Out of Egypt

Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt is a very well written book by Anne Rice. The novel covers just over a year of Jesus’ life as a boy growing up during the ages of seven and eight. The story starts out in Egypt with Jesus living with his family there. Then they return to Israel and are in Jerusalem during the start of a great revolt. Traveling out of the city they go through the war torn areas of the nation as the Romans are fighting to put down the revolutions. Finally, they make it to Nazareth and begin life there. After a year has gone by they return to the temple for Passover and this time bloodshed will not drive them away. All throughout this journey Jesus is trying to figure out what the big secret his parents are keeping from him.

Through bits and pieces throughout the story he learns of special occurrences and circumstances surrounding his birth. Also, Jesus learns that he has the power to give or take life. He can heal and control the weather at will. In this, Jesus knows there is something his parents are keeping from him but they don’t tell him. Finally at Jerusalem for the second time he finds out the whole story of his birth, from the amazing circumstances to Herod murdering all those children in order to try and find him. By the end, Jesus realizes that he is the Christ.

As for points that challenged me or broadened my thinking, I’ve been having trouble identifying parts of this novel that did this. I’m trying to approach this in humility, and not in the arrogance of “I know so much,” or “I am so firm in my beliefs that NOTHING can change what I believe.” In the same breath, I’m not sure exactly how this book is supposed to challenge my faith. Whether or not Jesus killed a boy doesn’t challenge my faith. I don’t believe he did it, but even if he did, apparently he can still be the pure lamb sacrificed on the cross for our sins, to redeem creation to himself. If he is still that, then who cares what he did as a kid, as long as it’s congruent with that.

Or even her belief that Mary remained a virgin for the rest of her life, how catholic of Anne Rice! Again, whether or not that’s true has zero impact on my walk with my Lord. I believe that she had sex with Joseph and had other kids by him, but no big deal if that’s not true. I feel like people get hung up on these minor details all the time and forget to see the big picture. I loved the book. I thought it was wonderful and it helped me imagine the environment of Jesus life!
The greatest gift that the novel gave me was to picture Jerusalem and the Temple in my mind. Reading scripture makes it hard to imagine, and diagrams in my Bible (even the ones in color!) don’t help me see it the way that First Century Jews did. On the other hand, I am an avid reader with a colorful imagination and for Anne Rice to do so much research on the temple and to put her imagination into writing helps me picture what the temple must have been like during Jesus time on this earth.

My favorite parts of the Gospels are the ones that put dust in the sandals and smell to the cloaks of the people. I love knowing that just as real and colorful as our world is today, so it was back then. I think it’s wonderful how God created humans, people, with personality, charm, humor, and all the other wonderful characteristics, and we have been interacting with each other from the beginning of time. It helps me walk with Jesus daily, remembering that he walked this earth too. He’s felt the prickle and soft of walking on grass, he understands the hot days and the rainy showers. I love remembering the humanity of Christ; it brings him closer to my heart, and draws me nearer to him. My Lord came as a baby to this earth. He is not a high priest I that doesn’t understand my trials and temptations, but rather he is an advocate for me before the Father. He is my savior, my friend, and I cannot wait for the day, in New Jerusalem where we can walk together by the Sea of Galilee! It’s going to be a good day.

The Gospel of John 2

The Upper Room Discourse

From Chapter 13 through Chapter 17 Jesus is in the upper room for the last supper. He dines with the disciples and shares so much of his spirit with them.

He starts the entire meal by washing the feet of the disciples, serving and loving. He teaches the disciples so much of himself during the entire dinner. He shows them how to serve, and loves them completely in the process.

He shares how he is the only way to the Father. How he is central to the whole faith. And in chapter 15 -my absolute favorite chapter of the upper room discourse, he talks of his relationship with the Father and his desire for his disciples to have that same relationship with the Father.

It's so amazing. The whole dinner is centered on everybody's position to one another, starting with Jesus knowing he is all powerful basically, and then washing feet, and ending with Jesus "high priestly prayer" where he asks the Father for the same connection for the disciples.

It's wonderful how he lays out for the disciples and now us, where he is, where the Father is, and where we are ALL IN RELATIONSHIP TO ONE ANOTHER.

We are the branches. He is the vine. The Father is the vine dresser. I think it shows God's GREAT DESIRE for us to be in communion with him. For us to grow in an intimate relationship with our maker. He created us for relationship and through Jesus gave us the CHANCE for that relationship!

God is so in love with us. And I am SO in love with him!

The Gospel of John 1

I love this Gospel. This is the Gospel that makes my heart glow, draws me closer to my maker and savior. I love this Gospel.

The conversations recorded of Jesus in John that aren't recorded in any other Gospel are the ones that ring closest to my soul.

Of COURSE, when Jesus talks to Nicodemus at night is one of my favorite conversations in the Bible, but a quick second to Jesus speaking directly and privately to the woman at the well.

It's as if the other Gospels record Jesus from afar, yet in John Jesus is so privet and close. From the opening of the book on the Word made flesh, and on to the upper-room discourse, again and again Jesus is so close it seems a secret at first. But as you read deeper and deeper you become ensconced in the intimate friendship of Jesus and those closest to him.

