Awakening to the Philosophy of Jesus

By Jean Maalouf

The Greatest Philosopher Who Ever Lived

Obviously, Jesus did not teach at Pontifical Gregorian University or at Harvard or at Paris-Sorbonne or at Georgetown or at Oxford or at Salamanca or at any other university. He did not write some kind of a Platonist Republic, or an Aristotelian Ethics or Logic, or a Kantian Critique of Pure Reason, or a Hegelian Phenomenology of Spirit, or a Cartesian Discourse on the Method, or a Kierkegaardian Either/Or. He never quoted any philosopher from any part of the world and any culture. Yet, he surpassed them all. His philosophy was the way to the fullness of life, as he clearly indicated, “I came that they might have life and have it to the full.” This fullness of life is what this book all about. It is an invitation to rediscover, hit it off with, and stick with the Jesus of the Gospel—the divine guide for the higher consciousness, the master instructor for the fullness of life curriculum, and the greatest philosopher who ever lived for a meaningful and truly worthy life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669824589

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Copyright © 2022 by Jean Maalouf.

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Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Rev. date: 05/18/2022

Xlibris

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To

The Maalouf family—on earth and in heaven—that chose, with God’s grace, to pursue the family tradition of living Jesus’ philosophy with devotedness, simplicity, and wholeheartedness.

"I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord" (Luke 2:10-11).

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life (John 3:16).

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also (John 14:6).

Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid (Matthew 14:27).

No one can serve two masters…. You cannot serve God and wealth (Matthew 6:24).

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength… You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:30-31).

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous (Matthew 5:43–44).

Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me (Matthew 25:40).

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:35).

Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this come from the evil one (Matthew 5:37).

I came that they might have life and have it to the full (John 10:10 NAB).

Everything begins in mysticism and ends in politics (Charles Péguy).

The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival (Aristotle).

Contemplation is both the highest form of activity (…) and also it is the most continuous, because we are more capable of continuous contemplation than we are of any other activity (Aristotle).

It is necessary for the perfection of human society that there should be men who devote their lives to contemplation (Thomas Aquinas).

Seeking the face of God in everything, everyone, all the time, and his hand in every happening; This is what it means to be contemplative in the heart of the world. Seeing and adoring the presence of Jesus, especially in the lowly appearance of bread, and in the distressing disguise of the poor (Mother Teresa).

To see or to perish (Teilhard de Chardin).

If the doors of perception were cleansed, then everything would appear as it actually is, infinite (William Blake).

The day will come when, after harnessing the ether, the winds, the tides, gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And, on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire (Teilhard de Chardin).

Love is the only future God offers (Victor Hugo).

I am making all things new (Revelation 21:5).

Contents

Prologue

Introduction

JESUS’ SHOCKING BIRTH

Chapter 1     Christmas’ Shocking Reality

Chapter 2     Christmas’ Disarming Revolution

Chapter 3     The Ongoing Incarnation

JESUS’ PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE

Chapter 4     Your Kingdom Come

Chapter 5     The One Thing Needed

Chapter 6     The Greatest Commandment

JESUS’ FOUNDATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

Chapter 7     The Seven I Am Statements of Jesus

Chapter 8     What Is Truth?

Chapter 9     Who Do People Say That the Son of Man Is?

JESUS’ POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

Chapter 10   Everything Begins in Mysticism and Ends in Politics

Chapter 11   The Righteous Anger

Chapter 12   The Authentic Person

JESUS’ MODUS OPERANDI

Chapter 13   Prayer

Chapter 14   The Parables as Philosophical Stories

Chapter 15   The Beatitudes and the Philosophy of Happiness

Conclusion

Epilogue

About the Author

Also by Dr. Jean Maalouf

Prologue

You Are Invited

Y ou are invited to a cup of tea under a shady tree. A vast lake is in front of us. Beautiful waterfowls glide by. Some clouds are drawing enigmatic maps in the sky. We are enjoying the purest fresh air there is.

Such an environment constitutes an ideal milieu for talking about philosophy. Don’t think for a second that philosophy is some kind of an ivory-tower occupation that deals with abstractions and has nothing to do with real life. No, no, no! Let me assure you that philosophy lies behind every decision we make and affects every aspect of our reality. The way we conduct ourselves in accordance with certain laws, rules, procedures, ways of dealing with others, doing politics, or whatever we do for that matter, must be done according to philosophical, psychological, and religious texts and contexts. This is the obvious truth whether we know it or not and whether we want to admit it or not.

