Jesus the Guru October 14, 15 & 18
Jesus Who?
In the vein of talking about what the crowds are saying about Jesus, Some people would like to paint Jesus as a guru, or a spiritual guide. I feel like I need to start by saying that the word Guru would have been more than just foreign to Jesus and his followers, it would have never been heard.
Jesus was thoroughly Jewish, only leaving his home country to go as a refugee to Egypt as an infant. Some would like to say that he learned eastern ways while in Egypt, but that is to forget that refugees hold on to their culture and religion stronger than anyone else. (the Irish in Canada are more Irish than those in Ireland). Jesus Mary and Joseph were poor in Palestine; they would have been outcastes in Egypt not only would they have not gone near the Egyptian religions, those religious teacher would have not gone anywhere near them!
That said, Guru is a word that we use, and some would use it to describe Jesus now. To say “Jesus is my Guru” is similar to saying “Jesus is my Co-pilot.” These are not words that Jesus would have used, but they can be used to describe our relationship with him. Does it fit?
What is a guru?
Spiritual guide – imagine some wise man living on a mountain that you climb up to find the meaning of life. They usually answer our questions with a question, or with some deep sounding thing that we don’t understand like a direction to contemplate the sound of one hand clapping, or how the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in china can cause a hurricane in the Caribbean. And there is always a sitar playing in the background.
There are many stories about people coming to Jesus privately to ask questions about life, God and everything. Here is one of those stories, found in John 3
This is the way I would have filmed it: Jesus would have looked like Aragorn in the first Lord of the Rings movie when Frodo and his friends meet him for the first time in the Prancing Pony Pub. Nicodemus would have come hooded, not wanting anyone to recognize him, and they would have sat in the back corner speaking in whispered tones
John 3
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."
3In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.[a]"
4"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!"
5Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, ’You[c] must be born again.’ 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
9"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.
10"You are Israel’s teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? 11I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.[d] 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.[e]
16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[f] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.[g] 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
Not you understand everything right?
I have no idea why we send people who are interested in Jesus or God to this passage – or why the Guy at the sports games with the rainbow Afro wig holds up the John 3:16 sign! I find that this passage is one of the hardest stories about Jesus for people to understand!
What Jesus says seems very Guru-like, very esoteric, and you wonder if the point is not getting the point!
But to quote Ricky Ricardo, let me try to ‘splain to you
There are things that Nicodemus would have understood, or at least thought he understood in Jesus words, and then, obviously there are things that he doesn’t get.
Kingdom of God
The Jews were waiting for the time in history when the messiah would come and usher in the new age – an age when God would be in charge of the world and his people would be in charge and not bothered by the pagan nations around. We often think of a Kingdom as geographical, for the Jews, the point of God’s Kingdom was Geographical yes, but more so it was about who was the king – who was in charge. It could as easily be translated as the reign or rule of God.
What Jesus brought that was new to the idea is that he taught the people that the Kingdom of God is now: the Kingdom is among you: the kingdom is within you.
Eternal Life.
Now this is one that we might say, I get that: it’s living forever, the fountain of youth and all that! But John uses Eternal life and Kingdom of God almost interchangeably. When we hear the word “eternal” we often think in length of time. Eternal is forever. This is true, but the word that gets translated eternal can also be translated as “the life of the age to come.” That Idea is more about quality than quantity. It is life lived with God in charge.
Believe In
When Jesus talks about believing in Him, he is not talking about believing in some facts about him – that he existed, was the Son of God, Died for our sins…
It is more about believing in, or trusting in him. There are these two great scenes in the movie Aladdin, once where Aladdin is saving Jasmine in the marketplace, and then again when he shows up as Prince Ali riding on the magic carpet. He puts his hand out to her and asks, Do you trust me? Do you trust me enough to come with me to escape the guards? Do you trust me enough to get on this carpet that hangs in midair?
When Jesus talks about believing in him, he is putting out his hand and saying, “do you trust me?”
Nicodemus has come to him because he is convinced that Jesus has come from God. Jesus is asking “do you trust me enough to follow me to God?” Will you not just believe about me, or believe me, but will you believe in me?
Jasmine can’t say to Aladdin “I trust you.” and then walk away from his rescue, or from his magic carpet. The proof is in the pudding – the trust is in the doing.
Jesus always connects belief in him to doing what he says.
