Jesus Overhears Messiah Talk

Jesus was amazed by what he overheard near the small synagogue close to his home. Men talked all day. Often heated. Mostly low in tone. Not always easy to hear.

Yes, Jesus was an over-hearer and some of the men knew it.

He would sit alone some distance away, apparently resting. Recording what he could hear in his memory.

One subject was always loud enough for him to record. Messiah talk. It was frequent. As though the future of Israel lay with a holy person who would be a deliverer.

The very idea sent chills through Jesus. Was he being trained to be such a figure?

Of course not.

Abba had nothing to do with this idea. Abba was for everyone becoming heavenly, not for some powerful leader. Reality was set up to favor everyone.

Abba had no truck with the messiah story.

So:

Jesus was not in training to be a holy person who would lead the tribes of Israel to a new promised land. Or to raise the dead. Or to be the judge of who was saved and who was damned.

The land around Jerusalem was worn. It was not appealing. But here in Nazareth, and nearby, things were almost perfect. There was little complaint about poverty. Who needed more than the shelter provided? Who could ask for more than the food available?

Things were hardly bad. Why must peace be continually threatened by leadership games and power plays. Where was the crisis?

Individuals needed to come to the sweet reason of Abba. Calmly. Simply. Individuals. All individuals. In quiet mutual consent.

Messiah talk was vindictive. Enemies of Israel would fall to the imagined avenger, the Messiah. The thought revolted Jesus. It had no place in any religion. It made him speechless.

When he told Abba about overhearing messiah talk, Abba answered:

“Jesus, this is leaven in the loaf of Israel. It is not good leaven. And it is not only Israel. It is everywhere. People gang up. People exclude others. They fight wars. They stoke conflict. Groups think they are special and deserving of vengeance. Or lost glory. They think they deserve the fulfillment of imagined promises and expectations. It’s all speculative clap-trap. It is people blind to the heaven around them. Sullying creation. Rending reality.”

“What?”

“Call it anything you will, Jesus. It is evil. It appeals to the worst.”

“So what do I do if people call me a Messiah?”

“Don’t worry, Jesus, they will. Tell them to look within. Tell them to examine their own lives. Tell them you are normal and human and want nothing but to serve and enjoy the day. Tell them you are the son of man and that everyone should be in the same family, sons and daughters, old and young, all Jesus, all.”

“Ah.”

“Yes, you will have to fight off your biggest followers, Jesus. And when you are gone, they will forget what you said. Or rewrite it into what they have done.”

“Is it hopeless?”

“It is in the balance, Jesus. It is about each person grasping the divine in themselves. Not easy. But ultimately the only way.”

Jesus liked that idea. He let it steep inside him. Like a soothing tea.