a passage in the gospel of mark that has always disturbed me, is in chapter 11: 12-14 :
'and on the morrow, when they were come from bethany, he was hungry. and seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon; and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. and jesus answered and said unto it, no man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever.'
the same incident is recorded in the gospel of matthew 21: 18-22.
there are 47 miracles attributed to jesus; 40 of them in the canonical gospels and 7 in non-canonical sources. for me, the withering of the fig tree is also a miracle, but it hasnt been recorded, maybe because of the destructive nature. i have also wondered: how could jesus? he fed 5000 with five loaves of bread and two fish, but couldnt resist cursing a tree when it didnt provide relief to his needs. it was a passage that made me think of jesus as a normal human
being, like any of us.
yesterday, i happened to see the 1998 martin scorsese directed movie 'the last temptation of christ' adapted from the nikos kazantzakis' philosophical novel of the same name. to an extent, the movie did make a religious impact in me.
in the movie, jesus is a 28 year old jewish carpentar in nazareth who is torn between self-conflicts - between the reality that he is a normal man and the knowledge that god has a plan for him. the conflicts result in self-loathing and he wants god to find someone else to spread the message of the kingdom of heaven. so he goes about trying to do things that would make god hate him and eventually leave him - he constructs crosses and collaborates with the romans to crucify the jewish revolutionaries (sicarii) trying to overthrow the romans.
judas iscariot belongs to the sicarri, and he is sent to assasinate jesus for his alleged relation with the romans. during their confrontation, judas suspects jesus to be the messiah and refrains from doing the deed. judas has visions of overthrowing the romans through a violent revolution while jesus' message is that of love for mankind. reluctantly, judas joins jesus' ministry reminding him that he would kill him of jesus strayed from the revolution.
mary magdalene is older than jesus and had a motherly longing for him from childhood. despite being a high-prized prostitute, she still longs for jesus and he had even decided to start a life with her. after judas joins him, the both of them save her from being stoned instructing the mob - he who is without sin should cast the first stone'.
john the baptist preaches about destruction to mankind for the sins committed by them. people flock to the lakeside to get baptized by him. when jesus and his first disciples visit him, judas queries whether thebaptist is the messiah. jesus disagrees saying the messiah doesnt carry an axe of destruction but the message of love. the baptist believes that, one must first gain fredom from the romans before the world is declared (somewhat on the lines of judas' vision), while jesus believes that love is more important.
to find out if god is really speaking to him, jesus walks to the desert and overcomes the three temptations of satan. with newfound courage and vision, he performs signs and wonders. his ministry leads him to the temple in jerusalem where he throws out the money-dealers and proclaims the destruction of the temple in three days. jesus leads a small army to take the temple by force but blood starts to pour out from his hands; whereby he realises that violence is not the right path and that he must die to bring salvation. he realises that judas is his only disciple who doesnt admire him blindly, so he confides in judas to betray him. judas doesnt want to, but jesus implores him and he agrees.
jesus is finally crucified on the cross, where he sees and angel who tells him that he is neither the son of god nor the messiah, but god is pleased with him and wants him to be happy (just like god's love for abraham on being ready to sacrifice issac). the angel takes him and conducts his marriage to mary magdalene. the couple live an idyllic life and has a child. upon mary's death, the angel tells him that all women are 'mary' and conducts his marriage to mary and martha, the sisters of lazarus. he leads a peaceful life. paul preaches about jesus. paul was once saul and had murdered the resurrected lazarus to prevent the disciples from spreading the word of jesus. when jesus confronts paul and reveals himself, paul rejects him saying that, he prefers a dead-and-resurrected jesus. upon his death-bed in old-age, his disciples visit him when the world is in ruins. judas, his favourite disciple calls him a 'traitor'. it is then that jesus realises that the angel which had been following him all the time, is indeed satan who has been tempting jesus into the life of comfort of a normal human being. jesus realises that he has to die for the salvation of mankind. he takes himself back to the crucufixion and begs god to let him fulfill his purpose and be 'god's son'.
the last temptation of christ was a fantasy - to escape the death on cross, to be married, to have a family, to be a mere mortal.
