The Jesus You Thought You Knew

By Joseph Arellano

There was a brewing revolt to drive the Romans out of Israel.  The plot is to incite rebellion with Jesus as the sacrificial lamb. Jesus' sacrifice is none too great for the reward he expects. His crucifixion thus was a part of the scheme. However, although the plot revolved around him, he was not the mastermind but an underling exe

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bodhi Book Publishing
• Release date: Apr 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9781959173236

Joseph Arellano

Born and raised in a Catholic family and the only predominantly Christian nation in Asia, but was never comfortable with it. On a regular trip to Sri Lanka, he found the Buddhist philosophy in harmony with his view of life. The book is the author's articulation of his argument that it is people's sentiment and aspiration that nurture religion. So that if there is no Jesus, people will create one.

Book preview

Foreword

The book progressed on its own, thus the format that it is now. The original plan was to organize in chronological order the footsteps of Jesus with the aim of shedding light on why his so-called ministry was so glaringly short and confined to a tiny locality to be able to achieve his objective of redeeming mankind from sin.

That end, however, could not be met because the Gospels’ sequential presentation is so discordant that it always leads to a dead end. The chronological presentation in each gospel is so confusing that it would lead one to conclude that the disorganized presentation could not have been made without a self-serving motive. Any effort, therefore, to connect the events to come up with a clear picture could not be met with contention. It goes without saying that whoever produced the New Testament purposely jumbled its chronological order; otherwise, all that is claimed and asserted in his favor would be betrayed as a hoax.

Similarly, there are several episodes wherein the four gospels are ridiculously inharmonious. That is, one gospel would give a different twist to the same incident as told by the other gospels.

As such, it allows leeway to anyone trying to re-create the footsteps of Jesus to inject his/her thoughts for continuity. To put it succinctly, materials, especially films, recreating the footsteps of Jesus interfered by putting words into the mouth of the characters that showcased Jesus as something he is not. This work is modeled after those other works.

What separates this is that while in the other works, Jesus was presented on how people would want their savior to be, in this one, Jesus was painted as he presented himself.

The year 2008 saw the film ‘The Passion of the Christ’ by Mel Gibson, which created an uproar among the Jewish community because, in the film, the punishment Jesus had to endure left a wrong impression on them. It was undoubtedly a religious film; thus, as they had done on many occasions in the past, it should have been the Church that expressed resentment. On the contrary, there was no form of resentment from the Church. And the only explanation for it is that the film’s presentation served the Church’s interest. It is conclusive, therefore, that in religiously related matters, truth never mattered but the benefits one could derive from it, which highlights the fact that people’s understanding of what is right is what is good for them.

Along the same line, the presentation of Jesus is left to the predilections of the presenter. And any opposition to such presentation does not necessarily mean in defense and preservation of truth but only for the protection of vested interest.

Contents

Foreword

Opening Act – Ills of a Society

Act 1 – The Conception

Act 2 – The Birth

Act 3 – The Childhood

Act 4 – The Ministry: Jesus Surfaces to Claim His Throne

Act 5 – The Baptism and The Temptation

Act 6 – The Sending Out of Disciples

Act 7 – The Events Following the Temptation

Act 8 – John the Baptist

Act 9 – The Divine Healer

Act 10 – Behind the Mystery

Act 11 – Miracle Explained

Act 12 – The Parables and the Father

Concluding Act – The Road to Jerusalem - The Crowning Glory

Closing Act – Ills of Society

About the author

Opening Act – Ills of a Society

Deck the halls with boughs of holly. Fa la la la la, la la la la."

It’s early December, and that’s a Christmas song we’re hearing. We are entering a grade school class room in the Philippines. It’s a public school, and the children come from families with difficulties making ends meet with worn-out school uniforms and school bags mended here and there. Their rough skins speak of their environment: mosquito bites, insect bites, mite bites, and bites from all kinds of known existing parasites. Some are wearing shoes, but most are in dilapidated cheap rubber thong sandals.

They are waiting for their teacher to arrive to start the class; thus, they are on their own. Looking around, what we don’t see in them is the desperation from lack of material things. The tingle of their laughter is just as invigorating, if not ear-piercing, as those of other children from wealthy families. They are excited about the prospects of the upcoming Christmas party, which will be the topic in the next class. And then some.

Where the tree tops glisten, and children listen to hear sleigh bell in the snow, the music seems to have taken over once more.

Tis the season to be jolly. Fa la la la la, la la la la

The Philippines is said to have the longest Christmas celebration in the world. Christmas begins once the months of ber set in; that is September, October, and so on. That is a joke, of course. It just so happened that ber sounds like beer and the sound one would make when one chills―brr, December is the start of winter.

But it is not a joke that in the Philippines, Christmas officially starts on the dawn of 16th December; that’s the start of the nine-day dawn mass, the culmination of which is on the mid-night of 24th, which is Christmas Eve. On the other hand, Christmas officially ends on January 6th, the feast of the Three Kings. Officially is a term that means the start of gift giving since Christmas is supposed to be for such purpose. Of course, the times have changed; economics did that.