Consequently, it should not be a surprise if I tell you that Jesus was the greatest philosopher who ever lived. He dealt with the most fundamental questions of life and taught us the truth about things and why these things were done the way they were done. Reality after the Incarnation of Jesus is different from the reality that was before the Incarnation. A deeper understanding and a higher consciousness have emerged. Philosophy is much larger than the philosophical words of a book, a well organized conference, and an impeccable presentation of the wisdoms of the ages. Let us keep in mind this great line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Obviously, Jesus did not teach at Pontifical Gregorian University or Harvard or Paris-Sorbonne or Georgetown or Oxford or Salamanca or any other university. He did not write some kind of Plato’s Republic, or Aristotle’s Ethics or Logic, or Kantian Critique of Pure Reason, or Hegelian Phenomenology of Sprit, or Cartesian Discourse on the Method. He did not write a Constitution for a New World Order or a Comprehensive Proclamation on Human Rights. He never quoted Socrates, Plato, or Aristotle or any philosopher before him from any part of the world or any culture. Yet, he surpassed them all with what he taught and did, in spite of the fact that he never went to college, wrote a book, and held an influential office. His philosophy was a way of life—a way of being in the world and a way of understanding how the world really is and should be. This very way of being should give birth to every theory, every law, and every lifestyle. It should give meaning to a meaningless life. Indeed, with Jesus, life has a deep existential meaning. La vie est absurde (life is absurd) of Jean-Paul Sartre no longer makes sense at all. What makes sense is to be blessed with the fullness of life, as Jesus meant it when he said, I came that they might have life and have it to the full (John 10:10 NAB). This is also where and when one will be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19). About this fullness of life in God we talk, when we talk about the philosophy of Jesus.

There is no doubt that Jesus’ teachings are about the very essence of life—a philosophy that is latent in every existence whether one puts it in words or not. In this sense, every human being has a philosopher within himself or herself. Let the words of Jesus awaken the hidden philosopher in every one of us. He did it before, when he called the disciples and asked them to leave their way of life to adopt a new one. It was like a walking school à la Aristotle’s famous philosophical school in Athens that was called the Peripatetic school (Peripatos—Greek: περίπατος, walk).

However, I hope it does not feel strange to you if I tell you that Jesus is still less known than we think, even though millions of books have been written about him. Are we really aware of the fact that he was fully divine and fully human? Do we really know that he showed us how much God was magnetic and vulnerable? Do we really know that, in him, the Word of God moved into the very center of human existence and became flesh, one of us? Do we really know that he had a great sense of humor, he laughed, he cried, he was anxious, he had friends, he went to parties, he was very harsh toward the hypocrites, the liars, the moneychangers, the thieves, and the officials who were misleading people? Do we really know that he felt tired, abandoned and betrayed, he loved people, he loved life, he loved solitude, silence and the beauty of nature; he was like you and me? Do we really know that the best way to find God is through our own humanity, that the best way to be God-like is to become more fully human, and that the best way to be fully human is to live the Word in human flesh? Do we really know that the Incarnation is not only the historical event that happened some 2000 years ago, but it is a continuous happening? Do we really know that, because of his continuous presence among us, we should be able to celebrate a continuous Christmas? Do we really know that, in him, we have strength for everything (Philippians 4:13)?

Moreover, which Jesus are we talking about? Yours, mine, his, her, theirs? It is not a secret if I tell you that, even with all our good intentions, we often have a tendency to fashion our own Jesus according to our needs and hidden agendas—beware the counterfeit Jesus Christ and the spiritual inflation. The desire to know Jesus is certainly there, but our motivational and self-interest lens makes us often see him different from the true Jesus of the Gospel.

We may know all this theoretically. But do we really know it existentially? Does what we know of Jesus make the difference in our lives? Do we live by what we know of Jesus? If you read this book with an open mind and a big heart, then you should expect changes in your life; expect transformation and growth. Just allow Jesus to work within you and with you. He will touch the very roots of your consciousness, and you will certainly reach new ways of thinking, seeing, feeling, behaving, loving, and living; expect to live life to its fullest.

What I am sharing with you in this book has changed my life. I promise it will change your life too. Who can resist the flame of a living Christ? I am inviting you to join me in re-discovering the Jesus of the Gospel—the master philosopher of life.