'and on the morrow, when they were come from bethany, he was hungry. and seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon; and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. and jesus answered and said unto it, no man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever.'
the same incident is recorded in the gospel of matthew 21: 18-22.
there are 47 miracles attributed to jesus; 40 of them in the canonical gospels and 7 in non-canonical sources. for me, the withering of the fig tree is also a miracle, but it hasnt been recorded, maybe because of the destructive nature. i have also wondered: how could jesus? he fed 5000 with five loaves of bread and two fish, but couldnt resist cursing a tree when it didnt provide relief to his needs. it was a passage that made me think of jesus as a normal human
being, like any of us. yesterday, i happened to see the 1998 martin scorsese directed movie 'the last temptation of christ' adapted from the nikos kazantzakis' philosophical novel of the same name. to an extent, the movie did make a religious impact in me.
in the movie, jesus is a 28 year old jewish carpentar in nazareth who is torn between self-conflicts - between the reality that he is a normal man and the knowledge that god has a plan for him. the conflicts result in self-loathing and he wants god to find someone else to spread the message of the kingdom of heaven. so he goes about trying to do things that would make god hate him and eventually leave him - he constructs crosses and collaborates with the romans to crucify the jewish revolutionaries (sicarii) trying to overthrow the romans.
judas iscariot belongs to the sicarri, and he is sent to assasinate jesus for his alleged relation with the romans. during their confrontation, judas suspects jesus to be the messiah and refrains from doing the deed. judas has visions of overthrowing the romans through a violent revolution while jesus' message is that of love for mankind. reluctantly, judas joins jesus' ministry reminding him that he would kill him of jesus strayed from the revolution.
mary magdalene is older than jesus and had a motherly longing for him from childhood. despite being a high-prized prostitute, she still longs for jesus and he had even decided to start a life with her. after judas joins him, the both of them save her from being stoned instructing the mob - he who is without sin should cast the first stone'.
john the baptist preaches about destruction to mankind for the sins committed by them. people flock to the lakeside to get baptized by him. when jesus and his first disciples visit him, judas queries whether thebaptist is the messiah. jesus disagrees saying the messiah doesnt carry an axe of destruction but the message of love. the baptist believes that, one must first gain fredom from the romans before the world is declared (somewhat on the lines of judas' vision), while jesus believes that love is more important.
to find out if god is really speaking to him, jesus walks to the desert and overcomes the three temptations of satan. with newfound courage and vision, he performs signs and wonders. his ministry leads him to the temple in jerusalem where he throws out the money-dealers and proclaims the destruction of the temple in three days. jesus leads a small army to take the temple by force but blood starts to pour out from his hands; whereby he realises that violence is not the right path and that he must die to bring salvation. he realises that judas is his only disciple who doesnt admire him blindly, so he confides in judas to betray him. judas doesnt want to, but jesus implores him and he agrees.
jesus is finally crucified on the cross, where he sees and angel who tells him that he is neither the son of god nor the messiah, but god is pleased with him and wants him to be happy (just like god's love for abraham on being ready to sacrifice issac). the angel takes him and conducts his marriage to mary magdalene. the couple live an idyllic life and has a child. upon mary's death, the angel tells him that all women are 'mary' and conducts his marriage to mary and martha, the sisters of lazarus. he leads a peaceful life. paul preaches about jesus. paul was once saul and had murdered the resurrected lazarus to prevent the disciples from spreading the word of jesus. when jesus confronts paul and reveals himself, paul rejects him saying that, he prefers a dead-and-resurrected jesus. upon his death-bed in old-age, his disciples visit him when the world is in ruins. judas, his favourite disciple calls him a 'traitor'. it is then that jesus realises that the angel which had been following him all the time, is indeed satan who has been tempting jesus into the life of comfort of a normal human being. jesus realises that he has to die for the salvation of mankind. he takes himself back to the crucufixion and begs god to let him fulfill his purpose and be 'god's son'.
the last temptation of christ was a fantasy - to escape the death on cross, to be married, to have a family, to be a mere mortal.