Then came the teacher. They all stood up, Good afternoon, teacher. We are translating the conversation into English to understand it, but the greeting was made in English; it’s how these children were trained.

The teacher returned the respect in English. Without much ado, the topic of the Christmas party came up. It’s all about money－how much to contribute to the food. There are two options. It was either for each student to bring their own food—homemade or bought from fast food restaurants—or for each to contribute equally to a fund. But whatever is agreed upon, it does no good to the have-nots.

Christmas party is also an opportunity to not wear school uniform, something to look forward to. Due to the topic being discussed, this one could not be considered a regular class; thus, the teacher allowed them to be on their own. But the most exciting part of the party is the exchanging of gifts. Since it is early December, they have about three weeks to prepare. The reason for discussing gift giving is to set the price or amount of the gift.

Although the excitement is evident, few eyes are focused on the window, pretending not to be involved in the proceedings inside the class room. Some kept silent to signify they had nothing to do with it. Exchanging gifts in the Philippines, i.e., at work, in schools, and even among friends, has to have a quota. I don’t mind giving this much, so long I receive the same amount.

One hundred pesos, said one boy in English. That was about two US dollars then. It’s too much, blurted another girl; she might look disinterested, but her ears and mind stayed in the room. But before reaching the last word, she realized her folly and kept quiet.

It’s because your father is unemployed; my father is abroad, he retorted with all the manner of a son proud not of his father but of the fact that his father is abroad. The word abroad was said in English, and its meaning was lost in translation. Due to her miserable economy, the only means of decently surviving was to find work somewhere where the pay was in US dollars. However, in the ’60s, the Philippine economy was second only to Japan.

Abroad is no longer a foreign word; it is now part of a vernacular. It’s not an adverb to mean location but a noun to qualify an individual. It means one who earns US dollars by working abroad. The correct translation should be, my father is an abroad. A family with a member—father, mother, brother, or sister—who is abroad is financially proud because they have extra cash for the necessities. Because of its financial reward, people closed their eyes to the detriment of an absentee mother and father. And also, the source of deterioration in society comes from many angles. And the loss of good people to help build the nation seems to be outweighed by the dollar they send back home. The nation never runs out of US dollars because of them. Exports may plummet, but this is not a problem so long as the airport is packed every day with Filipinos who would send American dollars back home. One who works abroad is like a glimmer in the dark.

The boy wore rubber shoes, while the girl wore rubber sandals with broken thongs fastened with wire. Still, the boy’s shoes are not high-end, meaning his father is a low-paying skilled worker. Why not? If the boy’s father were a ship captain, he would have been in a school named after a saint.

In the Philippines, schools named after heroes are government-owned, making them free of matriculation. On the other hand, schools named after saints are owned and administered by a religious organization; notably, the Catholic church is private, and only moneyed children can afford it. The teacher is a rookie; there is no money in teaching, but this guy is obviously driven by his ideals.

The Philippines also exports teachers, although not all are in the teaching profession. Sitting on the front edge of his desk, the teacher is being lenient to a fault, satisfied to be just an observer to the proceedings, or could be occupied with something else. It’s now apparent that someone is taking sides. It’s becoming factional. It’s creating a rift, which is the opposite of what it should be.

Without making some kind of gesture to get their attention, the teacher broke his silence, Christmas is one device that makes a man poor. Christmas is a season of spending even if there’s nothing to spend; a season of eating to the point of indigestion, a season of non-stop drinking until everybody vomits, a season of gift giving even if nothing is left for bare necessities. In short, a season of plenty even if there is none, he did not bother to find out if his young wards cared, but what followed was an the unfolding of pent-up sentiment.

"Silent night, holy night."

It is during Christmas when happiness is measured by how much money one has spent. They are now getting the message, and the eyes of the girl with worn-out rubber sandals begin to surrender a smile. Thus, one without money to spend for things in excess of necessities feels impoverished and overcome with self-pity. Gift giving is a profound expression of love, but to measure love not only with material things but also with a tag price only meant we lost the ability to express and appreciate love other than from the material point of view.

There was a pause. Silence in the room allowed the school choir, composed of teachers practicing creep in.

All is calm, and all is bright.…

Isn’t it amazing how the baby whose birth in a manger was made with so much fanfare could instill materialism in us? Christmas is alien to our culture just as Christianity is a borrowed philosophy he paused, worried he had gone too far alienating these Christians.

When the West, which is the exponent of what is to be referred to as civilization, became Christianized, Christianity became the norm and came to be equated with the civilization that the West promoted. Thus anyone who does not practice what the West does was considered backward and heathen.

He paused, considering if he were to carry on. He was staring at something in his hands that looked like a card. He turned it in for the class to see. Isn’t it beautiful? He raised it even higher for all to see. I’m sure you’ve seen it before. But, tell me what you see when you look at it? Indeed it was a familiar sight.

Round yon Virgin Mother and Child. Holy infant so tender and mild.

Act 1 – The Conception

"Sleep in heavenly peace. Sleep in heavenly peace …"

What we see is poetry beyond