Essay About Book Of Matthew And Part Of Pilate

Who Was Jesus?
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Who Was Jesus?
A Humanities Essay That Teaches
The Study of The Bible As
A Historical Document
I felt a very positive impression of who Jesus was after finishing
the Book of Matthew. I had a new image of someone who was a down-to-
earth, caring individual. I did not find quotes of Jesus that claimed
being superior to the common man, of whom sinners could not look upon
(a view that most people had of their Gods for centuries before).
Matthew 12:49-50, Jesus announces to multitudes that they are his
mother and brothers. In that way, he puts himself at an equal level to
the people, rather than claiming to be a God above them. This reflects
the whole attitude of the book.
Chapters 6-7 of Matthew quote Jesus as he is presenting
rules to live by to the multitudes. To me, all of these sounded like
hints to leading a happy life for yourself. Jesus reflects a God that
does not expect virgins or animals to be sacrificed in His name; but, a
God that is pleased by followers that love not only God, but each other
also. These seem like simple, logical rules to live by. But, they
reflected a time in history where that kind of love for one another was
hard to find because of the hardships inflicted upon the people.
I find some conflict in Jesus actions, however. Jesus never (as
far as I know) says to ignore to commandments of God in the Hebrew
Scriptures; however, constantly breaks the Sabbath (Matt 12:13 and
others), and gives VERY flimsy and unconvincing explanations for it. I
am not sure what his message was in those actions. Perhaps he didnt
care?
In general, Matthew was a good, entertaining story to read, with a
very dramatic ending, and great character development (a little
sarcastic humor here)!
I was very surprised to find much of the Book of Mark a repeat of
what was written in Matthew, but with a little less detail, and a few
stories omitted.
Jesus goes a little overboard on the parables! Most of the
parables needed to be explained to his disciples, and some of them I
wasnt able to understand either! Although many parables have a good,
inspiring morals to them, I would question Jesus as to if they were an
effective way to witness to common people. Even today, too many people
read parables as TRUTH, rather than “just a story.” Plus, they are
misinterpreted.
But, I have to tell you that an amazing coincidence happened to me
after I finished reading the Parable of “The Pearl of Great Price.” A
couple of hours later, I was watching an old episode of Star Trek on
TV, and Scotty had actually quoted the same, exact parable at the end
of the show! Funny that the writers of Star Trek predict the future to
still hold the same religion as now, and 2000 years ago.
Both Matthew and Mark write about the part of Pilate in His
crucifixion. It seems to me that Pilate was a “good-guy”, and did not
really want to have Jesus killed because he did not see anything that
He did wrong (as compared to Barabbas, the murderer). (Mark 15:1-15)
As a matter of fact, I see that Pilate tried to give Jesus another
chance by asking the crowd to choose to punish the Murderer, or Jesus.
Then, washed his hands of this crucifixion after the decision was
made. Why is Pilate portrayed as a Good-Guy in these books while we
know, historically, that Pilate was NOT a friend to the Jews?
After reading these books, I get the feeling that Jesus was here
to save the Jewish people, not the gentiles (like most of todays
Christians). I cant find the spot, but Jesus seemed reluctant to pay
attention to a sick gentile, but finally healed her because of her
faith. Yes, he is the king of the Jews, that is said in many places.
But, was Jesus here to save only Jews, or the people in all the world
(like Rome, the Sumarites, etc.)? That kind of makes me feel unsure of
why Christianity has become the primary religion of Non-Jewish people.
My God, the expansion of the Church was incredible from
the time of Jesus! After reading Matthew and Mark during the
time of Jesus on earth, and then reading Acts, I was shocked
at the change! A few things that happen in Acts are strangely
different than what I had expected after reading about Jesus and His
religion.