Not That Different After All

Starting off the chapters from eight through fourteen, Jesus already does something I would never expect him to do. I knew he forgave sins, but I would have never thought that he would forgive someone breaking one of the Ten Commandments. When a woman commits adultery, which is one of the most important don't-do, he lets her go, justifying himself by saying everyone there had also sinned. Still, I think according to the Christian church, committing adultery should be a lot worse than normal sinning, but it seems like I was wrong.

I continue and continue to find examples about Jesus being a lot meaner and blunter than the Jesus portrayed in the gospel of Luke. Look at this one, in which he is basically saying that he is a lot more important than the rest of the humans, and that they should only follow him. I know it is probably true, but the way in which he said it made it sound like he was a very arrogant person: "Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he,ye shall die in your sins (John 8:23)."

Then, after seeing all these differences, I saw something I had heard about before. I haven't read it yet, because it appears in the gospel of Mark, but I had heard my friends talk about it. Jesus uses the same method of healing than he did in Mark, he "spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay (John 9:6)." I find this interesting, because it makes me believe in it a little more than before.

Another thing that was similar, this time to the gospel of Luke, was that he used a parable to explain his point of view. In Luke's gospel this is basically all he does, and now it is the first time he tells a story. Anyway, it doesn't work that well, because his apostles don't understand the parable's meaning.

Then, after I thought it wasn't going to be that different after all, I found another difference. In the gospel of Luke, when someone died, Jesus would just be strong and revive them, but in this gospel, "Jesus wept (John 11:35)." I didn't expect him to cry, because he is supposed to be strong and give strength to his followers. Also, he always knew that he was going to revive him, so there was no need to mourn his death.

Something else was that when he was pursued by the Jews, in the gospel of Luke he just continued and accepted his fate, but in this one "Jesus... walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples (John 11:54)." I don't think this is very Jesus-like, because I thought he was braver than to just hide away when they were looking for him. If he could revive the dead, how come he couldn't face a bunch of humans?

There was this line that Jesus said to his disciples, that I want to share with you. It is very similar to another line I liked that he said. "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness (John 12:46)." This means that Jesus is a light that came to the earth meant to take away the darkness to everyone who couldn't see, or make happy everyone who was sad. This definition of Jesus is one that I really like, and I hope everyone else sees its beauty too.

Another thing that I didn't expect, but I think is a development in Jesus' personality, is when he washed his disciples' feet. I thought that was an act of humbleness and a good way of teaching lessons to his apostles. I think it is majorly important because it was during the last supper. I really liked it, and I loved the teaching that came with it.

My last analysis in this post is something that I had never heard, but I think is very important. I have to say I don't really understand it, because I don't know to whom Jesus is referring to: " But the Comforter, which isthe Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you (John 14:26)." Who is the "comforter" or the "Holy Ghost?" I don't know if Jesus is referring to himself after the resurrection, or if it is someone else. I will leave you now with that question, and if you know the answer, please comment!