I just finished reading a book called, "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal" by Christopher Moore and as a pastor who sees the world through a theological but often secularly theological (does that make sense?) lens, I have to tell you: this is a great book.
The disclaimer that Moore himself offers up is that the work is pure fiction with some tidbits of fact sprinkled in. He did his research, but the plot itself is still a work of pure imagination. Brilliant imagination, but imagination nonetheless. You have to read this book through that lens, otherwise you find yourself wondering how God doesn't strike some people down with lightening bolts.
But the book is fantastic. It's the story of Christ's life told through a completely different set of eyes: A guy named Levi who is called Biff who grew up with Jesus (in the book he's called Joshua based on how the name is pronounced bibically). Biff is sort of like the ying to Christ's yang. Where Christ is humble, Biff is over the top. Where Christ is saddened and needs to be alone, Biff is ready to punch someone in the face and make everything right again. Biff likes wine, he likes women, and he likes fun. But he loves Joshua, so where Joshua goes, Biff goes. The story includes the two of them traveling to find each of the three wise men that came to find Christ in Bethlehem. I highly recommend the book. It's a great read. It made me laugh, and there were points it actually made me sad.
But at the end of the book, I felt something else. I felt strangely comforted by the story. Even though I know it is a work of fiction, there was something remarkable about seeing Christ through a purely human lens. The book makes no bones about the fact that Joshua (Jesus) is God's Son, but there's something innocent and wise about seeing Christ as the kid and teenager that we miss in scripture.
We often wonder why the only stories we have of Jesus before he was 30 in our scriptural canon are the story of his birth, the story of his blessing in the temple, and the story of how his parents had to go back and find him in the temple with the teachers of the law ("Didn't you know I had to be in my father's house?"). I've also been reading a lot of John Calvin lately and he would say that if it's not included in our canon, it's not important for us to know.
And I say canon specifically becauses there are non-canonical gospels out there that have other stories of Jesus' youthhood.
We place a high emphasis on Christ the Divine for good reason: He is the Son of God, come down from heaven to die in our place so that we might have eternal life. Christ is evidence of God's grace and the amazing and unfailing love He has for us. Christ is the reason we can get up in the morning and say, "Thank God I'm alive." It's so important for us to recognize Christ the Divine, but we cannot do so at the expense of recognizing Christ the Human Being.
John 1:14 states, "And the Word became flesh and lived among us." There's something powerful about that statement. It doesn't say the Word stayed lofty in Heaven and reigned over us like a king reigns over his subjects. In terms of royal theology, yes we believe that Christ died and reigns over us. But the Word became FLESH and lived AMONG us. Christ was one of us. Jesus felt what we felt. He knew human emotion. He knew what it was like to be hungry, sad, tired, thirsty, angry, joyous. The beauty of who God is as God is wrapped up in our knowledge that Jesus lived among us, as one of us, and that Jesus still lives in each of our hearts.
Did Jesus do some of the things that Moore suggests he did? Probably not. But we don't know because there is no record of Christ's youth. Scripture is a lot more giving of its information about Christ as divine. I like to think that as a youth, Jesus had some of the same problems we have as youth. Maybe Jesus had acne. He probably realized one day that he had body odor. It's an interesting thought, yes?
Being reminded that Jesus is fully human as well as fully divine was an important revelation for me this week. It made me want to spend more time getting to know this Jesus on a personal level. It made me want to learn more about what I believe and open myself up to all the possibilities that Christ has to offer. Sometimes I get into this mode where I'm so involved in the path I'm on, that I close myself off to the wonders that Jesus presents before me. I'm not saying Moore's book changed my faith for better or worse, but it made me want to pause and see Jesus for who is he and always will be in a way that I haven't done in a while.
We affirm that Jesus Christ is both fully human and fully divine. Let us remember that as we walk with Him in friendship and in love.
Peace and Blessings to you,
Pastor Becki
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