Who was Jesus of Nazareth?

By Fr. Shay Cullen

Most people who consider themselves Christians will have their own imagined image of Jesus of Nazareth. Few really know who he was, what he did and said, or was reported as having said. Most know him as the child of poor parents born in a manger in Bethlehem, in what’s now the West Bank. They know about him from the Good Friday passion plays as a man falsely accused and condemned to death by the ruling authorities in Jerusalem. They had him arrested, jailed, tortured and executed by the Romans occupying Palestine then. Let us consider the kind of person he was — and is.

Few people, even many in the clergy, ever read from start to finish the accounts of Jesus’ life in the four Gospels. The attributed writers of these historical accounts are Mathew, Mark, Luke and John, and they give detailed accounts of Jesus as a person and relate what he did and said. The first three all seemed to have a copy of a written account by another disciple, and they copied stories from that and added them to their own documents. Only John has his own storytelling style.

So, what we can learn from these historical accounts is something about the character of a man who lived a simple life with an extraordinary intellect, insight and wisdom. He was a person of deep compassion for his fellow humans, especially the poor, the downtrodden, the outcasts, and women and children. He had extraordinary courage and had powerful self-confidence and charisma.

Jesus of Nazareth shocked and disturbed the rich elders, religious leaders and the educated elite by identifying himself with the most deprived and exploited in society. These were the poor, the sick and the outcasts, without any importance, status or rights of any kind. The elites and religious leaders regarded them as sinners cursed by God. They, however, considered themselves the blessed and the chosen, the most exalted, virtuous and important in the nation.

Women and children had no status or rights at the time, but Jesus clearly established their equal rights and dignity. During a meeting with community leaders, he called a child to stand before the leaders and said to them: “Whoever humbles himself as this young child will be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, and whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.” (Matthew 18:1–5)

Jesus did not recognize or acknowledge the prestige and status that the different social classes may have. He may be in solidarity with all humans, but he sided with the poor, the most vulnerable and those who have less in life. Children were his priority. He considered himself one of humankind, one in solidarity with humanity. He wanted all people to cast aside pride, arrogance, racism, discrimination, selfishness and ambition and never to dominate others but live in harmony instead.

He was humble and honest with all but stood strongly for the values he shared and lived. He taught by example and got down and washed the feet of his disciples, encouraging them to treat people as equals, serve each other and sacrifice their lives for others. “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28).

He told us that there was “no greater love can anyone have than to give their lives for their friends,” and to be friends with the poor, the exploited, and the abused is to follow in his footsteps.

Jesus’ view was that people can be fully human only when they help and serve each other. They will live life more fully when they love each other with a commitment to serve humanity with their talents and gifts, as friends and helpers.

He once told the story of a traveler who was attacked by robbers and left to die on a roadside. A simple trader — a stranger, an outsider, not a Jew — was the only one who stopped to help him while those who came earlier hurriedly left the man. This trader was unafraid and risked being attacked and robbed himself. The trader washed and bandaged the traveler’s wounds, took him to a resthouse and paid for his lodging while he was recovering. In this story, Jesus taught us that serving humanity and doing good, and having love of neighbor, is faith in action and that, one day, it will overcome violence and wrongdoing.

He broke with tradition and invited his disciples to be his friends, not his servants. “I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I call you friends, for everything that I have learned from my Father, I have told to you. (John 15:15)

It was clear that he wanted them to continue his work to transform an unjust, class-conscious society from one of extreme poverty, inequality and oppression to one where all humans, regardless of their religion, color, nationality or gender, could live together in a caring, supportive community.

Jesus believed that people could actually love and help each other as good neighbors. Seemingly impossible and distant as attaining that ideal is, he believed with total conviction that people could choose to change and be inspired to commit themselves to do good and oppose evil, and that goodness, truth and justice would win out in the end. That is what he said was faith.