Introduction

Existential Transcendence

H ave you heard about the magical city? The story tells us that there was a man who got sick and tired of life as it was. He was tired of his family, his friends, and of his work. He was tired of pleasures. He was tired of the routine of having to repeat the same thing over and over every day. So one day, he decided to leave everything behind him. He left his family, his friends, his work, his inheritance, his heritage, his home town, everything, and went out into the open air and the open field, looking for something else. He was searching for something like the perfect city or the magical city, where everything would be different, exciting, new and fascinating. So, he left.

On his journey, he somehow ended up in a forest. It was already nighttime. He ate a cheese sandwich and an apple, and took off his shoes. Very carefully, he pointed them in the new direction, the direction in which he was headed. He let go of his worries and he fell asleep. The next morning, he stepped into his shoes, and he continued his journey toward the direction of the magical city. He was unaware of what had happened during his sleep. In fact, during the night, his shoes were turned around by a playful animal. After a few days, the man arrived at the magical city. But, to his surprise, the magical city was not very different from his home town. It looked very familiar. There were familiar streets, familiar stores, familiar houses, familiar faces. He knocked at a familiar door, and he found more familiar faces. He lived there happily ever after.

I thought that this little story would illustrate what you are going to read about in this book. The magic is to be found in the ordinary, the familiar, the everyday life. That which is magical does not enter your life from somewhere outside. Rather, that which is outside becomes magical, because of an internal change in you — a change which has caused you to see the same things in a different light. Why? Precisely because God is where you are living—in the earthiness of the here and now. Stop looking elsewhere for God.

This book is about the philosophy of Jesus. It is about the divine involvement. It is about deep spirituality. You may add whatever adjective you wish to this word and say, for instance: Incarnational spirituality, existential spirituality, holistic spirituality, enfleshed spirituality, experiential spirituality, practical spirituality, global spirituality, integrated spirituality, process spirituality, secular holiness, or even spirituality of the real. The underlying concept of the book is the realization — not in a speculative way, but in a very concrete way — that God is involved here and now in what you are doing; that any philosophy or spirituality for which the attainment of a state of perfection demands asceticism, withdrawal from the world, or self-denial — even though it may have had its merits sometime in the course of human history — has now disappeared, or is, at least, in its way out in this modern age. The new spirituality is the spirituality of the divine/human integration and of the here and now. It’s one that embraces both the sacred and the secular, the holy matter rather than the spirit vs. matter, the is rather than the should, the God made flesh in the Incarnation which is still continuing rather than the remote God.

This new realization of spirituality is, in fact, not new. It has existed since the beginning of time. In Genesis, it is said: God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good (Genesis 1:31). It is not said that God did a very good job, but that it was very good. What is new is that our perspective has changed. We now have new eyes for seeing life. If in the past, the Greeks saw the dawn of reason, we are now seeing the dawning of new spiritual life, not only in individuals, but in the human family as a whole.

A new spiritual consciousness is taking shape based on that transforming magical energy called love. It transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary. No one has described more humanly than Jesus, the dynamics of the Kingdom of God, which is not a system, nor a set of rules, or some physical, psychological or political force, but rather love in the concrete situations in which we are living. Love is the deepest and the most compelling of all human powers. To embrace Jesus’ definition of love, we have to let go of our own notions of false realities. Perhaps even more painfully, we must let go of our incomplete understandings and the patterns of thought which we carefully developed in the course of our lives thus far. These patterns are not only personal, but also collective, belonging as they are to the human family as a whole. We must accept the fact that the Spirit is guiding the creation along, in its various stages of evolution, through the evolving consciousness of human beings. Love is also an invitation to let go—and how painful it is!— even of the temples we have so proudly built. The temples of stones and especially the temples of the mind, built with their gorgeous cathedrals of dogma and thought, must be re-evaluated, not because they were false or not good — Ah! God, no! — but because our interpretations of reality have changed, and we have arrived at different understandings. Even when it comes to the Gospel, we have developed new understandings of God’s truths and a different mode of preaching the Gospel and living it.

