Jesus grew up among the poor who worked each day to survive. This is how 95% of the people in Israel lived in Jesus’ time. In the village of Nazareth many people farmed small plots of land, growing wheat for flour. They pressed oil for making bread from olives. They had fruit trees and grape vines. Joseph, Jesus’ stepfather, worked as a carpenter among the poor.
By teaching the poor, healing the sick, and gathering all that believe in him into a new community, Jesus demonstrates that God walks with every person. Jesus reveals the compassion of God.
In his death on the cross, Jesus suffers the same violence and indignity many suffer in our world. He prays, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He dies, feeling abandoned. Jesus’ resurrection testifies God does not abandon him or us.
Jesus teaches us to love as God loves — to love even our enemies and to turn the other cheek rather than escalate violence. “Be compassionate as your heavenly Father is compassionate,” Jesus says. Love. Lend. Do not judge. Pardon. Give.
These teachings come from Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain in Luke’s gospel, a collection of Jesus’ sayings. Matthew has a similar collection called the Sermon on the Mount.
Where do we get ideas about who Jesus is? As Catholics today, we learn about who Jesus is and what he teaches first of all from the four gospels. The gospel narratives tell us what Jesus taught, what he did for people, how he died and rose. We read from the gospels at every Eucharist.
Also as Catholics, we belong to a community of believers two millennia old. The first Christians were Jews who relied on Israel’s scriptures to reflect on who Jesus is. Very early nonJews became Christians, too. These Gentile Christians used their Greek learning and philosophy to think about Jesus. From these Christians of the third, fourth, and fifth centuries, we inherit the Creeds that tell us Jesus is “the only begotten Son of God, begotten not made, one in Being with the Father.”
Besides the gospels and creeds, Catholics today learn about Jesus from how we worship. From the beginning Christians have gathered to remember and celebrate Jesus and break bread together as he asked. As we join in Eucharist, the words we pray reenact Jesus’ story and teach us its meaning. We acclaim, “When we eat the Bread and drink this Cup, we proclaim your death, O Lord, until you come again.”
In every century popes and bishops have preached and taught the people in every corner of the world about the meaning of Jesus for their lives. They have preserved the teachings of the first apostles.
We continue to reflect on who Jesus is today. Artists portray Jesus in the skin colors and dress of all peoples. Andrew Lloyd Webber makes Jesus a superstar. Use the Jesus Is checklist to identify where your ideas of who Jesus is originate.
Jesus is —
List all of the answers with which you agree. Jesus is —
- An expert on the law of Moses.
- One who comes to serve, not be served.
- A compassionate healer.
- A homeless preacher without possessions who is good news to the poor.
- The Son of Man who will come in glory at the end of time.
- A king whose kingdom is not of this world.
- A witness who testifies to the truth.
- A Spirit-filled prophet of God’s favor.
- The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
- Truly God and truly human.
- Judge of the living and the dead.
- The only begotten Son of the Father.
- The one who asks us to break bread and share a cup of wine to remember him.
- The best friend and influence I have.
- A friend who carries me when I can’t go on.
- A man who is one of us, the stranger on the bus, the woman in the soup line.
- An unforgettable friend who never gives up on anyone.