undergoing a most painful death. Joseph, the foster-father of Jesus, rose to the occasion when it was needed to defend the dignity of Mary who was betrothed to him. He too believed the Word of God spoken through the angel that the child in Mary's womb was from the Holy Spirit and he should not hesitate in accepting her. The first thought of Joseph was to end his relationship with Mary and do it quietly, he being a just man. "Being a man of principle, and at the same time, wanting to save her from exposure, Joseph desired to have the marriage contract set aside quietly" (Matthew, 1: 19). It was within the rights of Joseph to reveal the secret and have Mary stoned to death as per the Jewish Law. Joseph went beyond the Law and took a stand on the side of humanity by deciding to protect the reputation of Mary by not exposing her publicly. Joseph practiced the commandment that one should love one's neighbor as oneself by upholding the dignity of Mary as his own.
Discipleship and New Humanity: We have the examples of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimethea, both of them members of the Jewish Council, who were secret disciples of Jesus. These two were not the only ones from the authorities who believed in Jesus, but the others were unable to acknowledge it as they were afraid of the Pharisees who could ban them from the Synagogue. John adds the reason for their behavior thus: "For they valued their reputation with man rather than the honor which comes from God" (John, 12: 43). However, the secret disciples like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimethea did not belong to the above category of people as their actions at crucial moments have proved. Once the temple police who were sent by the chief priests and the Pharisees for arresting Jesus returned to them empty-handed. To the question why they did not bring Jesus with them, the temple police answered that no man ever spoke as this man did. The pharisees wanted to make it out to be a case of ignorance and misled enthusiasm from the part of the police in support of which they asked them a question and added a remark on the crowd. "Is there a single one of our rulers who believed in him, or of the Pharisees? As for this rabble, which cares nothing for the law, a curse is on them" (John, 7: 48-49). At this juncture, Nicodemus who was one of their numbers and had visited Jesus once at night (See John, 3: 1) intervened to the dismay of the Pharisees. " 'Does our law', he asked them, 'permit us to pass judgment on a man unless we have first given him a hearing and learned the facts?' " (John, 7: 51). It was an unexpected backlash for the Pharisees from a famous teacher of Israel (See John, 3: 10), who was rebuffed by the Pharisees with a personal attack and a prejudiced interpretation of the scriptures. (See John, 7: 52).
Similar, though more pronounced, was the action of the other secret disciple, Joseph of Arimethea, at the burial of Jesus. Although Joseph remained a secret disciple for fear of the Jews, from his later action it becomes evident that the fear was not for losing high position in the Jewish Council, from the policy and action of which he had dissented, being a good and upright man looking forward to the Kingdom of God (See Luke, 19: 50-51). Both Joseph and Nicodemus rose to the occasion on the side of Jesus when it mattered most.Their dissent in the Jewish Council with regard to its policies and actions did not bear fruit because of the hard hardheartedness and selfish interest of the other members. The crucifixion of Jesus created an atmosphere of failure and gloom for the righteous with an added note of desperation by the jeering of the Jews against the powerlessness of the miracle worker. A situation of acute pressure was created for joining the winning side at the moment for anyone who wanted to live in this world honorably. Under the circumstances, it was heroic on the part of Joseph and Nicodemus to come forward on the side of Jesus. Joseph went straight to Pontius Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus for burial that could not be denied to such a person of position and authority. Pilate did not even think of consulting the chief priests as he was himself perplexed at his action of condemning an innocent person at their insistence. Joseph and Nicodemus had no second thoughts about what would happen to their high position among the Jews once they came forward to bury the body of Jesus. They considered honor coming from God greater than their reputation and position with them. This attitude was a blossoming of their earlier stand on the side of goodness and uprightness even in the Jewish Council deliberations. (To be Contd).
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