It has taken a long, long time for us to realize that building the most beautiful cathedrals, waging the most holy wars, embarking on crusades and inquisitions, or excommunicating all who do not profess our view of faith . . . are not the best ways to preach the Gospel, no matter how well-intentioned or morally justifiable some of these actions may have seemed at one time or another. There is a more direct and effective way of doing it today. Living it. Loving our neighbor. Giving, with love, a little glass of water to someone thirsty. Visiting, with great love, the sick. Assisting, with great love, the needy. Helping, with great love, to liberate the oppressed. Being open to others. Engaging in dialogue. We do not solve problems through wars and bloodshed. We can solve them by talking and listening and working things out in an atmosphere of good will. Dialogue is a basic need between nations, just as it is between husbands and wives, parents and children, teachers and students, lovers and beloved, rich and poor, employers and employees. And listening, listening, listening without prejudice. Isn’t this the most effective way to preach the Gospel? A shifting to the real love is urgent. Where institutions do not fit, Jesus certainly does.

This book is therefore an invitation to take a close look at Jesus of Nazareth, who is the message in flesh and blood. Jesus invested so much in the spiritual, but also in the temporal. He says what he is, and he is what he says. He is the stuff of the Spirit/Body. How can we reject the Spirit at the expense of the Body, or vice versa? In a sense, theology and philosophy have missed Jesus somehow. They talk about him eloquently and wonderfully, but they miss the man, Jesus. We need not study merely the biography of Jesus. Rather, we need to discover him living now, in our everyday life. In Jesus, God has become a human reality: the Beyond in our midst — an existential Transcendence. God is not impressed by our eruditions. Nor is God tamed by our theological speculations, nor by our churches, our managerial skills, even our prayers. Words are supposed to speak, but words say little. The Word does not philosophize or theologize. The Word lives, loves, comforts, heals, inspires, transforms. It is a living experience: And the life I live now is not my own; Christ is living in me (Galatians 2:20). When we come to recognize God as the active agent in our lives, we become less rigid in many areas of our behavior, and more willing to surrender to the workings of the Holy Spirit in us. To say that we know God is one thing; but to live the experiential realization of this knowing—to live God existentially — is quite another, indeed.

Hence the need for new saints. We need new forms of asceticism and mysticism, with a new agenda for the new generations. This new agenda would have characteristics such as the following: holistic and global spirituality, no labels whatsoever (conservative, liberal, rightist, leftist . . . are all false, because they are mere constructs of the mind); no prejudices whatsoever; a realization that creation was left unfinished, and that God’s final Word to us is the power he has given us to co-create with him, because it was not his intention to create everything at once; an acknowledgment that human beings are more important than a theoretical theology; and a conviction that liberation is not something which comes about in archives and libraries, or through transfer of power, but rather that liberation takes place within one’s own heart, and that what one does to oneself or to others, one does it to Christ himself.

In a sense, Christianity has failed to convey a full understanding of the true God to the world. God is not The Man Upstairs, or The Big Executive, or The Magician who makes things happen. God is infinitely attractive and vulnerable. He is Christ, in his most appealing divine/human form. To think, act, love as Christ does, and to experience him and to identify with him, to actually be him, is what Christianity is all about. It is to experience God, not by hearsay, but in a real, concrete, palpable way. Being fully human is the most real and, at the same time, the most sacred way to be a Christ. Spiritual life is not simply a mere idealistic, noble concept. It is something very real. This book is therefore about reality.

The bottom line of all this is the firm conviction that God is here and now. The Incarnation, which continues to happen every day, has changed the whole gestalt of modern spirituality. The separation between the sacred and the secular, the divine and the human, is an invention of the human mind, and is therefore fictitious. This is why both/and corresponds more than either/or to what we call reality.

My intention is to help provide a certain spiritual climate (a spiritual ecology) in which the divine becomes the main drive for the expansion of the human consciousness, and love becomes the natural path to God. A new world order demands a radical change in our consciousness. We need a new way of seeing everything. We need an awakening. We need a new approach to spirituality, more centered on the Word, living here and now in the community to which we happen to belong. The communion of the community — be it the Church, the family, or any other form of togetherness — is the essential element of this spirituality. It is the element to be nurtured, the element to which we should direct our energy and loyalty. Institutions, structures and rituals as such, are secondary and somewhat extraneous. I also intend to answer, in one way or another, three challenging questions: What if the God of the ordinary were considered to be one and the same as the God of the extraordinary? What if the God of the marketplace were different from the God which is found in the existing, man-made marketplace of religions? What if Jesus, the greatest philosopher of life, were different from the Jesus we thought he were?

