Jesus as a Spirit Person

One of the questions Marcus Borg (Jesus Scholar) asks, "What was your childhood image of Jesus?"  I find that I remember stories about Jesus...he was someone to be revered, but not understood.  For me, raised in Christian Science, I did not think of Jesus as "God", but the son of God, the Christ, the "bridge" to understanding God - but I don't know that Jesus really helped.   As Borg points out in his own childhood memories...his belief about Jesus seemed fine until he got into adulthood and then his belief system didn't hold up.  That's how I feel.

I wanted to believe in Jesus...I wanted to believe in his healing ability and that I could do that too.  That's what he says, right?  But that would lead me to thinking about him being tortured and then crucified.  And think about it.  If suddenly I started healing people...the blind, crippled, diseased, dead...people would throw a fit!  They certainly wouldn't believe it was God.  Have you seen what they do to healers who have found cures for cancer??  Buried them, literally and figuratively.

Well, I can assure you, I am not quite to that level yet, so none of you need to make plans to visit me in jail.  What I do relate to from Borg's description of Jesus, is that Jesus was a "spirit person".  He doesn't use "holy man" b/c he believes both words cause the true meaning to be obscured.  Borg appreciates that a "spirit person" can be female (thank you) and that "holy" is like the word "god"...we all equate different meanings to it.  So to Borg, "spirit person is to whom the sacred is an experiential reality."  This, I can relate to.  This I have experienced.

I have experienced healing, too - but not in the way the Bible describes Jesus doing it...and certainly not with the consistency and numbers that Jesus did.  Borg says we don't know if Jesus really healed anybody...what we do know, is that the gospels are trying to portray that Jesus was a powerful "spirit person", one who is still powerful today.  Is this the meaning of "everlasting life"?  I mean, people still talk about this man who's been dead 2000 years and still feel his presence in their lives!  (I hear the Easter song...He lives!)

What I know, is that learning all this about Jesus, is giving Jesus back to me.  AND!  my friends, Ola, Mary and Amy...they all had positive doctor appts today!  I like to think my prayers helped, but it's enough that they had better days.  Amen and Hallelujah!