Just Who is Jesus?

I have often pointed out that all religion has to be viewed as metaphor. The search for God is a search for a mystery fully enclosed by an enigma. To look at any religion as literal is a trap from which escape becomes impossible; literal resists change, but metaphor invites it. In addition, it is not necessary for us to know the exact nature of God. If we acknowledge God, we will have done all that we are capable of doing. The remainder is up to God, Himself. If we can't explain God, how can we ascribe the nature of God to a human being? The people of the time of Jesus had no difficulty doing so. The Pharaoh was a god. The emperor of Rome was a god. Every mountain had a god living on its summit. For them, ascribing Jesus with divinity made sense; indeed failure to do so would have doomed Christianity at its outset. Nobody would have taken Jesus seriously if he did not have an intimate relationship with God. Another reason for ascribing deity to Jesus lay in the doctrine of salvation. The Christian believes that he or she is born in sin. To be saved, it is necessary that Jesus intervene. Jesus had to be more than a priest to do this; he had to be the Son of God. The Gnostic does not view God in the same manner. In the gnostic view, God and His creation are one and the same thing. Science with its study of quantum mechanics is headed in the same direction, even if the scientists do not admit to it. There are many savants today who see God Himself in the quantum field. The ancient seers reached that point years before the birth of Jesus. Since the Gnostic deals in metaphor, he or she does not need to take a stand and say, "this is it." The "it" is a constantly changing concept and we will not reach full understanding until we are in the presence of God. So where does that leave Jesus. There is no better answer to this question than a book written by Deepak Chopra, "The Third Jesus." There is no need to reject the teachings of Jesus. There is much to learn from him, and his theology. No one sets it out better than Deepak Chopra. In answer to the question in the title, read his book. The important point is that you not expect Jesus to drop from the sky and save you from the rigors of being a human being. Jesus in his teachings clearly spelled out a pathway to reaching salvation through your relationship with God. The salvation comes from knowing God and thereby helping to usher in the Kingdom of Heaven. Its the same pathway the Gnostic is traveling, and its a good pathway for all of us to take. The Gnostic says that its time for you to get started.