Saturday, February 14, 2009
What would the Teenage Jesus do?
I do not think Jesus ever directly said he did not sin, this seems to have been implied by other writers. So with that said,I have always wondered about the teenage Jesus. We know so little about this man's life. Most information is based on his final 3yrs of mortal existence and a few references to him as a child. But what happened when the testosterone hit? He is supposed to be fully human, so how do you think he handled the hormone surges? Afterall we do know he did express anger as an adult(righteous or not). So what do you think was on his mind when he was checking out the nice looking Jewish girls? I can just imagine if he was fully human he might have joked to his friends, "check out those melons".
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23 comments:
I'm pretty sure he had "thoughts".
Christians can freak out and say that means he sinned and wasn't perfect, but I've got different views on the matter. Too many to go into here!
Good question you raised! It's also fun because it forces us to use logic/reasoning since there's no biblical text to lean on.
You're right; Christ never said he was sinless. Humans said he was sinless, based on the idea that "I and the Father are one" and, since God never sinned, then neither did Jesus.
It's obvious that Christ felt various emotions -- sadness, anger, compassion, pity, etc. So what's to say that, during his teen years, he didn't feel (dare I say) horny toward a sexy Jewish gal? ;)
Hey shelly
Thanks for stopping by, I can always use a few more ideas from women to keep me in check.
yeah dude... i love the Infancy Gospel of Thomas which doesn't cover the sex question, but it does cover Christ coming to terms with his "power" and responsible use of it. pretty cool story.
That is a good question that I have never thought to deconstruct. Not sure what I think of the idea. I think that to follow the redemptive work of the cross to completion, it is probably a key point that Christ be sinless. To believe that makes the first important because if being sinless wasn't important for a redemption or restorative to be done, then that work wouldn't even be necessary.
Doug
Well if you follow the process just a little bit, and Jesus is G-d and seeing as G-d supposedly cant sin, then even if Jesus does make the remark, its not a sin as he is sinless. Like his anger maybe we can view as righteous lust. ;)
I hope the people reading this blog have a good sense of humour :)
Interesting question . . .
The writers of the gospels never took the time to elaborate on the youth of Jesus, unless it helped prove their point. I'm thinking of the scene in the synagogue, when he stayed behind and mom and pop thought they'd lost him. Obviously, him being there and learning about the faith and whatnot is central to the theme. But if he was God, what did he possibly have to learn? Didn't he come with the software pre-installed? Or did he have to figure this stuff out on his own?
Which leads to all sorts of nagging questions . . .
Ugh!
I think Jesus had to be sinless otherwise His sacrifice would not have been acceptable (the Spotless Lamb)
Steve
Tell me, why is it ok for Jesus to be angry but not be allowed to be turned on by someone he would have liked? Is he human or not?
John A T Robinson, an English Bishop, in his book "the Human Face of God" suggesed that the humanity of Jesus would also include the possibility of erotic thoughts and (gasp) an erection! This caused a stir amongst the conservative members of his diocese..... who would have preferred a Jesus who never thought of sex (ie a Jesus who was only divine and never human).
http://www.geocities.com/dcheddie/lust1.html
is an article about masturbation, and has a really interesting, and probably accurate perspective on how mainstream christianity has inaccurately defined lust. Denver postulates that Intent is a prerequisite for sin in this instance.
The teenage boy, flooded with hormones, is not ALWAYS responsible for his thinking nor is the 41 yr old man (thank God!)
A teenage Jesus would wish that he actually existed and wasn't a made up myth to control the masses
Good post John....interesting how the idea of 'human Jesus' threatens our 'theological Jesus'.But is not 'human or historical Jesus' embedded or buried under 'theological construction.'If it's true that the gospels were written by believers for believers to promote belief(theological interpretation),then it's plausible that what 'was believed' appears to be under construction from the earliest to the latest writings we have...compare Mark's(first) gospel to John(last)...that's quite a theological leap.As Luke(the blogger) alluded to,the 'wunderkind'story found in numerous other gospels and in Luke(the NT gospel) suggests to me a good example of what was under construction...namely'who was this man Jesus, in light of everything we have experienced?'
On a similiar note,I've always been impressed by C.S.Lewis's essay,"Myth Become Fact",but now I think that what we have is, "Fact Become Myth"...but that's fine,myth is not 'a dirty word'to me.
"He came as a man; he came seeing things with men's eyes, feeling things with men's feelings, thinking things with men's minds. God knows what life is like, because God came right inside life" - Hebrews 4:15
"But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."- Matthew 5:28
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It would seem obvious that Jesus sinned. He commited adultery, even homosexuality( tempted in ALL way as is a man).
But, I don't believe any of this stuff anyway. I'm just finding the folly in your question
Mac
Where is the folly in questioning someones belief?
Thanks for stopping by though, its always nice to have an atheist point of view, however limited it may be. ;)
Likewise, thanks for keeping an open mind, or as open as your indoctrination will allow.
I merely find the whole idea of Jesus being the son of a non-existent god to be folly.
If Jesus was the son of god, and knew that he had everlasting life after his earthly death, and knew of all this before hand....what exactly was his great sacrifice?
Giving up a life of pain and suffering to be placed upon a pedestal for all eternity doesn't seem like too bad a deal, even if one must suffer for a few hours. Many have suffered more for less.
Mac...if I may ask you...you may think that something like The Resurrection to be nonsense,or at least unbelievable,but what are yr thots on 'riseness',that is,something in yr life that has to be put down in order that something better wd rise?
Mac
Ive got the best of both worlds, Im closer to a Deist than anything else. So my "indoctrination" allows me to gel pretty much with both sides, unlike the bookends, Atheist/Fundamentalist
Groovy :-)
I'm probably more on the agnostic side, I cannot say for sure no gods exist.
I do, however, know god as described in the Bible is not a real thing. If such a creature did exist, I'm not at all sure he (she/it) would be at all worthy of praise and adulation. The god of the OT is a sociapath- at least as the Bible is written.
I think some of the question here is what is sin? Is it a sin to be angry? Is it a sin to find other people sexually attractive? I don't really think so. These are all emotionally based feelings. Having feelings aren't sinful in themselves. It's what you do with those feelings once you get them that can be sinful. Do you kill people in anger, or use it to set things right (as Jesus did in the temple). Do you lust after women and have premarital sex with them, or do you look away and restrain yourself. See what I mean? Having the feeling isn't sinful, it's the action that follows it that can be. In Jesus' case, perhaps in those teenage years, he trained himself well self-restraint. It's plausible, I think.
Anyway, that's just my two cents.
Is it a sin to find other people sexually attractive? I don't really think so. These are all emotionally based feelings.(Brandon)
Actually Brandon, if you claim to be a Christian then its pretty obvious from this statement of Jesus. In your case all you need to do is switch the gender.
Matthew 5:28
But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
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