A simple mind’s approach to a hard issue.

I've been listening to Bart Ehrman's overview of “The Gospel According to Judas Iscariot,” a Second Century Gnostic text.

One of the appeals and fundamental characteristics of orthodox (small 'o') Christianity is that it has no "secret knowledge," it's accessible to anyone, even those of limited intelligence, perhaps especially so.

Therefore, with my limited intelligence, I want to ask myself what Jesus meant in Mark when he said "And I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom." (Matthew 16:28, New Living Translation)

Presuming Jesus really said this, it's important; and if it doesn't make sense, we're missing something he meant us to see.

Some possibilities:

1. As Ehrman and others have come to believe, Jesus was an apocalyptic who believed the Kingdom of God was at hand those alive would see it, so one possibility is that Jesus was mistaken.
2. Some of those listening didn't die but were somehow taken to the Kingdom subsequent to Jesus' ministry.
3. Jesus is speaking metaphorically about the "Church Age," a dispensational concept in which the generation Jesus is addressing will occupy the years between his ascension and return.
4. The Kingdom arrived, and some of those listening saw it arrive with the Resurrection.
5. Jesus was referring to a spiritual death; ie, those he was speaking to would obtain eternal life in him and so not die but live (spiritually) to see the Kingdom.

My own opinion? You may be surprised, but hear me out: Jesus was mistaken.

Here's why:

I agree with Ehrman. Jesus was an apocalyptic. He was the First Century version of the guy on the street corner holding a sign saying "Repent. The end is near."

Unlike Ehrman, I would add: The human Jesus was coming to a gradual understanding of his role and the plan he was revealing through his ministry and eventual death and resurrection.

He was, in this sense, mistaken, in the same way my young daughter Dee Dee is mistaken when she says "It breaked" or "It got tooken."

A linguist would refer to this as a common but nonstandard developmental error, not a mistake, and they are very different things.

My preference for this approach stems partly from a very human, literal interpretation of Mark's Jesus, who was a teacher, healer, exorcist, and apocalyptic. He really healed, he really addressed and drove out demons, and he really believed this world was ending soon and a new one coming.

And so I pray as Jesus taught us, "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

c0

I like to avoid theological acrobatics to make the bible say something that satisfies my notions. That would include bending the bible to support a real Adam and Eve, a global flood, the Tower of Babel as an explanation for language diversity, etc.

I love those stories, but believing them won’t get me to heaven.

(Some are saying, “Neither will believing in Jesus.” Perhaps. That's my construct to labor under.)

[2014-04-28]

c0