Jesus of Nazareth - the Man and the Leader

At the age of 17, I first saw the Franco Zeffirelli film Jesus of Nazareth, starring Robert Powell as Jesus. I have recently watched it again, and found it incredibly moving. Is this hypocritical of me? If I don’t believe that Jesus was the Son of God, should I celebrate Easter, which is all about such unlikely elements as God becoming man, and rising from the dead? And yet the story of this man’s life moves me immensely, as stories of other great spiritual leaders do not (or not in the same way). So I feel the need to work out just what Jesus, the man and his teachings, mean to me, a 21^st century Unitarian.

Robert Powell in the title role of Jesus of Nazareth

One thing I struggle with is the concept of the historical Jesus. Because I was brought up in a Christian society, the story of his life, as told in the Christian gospels, is a very deep part of my life. Like ghosts, I think the amount of evidence for his existence is too strong to be discounted. I think I believe that there was someone called Jesus who lived in 1^st century Palestine, who was a teacher and a prophet, and whose life touched those of many. But I cannot believe that he was the divine Son of God, begotten of a virgin, nor that he rose from death and ascended to heaven.

The conventional Christian view of Jesus is an interesting one. The Apostles Creed is used by many denominations throughout Christendom, but it says very little about what Jesus did, as opposed to what he represents. It states: “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried, descended to hell, on the third day rose again from the dead, ascended to heaven, sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, whence He will come to judge the living and the dead.” 

As Forrest Church, minister at All Souls UU Church in New York, points out:

“What does this creed affirm about Jesus’ life and teachings? Not one thing. It states merely that he was born in an unusual way and died in an unusual way, telling us nothing about the fact that Jesus lived in an unusual way. This is what was important about Jesus. … The power of his love, the penetrating simplicity of his teachings, and the force of his example of service on behalf of the disenfranchised and downtrodden are what is crucial. The Apostles Creed … entirely miss[es] this point. It seems to suggest “if you believe in Jesus, you can live forever,” not, “if you believe in Jesus, you can live well.” 

I completely agree with this. What matters to me are the teachings and message of Jesus that have come down through the centuries, that have inspired so many to live better lives by following his example. I don’t believe in him, as my saviour or whatever, but I do reverence him, or at least reverence the Jesus depicted in the gospels. The more so if he was fully human, as I do believe. His example is one I would strive to follow, all the days of my life.

For me, the message of Jesus – love God, love your neighbour and don’t forget to love yourself – is a crucially important one in the 21st century, no matter what one believes about the person saying it.