This book will try to answer these questions and many more in a simple, direct, candid, forthright, and straightforward language. What is said may sometimes seem annoying and trenchant, other times perplexing or exacting, and most of the time thought provoking. But who ever said that God’s way is just the way of compromise and appeasement? The Word of God does not work like a drug, but rather like a seed. A seed, when growing, can even move a rock, the way faith can move a mountain.

So, do not expect to find here ready-made-answers. Do not approach the book as a how-to book either. Rather, read it with an open mind, once you have decided to drop shortsighted expectations as well as all sorts of prejudices. Expectations and prejudices can be, and sometimes are, the root of problems when it comes to spiritual life. This book points to ends without lingering on the means that bring them about. It is like an instrument, a flashlight that shows you what, where, and how things are. You may use it under a tree, at your bedside, in your office, while traveling, doubting, worrying, searching, exploring, making decisions, relaxing, and especially when you are in the darkness of your life. A flashlight is not meant to be kept in the warehouse; a flashlight is intended to help us to get to the warehouse. It helps us to detect, and to observe, and to discern what is really there and what really makes sense at that moment.

Have a blessed journey ahead. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore (Psalms 121:8).

Part I

Jesus’ Shocking Birth

"I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is

born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord"

(Luke 2:10-11)

1

Christmas’ Shocking Reality

"I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people, announced the angel to the shepherds, to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord (Luke 2:10-11). At hearing this, the shepherds went quickly to Bethlehem to see what was taking place. When they saw the child in the manger, they glorified and praised God. The shepherds—not the kings, the religious leaders, the people of power, prestige, and wealth—were the first to know; the so-called nobodies" have the potential to learn about God’s business faster than the specialists in the studies of sciences, religions, laws, and politics. The Incarnation of God did not happen in Rome, Athens, Babylon, or any great religious, cultural, or political capital. The Incarnation happened in a stable at Bethlehem of Judea, a tiny village in the corner of the Roman Empire. But this Bethlehem became a link between heaven and earth and the ground of the fusion of the eternal and the temporal, the spiritual and the material, and the immortal and mortal.

Soon after that event, life on earth took a new turn; reality became more complicated.

The good news and the bad news

The good news was not easy to accept and to digest. In one way or another people throughout the centuries until this very day had great difficulty with understanding the mystery of the Incarnation; either Jesus was divine or human, but not both/and at the same time. The fully divine and fully human notion was not conceivable; since matter was considered as evil, how could the Son of God have a body? Furthermore, if God could not be depicted, and if the name of Yahweh could not even be pronounced, as was often the case in the Old Testament, then how could God incarnate in a body that could be seen with physical eyes? God did not come to us as an abstract concept or a logical argument or an ideal proposition. He came to us as a baby like any other baby.

So, the Incarnation was a scandal for the Jews, a foolish thing for the Greeks, and a real problem for the followers of Ebionism, Manicheism, Arianism, Nestorianism, Monophysitism, Docetism, Monothelitism, Apollinarianism, Adoptionism, Gnosticism, and other schools of thought and movements. Salvation, in such contexts, should have been the result of some kind of dis-incarnation, rather than of incarnation.

But, the fact is that in the lowly stable of Bethlehem, God, who before had been only heard of, feared, and talked about, could now be seen, touched, and loved as a baby. Jesus was under the care of his mother, Mary, and her husband, Joseph. He became approachable, accessible, available, vulnerable, lovable, and touchable.

Instead of welcoming the good news about Jesus’ birth, many people were rather bothered by a God who became living flesh, because it seemed that people could deal more easily with a distant God and unseen realities. In fact, they could handle principles, dogmas, systems, and ideas more easily than handle God as a living person. What was God doing in Jesus, the little baby, born in Bethlehem?

However, no matter how logical and plausible they are, impersonal ideas that are vague, general, and simply academic can never replace the irresistible force of the one who said, And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself (John 12:32). No wonder one could shout with François Mauriac, Once you get to know Christ, you cannot be cured of him.

It is difficult, very difficult, to comprehend — and especially to admit — the Incarnation. God chose to become a man. He became human, one of us, every one of us, including my neighbor and my enemy. He became present, alive, here and now. Somehow, even if we know that, we have the tendency to send him back to his heaven, to his divine home. A sage from the Far East says that the majority of Christians understand only