The Christ Phenomenon

Why does the world call the man named Yeshua Ben Nazareth, Jesus Christ?  It clearly was not his name.  Have you ever in modern or ancient times heard of a Jew named Jesus?  No, neither have I!  If he lived today, his American Express card would not say Jesus H Christ.  What's in a name? In the case of Jesus...everything!


Let's clear up his given name first.  His name was Joshua in English or Yeshua in Aramaic; the language in daily use during his lifetime in what we now call the Holy Land.  Remember, people in his culture did not have "last names" as we know them today.  They were identified either by the first name of their father or the place of their birth.  Since the legitimacy of Jesus' birth to Joseph and Mary was in some dispute, he was usually called Yeshua of Nazareth. 


Most scholars today do not place any credence in Luke's manger in Bethlehem story.  Most reputable historians of the Roman period are sure that no "world wide census" was ordered by Ceasar Augustus as this would have created total chaos and Rome was all about order. There is also no record of such a huge event which is very unusual in a civilization that made meticulous records of everything.  Nazareth was certainly his birthplace and was definitely where he grew to manhood.  We know the man Joshua as Jesus from the English garbling of his Latin name which was Jehu.     


Over the centuries we have piled error upon error in regards to the life and works of this great teacher of God's truth. His story has now become so encrusted with half truths and untruths that it is impossible to separate historical fact from legend and fiction.  It now becomes a simple matter of faith - what each of us believes because no one alive today knows.


Where did the word Christ come from and what does it mean?  It is well to remember that Christ is a title not a name.  Christi or Christ is the Latin rendering of the Greek word kristos which means the anointed one; or the one chosen by God.  Kristos means much the same thing as the Hebrew word Messiah, without the literal implications of kingship. 


In the ancient Greek speaking world, which was all of the Eastern half of the Roman Empire, a Kristos or Christ was regarded as the highest level of sage or teacher of Truth.  A Christ devoted his life to understanding, experiencing and teaching the ways of God at the highest level.  In Asia, a person touched by God and called to reveal truth is called a Buddha; in Persia, Zarathustra, in India, Mahatma.  All have approximately the same meaning.  


The person we call Jesus was born a Jew to two very human parents, regardless of the lovely rather pagan story of divine impregnation.  He never once claimed divine birth but did say that He and every one of us are sons and daughters of God.  He called himself the "Son of Man", never the son of God - not once!  He knew that He was born for a special calling, that He had been touched by God and tasked to bring the Light of God's Truth to a world sorely beset by strife, hatred and revenge. 


His life mission was to teach love, tolerance and forbearance to a world that knew only "an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth".  He was as human as any of us that ever walked this Earth and that is the power and majesty of His work and life.  Imagine if you will, a humble Jewish boy called by God to transcend His humble birth in a poor backwater of the Roman Empire so wretched that even the Romans regretted conquering it. He was poor, sparsely educated (could speak neither Greek nor Latin) and yet possessing the Christ Mind and with the hand of God on his shoulder every step of the way, He changed the world forever.  


He introduced Divine Love and Divine Law to a world hungry for light and the world has not been the same since.  Even though He was a "man's" man he still was able to bring the feminine energy of love and forgiveness to a "might makes right" world.  


Now if you are one who believes that He was the literal, begotten Son of God, I will not debate this with you because none of us knows the facts of the matter, but do consider this: does it not follow that a literal Son of God, half God and half man, could transform the world as easily as we turn a page in a book and perform any "miracle" from raising the dead to healing the sick to walking on water without breaking a sweat?  It would be child's play for such a being!  Would death be a great sacrifice to a God who is phsically immortal?  Would a few hours on a cross be a terrible punishment for a God who could transport His spirit to another dimension at will?  Would resurrection be a miracle for a God?  


I don't think so! Even as a child I never bought into this legend because it makes no sense.  The idea of the virgin birth makes all He did trivial. He is so much greater when seen as a human; just as you and I. 


Listen to this!  Would it not be truly a miracle if a young Jewish man born just like hundreds of thousands of other young men could raise the dead, feed 5,000 with nothing but a loaf and 5 fish, walk on water, cure leprosy, insanity, epilepsy, turn water into wine and then rise from the dead?  He said He came to teach us that what He could do we could all do.  "Do you not know that you are all Gods; greater things than I have done will you do also, if you believe" 


How is this possible if He is literally a God? Remember, the key word in what He told us is....Believe!  A God does not have to believe, He just IS.  No, if He is just like you and I then what He can do, we can do if we have the mind of The Christ in us, as did the Master.  


What is the Christ Mind - what in the world am I talking about?  It is the highest state of consciousness that a human being can attain.  One is not born  Christed but we are all born with the potential of achieving it.  To achieve this exalted state of being takes a total dedication of one's life, mind, spirit and body.  You cannot be a Christ and worry about the wife and kids.  You cannot be a Christ and worry about making a living or paying the rent.  You cannot be a Christ and be part of the day to day world.  


To be a Christ one must master the art of being "in this world but not of it".  One must surrender his life to the Higher Good of bringing Light to the world; therefore he will have no business but God's business.  How many times did Jesus say this, even to his mother?  He could be quite abrupt, even with family who wanted Him to stop this messing around and come back and live a "normal" life.


He was born to this Christ life and nothing could interfere; not family, not the girl he loved so much, not the allure of a comfortable life of a Sage, with students, family and children gathered around Him - nothing must take precedence over his divine appointment from God.  The wonder of Jesus is that He was us, but so much more.  He transcended the petty, the mundane, the daily struggle for sustenance, happiness and pleasure.  He was not born a literal Son of God but He became a Christed son of God; as we may all do if we would do the work.  


No, He was born for the Father's business and nothing else would do.  Few human beings can transcend their humanity so completely as did the man we call Jesus.  It is said that there have been six Christs sent to humanity thus far in history but for much of the world, Jesus is The Christ because He was an example of what every one of us could be; if we would but transform our minds, hearts, and lives.  "Be you transformed by the renewal of your mind" Romans: 12,2.


Do you not know that we are all on an eternal journey to Christhood?  Think about that as you drift off to sleep tonight! 


May the Indwelling God be consciously present in your life each waking and sleeping moment and may your life be Heaven on Earth. 


And So It Is!


Rev. Dore' Patlian