Who is Jesus and what is Christ is the most important issue for modern humanity to address while at the same time it cannot be fully understood with our present level of conscious awareness. Over the last 100 years or so there has been an awakening of this conscious awareness in some human beings which has opened tiny cracks through which we all might look if we dare.
This change in human consciousness has fostered many and various philosophies, some of a scientific kind and some of a spiritual kind. Strangely, many of those who seek spiritual knowledge close their minds to the Christ Being and his cohort Jesus. At the same time the church flounders in its understanding so that its congregations have fled in droves. Even those who become spiritual seekers can have an ‘old-time religious’ response to Jesus Christ.
When we decide to commit ourselves to discovering the truth about these two pivotal beings we find ourselves hovering in between those who are spiritual on one side and a religiosity on the other; neither striving to uncover the truth about two beings who have given us the greatest gifts of all time; freedom and love.
If we are to understand the real truth about these gifts we must push our present level of conscious awareness to its limit by exercising our ability to think vigorously and thoroughly, while at the same time becoming aware of how our emotions and our intentions can work against us and prevent us from understanding this deepest of mysteries.
The only real tool we have at our disposal is the Bible which, for the most part, is difficult to understand and for some, carries a stigma. In parts it is even confusing; but it is often these parts that can reveal the greatest truths. The Bible can come alive if it is approached in an open and thoughtful way. Yet again, a level of religiosity can creep in as we read the texts and this must intentionally be set aside to make way for new thoughts about what the words might mean. One of the first things to do is to look at the original Hebrew or Greek words rather than the English translation. The translators often chose a word that suited their beliefs but which actually hides the true meaning.
To uncover something of the truth about who Jesus is and what Christ is we can study the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in composite – interlinking the stories in a linear way. It is not necessary to do this in an academic way but rather in a weaving of the threads as they can be found in these four Gospels.
Regardless of what theologians suggest about the differences in these Gospels, or their purpose, exploring what is similar in them, and why they are different in parts, will no doubt change our relationship with the two key players; Jesus and Christ. To do this we first need to accept that these are two different entities with two entirely different purposes. Even if we don’t understand this statement fully we can be open to it to give the proof a chance to meet us as we explore specific statements in the Bible.
The biggest clue to this fact is revealed when we see that the Gospels of Matthew and Luke begin with the birth of Jesus, and the Gospels of Mark and John begin with the baptism of Jesus at the age of 30. This baptismal act, as we shall see as we journey through the gospels, is when Christ appears on the scene.
Then we might notice that the genealogy in Matthew differs from the genealogy in Luke – compare Matt 1:1-17 Luke 3:23-38 “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,” Mt 1:1-2
“Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jan’na-i, the son of Joseph,” Lk 3:23-25
Matthew focuses on who is whose father while Luke focuses on who is whose son. Then we notice that the genealogy in Matthew goes from the past to the present; Abraham to Joseph, while Luke traces the present back to the very distant past to Adam, the son of God.
It is possible, and it has certainly been revealed by Rudolf Steiner as well as various painters down the centuries, that there were two Jesus children. Coming to an understanding of why this might be can assist us to solve some of the riddles in the Gospels. As with any suggestion like this it is not a matter of accepting it but rather exploring it and testing it from many different angles to see if it stands up as a fact. As we journey through the Gospels we will see time and again that what happened in the Middle East over 2,000 years ago changed humanity forever, and is still changing it.
Artwork on the cover shows the two Jesus Children becoming one. The one seated watches with gratitude as the Matthew Jesus leaves the temple and will soon die having achieved his true purpose. The Twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple. Borgognone, fresco, San Ambrosius in Milan