The other Gospels spend so much time talking about the Kingdom of God whereas John mentions the phrase to Nicodemus but remains silent on the issue during the rest of the book. It's as if the other authors were focused on the Kingdom because of Jesus' emphasis on it, but John was so close to the the King it would have been redundant or silly to write on the Kingdom. To try and talk about the Kingdom would be a step back from the deep nature of knowing the King. So John writes, and writes beautifully about this King, this King that is so close....

The Challenge of Jesus 1

I love the search for the historical Jesus. I think that Wright challenges us to a higher understanding of who Jesus was and I really appreciate this. Because of my experience growing up in the Albanian culture, I feel like I have insight into certain passages of scripture that are highly cultural. Through the similarities between Albania and 1st Century Israel, I can see maybe what certain passages are trying to communicate.

To understand Jesus we have to know who he is and was. We need to understand infinite becoming finite. Almighty God, taking on a human body. He took on looks, personality, being male, AND being a 1st Century Jew.

All the above play huge roles in understanding the nature of our Lord. Wright challenges pastors, lay people, ALL CHRISTIANS to seek and understand this Jesus. What a noble cause. Sometimes we hide behind these "very clear" scriptures without understanding the context. Others say, "It's unknowable! There's too much! We can never understand!"

Wright challenges BOTH these positions and says, "There IS context to who Jesus was, AND it's knowable, AND it's OUR RESPONSIBILITY to find him in it."

I look forward to spending a semester seeking a deeper understanding of our Lord, who is the same, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

The Journey to Death in Luke

Luke is such a LONG but wonderful gospel. I love how much teaching Jesus does, but how much ministry is coupled with that. He heals, he casts out demons, and performs miracles, but the thing that caught my attention most in Luke was his journey to Jerusalem. At the end of chapter 9, verse 51 says, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.”

There are only 9 chapters in Luke about his birth, entering ministry, and then a little bit of his three years of ministry. After that, from 9 to 19, Jesus sets his face towards Jerusalem, knowing he is headed to his death. I LOVE this about Luke. From 9 on to 19 everything Jesus does, I see as a man who is walking closer each day to death. What a powerful story for Luke to map out for us. The majority of Luke is centered around Jesus death. Starting in 9 the journey begins, then 19 to 21 he’s ministering in Jerusalem and in 22-24 is the crucifixion story. Luke caps it off then with Jesus’ resurrection in 24, but again, it’s amazing how focused Luke is on the story of Jesus death.

This journey towards death adds so much more weight and meaning to the things that Jesus said, and dealt with on his way to Jerusalem. He knew very well his time with the disciples was coming to a close and he was teaching and imparting the essentials, the foundations, and the example of Kingdom living.

I wonder what I would do if I knew my time on earth was drawing to a close...

Who would I spend time with? Would I focus all my time on enjoying my friends? Would I seek to minister and give as much of myself as possible? It's an interesting challenge that Jesus lays out before us.

Matthew Part 2

So much goes on in the rest of the book of Matthew but in keeping with my Albanian Jesus theme, I want to focus on Matthew 21:18-22, where Jesus curses a fig tree.

Since coming to America, I have only had figs once in my almost 2 and a half years here. It was this summer at a friends house, they had figs and I got to enjoy the taste of figs again! It was not quite as good as the figs we used to eat in Albania, and they were much smaller, but figs they remained. It's not that we had figs often at my house, but I remember in our neighborhood when I was growing up, there was a fig tree about fifty yards from our house. It was a giant tree and from what I remember one of the biggest trees in the neighborhood. It had great branches and very distinct large green leaves.

If you cut one of the branches a white creamy fluid, the tree's sap, would ooze out. I remember being about 5 or 6 when my older brother very knowingly explained to me that if that sap got in your eye it would make you go blind. He ordered me to never look up while I walked under a fig tree in case it's sap would drip in my eye and make me go blind. As a dutiful younger brother I did so faithfully for years! I have no idea if it really makes you go blind or not, but whenever I read about fig trees in the Bible, I always picture these lush, huge big trees that were so fun to play in, but also my brother's stern warning to not look up.

It makes me wonder if the disciples had talked about these things as kids like my brother and I. Maybe they had the same affection towards fig trees as myself, but it must have been a powerful lesson to see a lush fig tree wither so drastically because of Jesus command. I'm sure they never forgot it. I know I never would.

Matthew Part 1

I love the Gospel according to Matthew. It has always struck a deep chord inside my being and made me realize the greatness of our Lord. Matthew opens with a long geneology linking Christ all the way back to David, but traces it through the kings of Israel and Judah. From the get go, Matthew seeks to show that Jesus of Nazareth was our King.

Then Matthew covers most fully Jesus brilliant sermon on the mount. In this sermon, spanning from Matthew 5 to 7, Jesus lays out the way of the Kingdom of Heaven. He calls his disciples to a higher calling, a deeper understanding, and living as close to Life as possible. In Texas there are ranchers who don't use fences to herd their cattle. Because these parts of Texas are so dry, the ranchers use wells to keep the cows in certain areas. Fences aren't even necessary because the cows know that the wells are LIFE GIVING and to wander away is death. I think that's what Jesus is saying throughout the sermon. In the same way, yes there are fences BUT HERE IS THE WELL! Drink! Live abundantly! This is the calling of the Kingdom of Heaven, not higher stronger fences, but deeper, cooler, sweeter wells.

