Jesus shocks

By Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo

Jesus is no ordinary person.  Or rather I should say “He was” (in past tense) no ordinary person because He lived 2,000 years ago, but He is alive, so I am describing Him as a living person.  That’s one of the things that makes Him not ordinary because He is still alive, because He resurrected from the dead 2,000 years ago.  In fact, He was only dead for three days and came to life again.  For those who have no faith in Jesus, He died after he was nailed on the cross because spiritually speaking Jesus does not matter or has no bearing in their lives.  But for those who believe and are in close intimacy with Him, He is very much alive in their hearts. They converse with Him daily (through prayer), listen to what He whispers or inspires them in silence within their hearts and He directs their lives so that they become like Him.

Buddha says “I teach the way”, Jesus says “I am the way”.  Buddha says “Be yourself a lamp”, Jesus says “I am the light of the world”.  Jesus is no ordinary person because He is both God and man.  If someone were to ask “Is Christianity superior to other religions such as Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism?” The answer is “Yes”. Not out of arrogance or because Christianity claims to have a superior doctrine, or rituals, but simply because of the Founder Himself, Christ who is God Incarnate (God who became man).  All other religions can be traced to a human founder but Christianity is founded by God in Christ, the Creator of reality Himself.  This is not to say that you can’t be saved (going to Heaven after death) unless you are a Christian (that’s another matter for discussion) but Christianity simply is the only religion founded by the one and only God and He did not establish many religions because that would be contrary to His nature of unity.

Many times, in the Gospel, the Scribes and Pharisees wanted to pin Christ down by entrapping him and accuse him of either not paying taxes to Caesar, or allowing a woman caught in adultery to be stoned to death. But instead of Him being the one questioned the Scribes and the Pharisees ended up being questioned.  When they asked Jesus should they pay taxes to Caesar or not, He replied with a corresponding question, whose image is on the coin. When they asked him if they could start stoning the woman, he asked them in reply, does anyone of them do not have any sin and if yes, that person may cast the first stone.  Instead of putting Jesus on the spot, Jesus puts them on the spot. He turns the table on them.  They can’t question Him and outsmart Him because He is God.  God is the one who questions us and make us ponder about ourselves whether we are behaving in the right way (in relation to Him), because He is the Creator who has authority over everything and especially us as His creatures.  He is the Judge and He judges us not Him.

In multiple occasions the impression of the crowds on Him was astonishment.  “And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one

who had authority, and not as their scribes.” (Matthew 7:28-29) “And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue; and many who heard him were astonished, saying, ‘Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to him? What mighty works are wrought by his

hands! Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary?’” (Mark 6:2-4) Jesus is shocking and therefore not boring.  That’s why many wanted to hear his teachings.

Today Jesus is still the solution to man’s boredom.  Many find religion boring because they think it is just all about Church rituals (and they think Heaven is just rituals too for eternity!) and then once in a while you get to listen to an inspiring homily.  In other words, religion for many people is something that is predictable (because of the routinary worship) and not practical (could not be applied to solving problems in life especially financial ones).

How can God be boring when He is infinite in personality?  Have you ever wondered what God does in Heaven all day?  According to philosopher Boethius, God ponders on Himself all day because He is infinite in Himself.  If God is not bored of Himself and ponders on Himself for eternity, then He must be an exciting God to know.  That’s why there are contemplative nuns and monks that isolate themselves from the world and stay in a convent for the rest of their lives because for them the world is distracting and inadequate.  In other words, the exciting part of religion is not seen from the outside but inside when one’s heart falls in love with God.  As Blessed Bishop Fulton Sheen would say, “Things of the world and of the flesh seem to be exciting, but when you experience them, you will be frustrated.  Things of the spiritual seem to be boring but when you experience them, you will be pleasantly surprised.”