Certainly, the story of Jesus has been twisted and turned, exploited for evil purposes, at times corrupted almost beyond recognition—but somehow sprouts keep shooting up through the rubble, bringing forth flowers, revealing something of the beauty of the original vision of this person who history can’t let go of.
Jesus has become a metaphor for human aspirations. He symbolizes what people want. Some people want sick things. So we get images of Jesus wielding an assault rifle or a picture called “Undefeated” with Jesus the boxer, muscle-bound, leaning back against the ropes in the corner of the ring, his gloves hanging next to him, a satisfied, victorious, post-fight smirk on his face, and a banner labeled "Savior" hanging next to him.
But even skeptics recognize that this super-macho Jesus isn't right. Comedian Bill Maher, in his movie Religulous goes on a 90-minute rant against religion, especially conservative Christianity. But several times he invokes Jesus as evidence on his side in his critique. You Christians are contradicting what Jesus was about, he says.
Historian Jaroslav Pelikan states: “As respect for the organized church has declined, reverence for Jesus has grown. There is more in him than is dreamt of in the philosophy and Christology of the theologians. Now he belongs to the world.” Jesus has escaped the bounds of formal doctrine and top-down church domination.
But what is meant by "Messiah" (Hebrew) or "Christ" (Greek)? Maybe the story becomes more clear if we say that by "Christ" we mean one who truly shows us the possibilities of living as fully humans, healthy and whole. A model, a guide, an empowerer. So Christ is a character in solidarity with humanity, not one who stands over and against humanity.
We pay attention to Jesus because he embodies a lot of what we want to embody ourselves—to be truthful, kind and courageous, to say no to domination and oppression, to be in solidarity with people in need living simply with generosity sharing our resources.
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