The second great part of Matthew dedicated to the Kingdom of Heaven is chapter 13. In chapter 13 Jesus tells parable after parable describing the Kingdom. It's like he's looking at all the different facets of a beautiful jewel and describing each one. It's like the UNSTOPPABLE mustard plant! Did you know that only mustard farmers were allowed to grow mustard under Roman rule in Palestine? People were not allowed to grow it in their yards because of the nature of the plant to GROW, and take over neighbors yards and entire sections of towns! I LOVE that Jesus describes the kingdom almost as a weed you cannot get rid of, because it's true! The world can never weed out the Kingdom of Heaven! Especially, as Matthew points out, with Jesus as our King!

Mark 1:29-34

I guess this would be a good place to explain the name of my blog, "Albanian Jesus." The reasoning behind it is that Albanian culture is very much a Mediterranean/Eastern culture. We have olives trees covering our mountains and fig trees in the valleys. We have the Adriatic sea in the west and the Balkans in the east. In the ancient world Albania was known as Illyricum and the people were the Illyrians. Culturally, geographically, Albania is not far from Jesus time on earth.

I was reminded of this again in reading through Mark. A story that has always stood out to me in this regard is when Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law. I think I used to imagine Jesus walking into the room and taking her hand slowly saying, "Rise, be healed" or something formal and impressive like that. But after a while in Albania, I began to recognize the similarities in culture and people between the Jews of the Bible and Albanians! Then in my head, I rethought our what would have happened if Jesus healed an Albanian woman. He grabs her hand, helps her up off the couch, and she grabs his head and starts kissing his cheeks and his forehead over and over again saying, "oh thank you thank you thank you." Then of COURSE she can't let him leave without feeding him and letting him stay the night! It's her DUTY and especially now that she's capable of it she makes sure Jesus is comfortable and won't go anywhere then busies herself with preparing the nights meal. She is grateful to have been healed, and so excited for the chance to serve.

That's how I imagine the story, and I like to believe it's not too far off from reality. When I think of Jesus in this way, he's so tangible and real to me. He becomes closer to me, and closer to my life when I think how he's concerned with a fever, then he must be concerned with my homework, and all other aspects of my life as well. Of course afterwards he must stay for dinner. :)

Jesus and Me

So, my name is Daniel, and I guess the most interesting part of my life is that I grew up in the little country of Albania. I was born in Greece because my parents were missionaries in the region and when I was 13 months old we moved to Tirana, the capital of Albania. I lived there until I moved to Portland two years ago to start attending George Fox. I'm a political science major here at Fox and have thoroughly enjoyed it! Political science challenges me, makes me think, and I really enjoy the study of it. On top of all that, I really love the Bible and teaching on it. Teaching is one of the ways I feel like I can serve others around me and I work hard at it. I grew up in a nondenominational church and now attend a nondenominational church as well. Both churches are marked by unity, love, and guided by the scriptures.

This blog is all about Jesus. False. Actually it’s about me interacting with Jesus, authors and their ideas about Jesus, and my Life of Christ class. I guess the focus is definitely geared towards Jesus though. Who is Jesus? Gee, where to start. First the facts: he was a man that lived in Galilee about two thousand years ago. He was a teacher and was crucified on a cross by the Romans. After this is gets personal to what I believe, but to me, he wasn’t just a teacher and a rabbi. He was the Christ and is the Christ because he rose again and lives today. He’s our savior, and died on the cross to redeem creation, and reunite us with God.

I think one of the most meaningful stories about Jesus to me is the story where he is asleep on the boat and they get trapped in a storm at sea. The disciples, as some were expert fishermen, knew by the type of storm and severity of the wind and waves that they were doomed. They had grown up on this sea, and were probably still telling stories about the time Uncle Bartholomew went out into a storm like this and didn’t come back! In the world they lived in, this storm meant death. They wake Jesus up and he calms the winds and the seas, then turns to the disciples and asks, “Why were you afraid? Oh you of little faith.” I love that story because it reminds me that Jesus reality functions in a different way than my reality, and if I let him, he makes his reality my reality too.

I love the style of this class. The interaction with Jesus and the authors who are brilliant thinkers is truly how I learn. This type of learning is what I do on my own time so I’m really looking forward to expanding my thinking, building new pathways in my brain, and examining the person of Jesus in a deeper way.

Things that challenge me about Jesus? Well, what doesn’t challenge me about Jesus! In Sheldon’s famous book In His Steps, characters try to make every decision in a fashion that Jesus would for a year. This leads to hard decisions, and good decisions. Honestly, I think it’s Jesus holiness that challenges me the most. His purity and upright nature, call me onward, inward, and upward. Also, I think how he took on the very nature of a servant calls me to greater character transformation, to that of a true, humble servant.