Jesus In The Year 2000 :: essays research papers

What does the Jesus of Mitchells gospel have to set up to those of us living in the year 2000?The true mental testing of a literary work is the test of time. If a work has a universal theme, if it has a universal lesson that can be learned, it will last and be referred to as a classic and generation after generation of students will read and discuss it in school. While the Gospels are not necessarily considered classics, they have, indeed stood the test of time. Almost 2000 years after Jesus lived, people still talk about him and study his life. Perhaps this is why Stephen Mitchell was compelled to write The Gospel According to Jesus. If unity looks carefully, the message of the Jesus of this gospel is universal therefore, even though the stories were written quite a long time ago, they still have a locoweed to say to those living in the year 2000. To see what the Jesus of this gospel has to say to those living in the year 2000, one must look at its two major themes inclusivity and not judging others.First, The Gospel According to Jesus is an inclusive gospel. If one looks carefully, one will see that Jesus is preaching a message of equality. While this can really be seen throughout the entire gospel, it is best shown in the following passage Everyone who hears what I say and does it is like a man who built his house upon a rock and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it didnt fall because it was founded on rock. And everyone who hears what I say and doesnt do it is like a man who built his house upon sand and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell and great was its fall. (sic) Notice that this passage does not say every white man, or every Catholic person, or any other discriminatory type of classification. The passage says everyone. This message of equality can in addition be seen in the healing stories. Jesus does not discriminate against any group when he heals anyone that asks him to help them, Jesus helps. It is as simple as that. even so another example of this message can be found in the following Who are my mother and my brothers?