After he teaches all these counterintuitive things in the sermon on the mount, like loving your enemies, like blessing those who curse you, like giving to those who ask from you, he says you are wise if you do these things and not just think about them.
If Jesus is a guru, he is a grounded guru with his feet firmly on the ground. His teachings are not about achieving enlightenment through an inner journey, they are about being the light through outward actions.
– Campolo on The Hour 1:55-2:54 www.cbc.ca/thehour/video.php?id=1401
Moses and the Snake
Okay, one last thing that Nicodemus got that we might not… the whole Moses and the snake in the desert thing.
Jesus is referring to a well-known story from the old Testament when the people of Israel were coming trough the desert from slavery in Egypt to the promised land. At one point venomous snakes enter the camp and start to bite people. Moses asks God what to do, God says to make a bronze image of a snake, put it up on a pole, and if the people turn and look at it, they will be saved from the effects of the venom. If you’re thinking, “Man, that is an obscure point for Jesus to reference!” You only have to look at the symbol for the medical profession to realize that is not that obscure.
Jesus is saying that there is more to this belief thing than just doing what he says – there is going to be a time in the future where he is going to be lifted up on a pole just like the snake, and if you are going to be saved you are going to have to look to him. While Nicodemus would have got the reference, the way that Jesus applied it would have been a riddle.
More of this to come in future weeks
That’s the stuff that Nicodemus got, or at least what he thought he got. What he didn’t get, or at least what he admitted to not getting was the whole born again thing.
Born Again
Many of us might bristle when we here the words “born again.” They have been used by a certain type of Christian in North America to distinguish themselves from other people who call themselves Christian. And the words have been used to sell everything from used cars to vacuum cleaners.
Try to put yourselves in the seat of Nicodemus: hearing these words for the very first time. Like Nicodemus we might try to take the image literally.
I saw this birthday card this week with a picture of a newborn baby on the front, still in the doctor’s hands. There is a voice bubble coming our of his mouth and the baby says “Whoa! That was rough! I hope I never have to do that again, I need a martini! The inside of the card says “If life really began at 40.”
Nicodemus has the same image in his head.
It doesn’t work.
This is one place where the grounded Guru gets a bit more spiritual – he is talking about a Spiritual birth: a birth where we are bonded with the Spirit of God, not just with our physical parents.
There was this great line in the movie, “A History of Violence” that might help to understand. Viggo Mortensen plays man who was once an extremely violent gangster in Philadelphia, He has left this life and is living a quiet existence running a diner in a Midwest town. His past comes back to haunt him, and he has to explain to his wife. He tells her he left Philly and spent two years alone in the desert to try to strip himself of his past. And then he says this great line “It wasn’t until I met you that I was born again.” It wasn’t until he met his wife that he became the person that he wanted to be.
Jesus is telling Nicodemus, you don’t just have to do new things, you have to be a new person – you have to be born again.
It is hard news for a guy like Nicodemus who has spent his whole life trying to get to God by being a good person, by doing the right things, by knowing the right people. Jesus is saying, you’ve got to start again, from zero, this time in connection with God’s Spirit.
It is strange that one group of Christians wear the term “Born Again” as a badge of honour – it’s saying, I was getting it so wrong that I had to start all over again.
This is where Jesus doesn’t fit the guru tag very well. Most gurus teach about Karma. Karma basically says that you get what you deserve. What you do in this life will decide what you come back as in the next – if you are a good person, or being, you get to move up the ladder and come back as a better person next time around, or if you are a Baptist Pastor, you get to come back as a dung beetle or something.
Jesus doesn’t teach Karma, he teaches grace. He says, you don’t have to wait until the next time around to get it right. I’m willing to strike all your mistakes from the record right now, and you can start again. He says I’ve come to save the world, not condemn it.
He is The Guru of grace
So with all that explained, what the Guru is saying to Nicodemus is that to enter into the reign of God, you have to start again from nothing. God will give you that restart if you look to Jesus, and he hints at the coming cross.
Nicodemus shows up again twice in the Gospel.
Once in the middle of the story when the leaders are wanting to kill Jesus he reminds them that Jesus would need a fair trial first, and then at the end of the Story, Nicodemus goes with Joseph of Aramethia to bury Jesus after he has been crucified.
Questions for Groups
Is Jesus a Spiritual guide for you
Is he more of a practical life guide/coach
None of the above?
What does being born again mean?
Grace or Karma?
