35. Fear vs Faith

Fear and faith. Two ways of looking at reality. In fear, we anticipate a negative outcome. In faith, we anticipate a positive one. Neither approach guarantees anything, but it may be that our attitude does somehow influence the outcome. In extreme cases we call this a “self-fulfilling prophesy” -- for example, someone who, being convinced that no one likes them, carries a chip on their shoulder so that indeed, no one likes them.

Probably most of us, however, bounce back and forth between these two attitudes. When we get in our car and drive down the freeway, we probably have faith we’re going to reach our destination, and are not preoccupied with having a major collision. Being talked into bungee jumping off of the Golden Gate Bridge by a group of friends, however, might arouse in us a bit of trepidation. Still, we would have to have more faith than fear or we would never jump, right?

So maybe the attitude of faith has something to do with knowledge gained from experience. Enough trips down the freeway with no collisions and we begin to have faith that this is a safe thing to do. After all, we live in a pretty reliable world, where if we follow the rules – obey speed limits, make sure you’re going in the direction of traffic, etc. – then the outcomes tend to be fairly consistent. There’s always the outlier, the occasional exception, but it is just that: the exception.

36. Jesus Teaches at Nazareth

Jesus goes to his hometown to preach, and his reception is a bit chilly. It’s not hard to imagine why. Someone the locals have probably known since he was in swaddling clothes comes back as if he’s some sort of big-shot prophet who suddenly knows more than they do.

You can image them thinking to themselves, “Hey, isn’t this that runny-nosed kid that used to tease my daughter and throw pebbles at the neighbor’s sheep? And now he’s come back thinking he’s all special and filled with the wisdom of God? Yeah, right. He should go back to being a carpenter, if anyone will hire him.”

Perhaps the lesson here is that once people have a strong impression of you, it’s hard for them to see you any differently, no matter how much evidence there may be of change.

38. Disciples Tour in Galilee

This is the first – and last! – time that Jesus sends his followers out on their own. Why did he never send them out again? Look at the last line: “And they went out, and preached that men should repent.” Repentance was John’s message, not Jesus’! The disciples were preaching that people should repent and get ready for the apocalypse, where the righteous will be rewarded with everlasting life, and the wicked burned in unquenchable fire. As we have seen, Jesus preached a very different message.

It is hard to escape the conclusion that these disciples were not the sharpest tools in the shed. Despite all of Jesus’ teachings, they could never shake the belief that he was the messiah foretold in Jewish prophesy, there to vanquish the Roman enemy.

40. Report of Associates on their Tour
41. Jesus Teaching in the Desert

Let’s project on these passages a bit. Jesus sees that many people are hungry for his teachings, more than he can minister to on his own. He had hoped to multiply the number of available messengers by training his disciples, but after sending them out the first time, he realizes that they have not understood, and never sends them out again.

But the need for teaching continues to grow: “And Jesus came forth and saw a great multitude, and he had compassion on them, because they were as sheep not having a Shepard: and he began to teach them many things.”

You can see how Jesus’ concern would have been great. His people are headed toward a confrontation with the Romans that they will not survive; he has a message that offers a new alternative; people seem hungry for the message, but he is only one person -- he cannot minister to them all. And his disciples, who he was hoping could help spread the word, are totally out to lunch.

What to do? As was his practice, he goes to pray, to seek guidance on how to proceed.

It could be that by now Jesus knows his mission will fail – not even those closest to him are able to understand -- and that he does not have long to live. As a result he may have decided in the remaining days left to him to make as big a splash as possible, in hopes that his words will make a strong enough impression to outlast him and take root in the minds of future generations. For from now on, his teachings are direct, unguarded and, as far as the religious authorities are concerned, highly confrontational.