BRANSON PARLER
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Catechism on Marriage and Sexuality
  • Writings
    • Books & Articles
    • Think Christian essays
  • Connect
    • CV
    • About
    • Contact

Traveling rabbi sends mixed messages by meeting with tax collector, Pharisee, and prostitute

10/7/2015

Comments

 
The rabbi Jesus of Nazareth continues drawing large crowds, but observers say this trend may not last long as he appears to have trouble negotiating the P.R. issues that have come along with his popularity.

His Pharisee followers were delighted when he agreed to eat at Simon the Pharisee's house. One enthusiastic follower commented, "This just confirms what we've known all along about Jesus. He is clearly committed to the biblical principles this nation was founded on." As a Sadducee blogger commented, however, "If we got worried about every would-be messiah in flyover country, we'd never get any real work done."

While at Simon's house, however, Jesus is reported to have met with a sinner whom he allowed to both touch him and wipe his feet with her hair. "Wildly inappropriate! It's like he's descended from prostitutes!" tweeted @holypeople, the official Twitter account of the Pharisees, while @SalonIsrael touted, "The Messiah we've been waiting for!" (@SalonIsrael later rescinded the tweet after overhearing Jesus tell someone to "go and sin no more"; "Sin?" said a spokesperson, "What is this? So medieval. The Jesus I know would never say something so judgmental.") 

Further controversy followed the rabbi as he later interacted with a tax collector. Some saw this as a symbol of his attempt to ingratiate himself with the powers that be, reportedly even saying that Jesus said to "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's." In response, @Zealous2theEnd tweeted, "What a traitor. Diplomacy? Caesar only speaks one language: force." There was even a tense moment when one of Jesus' followers, Simon the Zealot, made a universally-recognized hand gesture in the direction of the tax collector, nearly sparking a riot. "I really can't say what Jesus is thinking," Simon said, after cooling down, "I mean, I've been with him a while but he should know better than to associate with somebody like this. For someone who seemed to really connect with the people, this is a dumb move. I tried to tell him, but he won't listen. If he keeps saying and doing these outlandish things, he's not even going to make it through primary season." 

One pundit added, "It's almost like he's got his own agenda, like he's calling others to fit into his agenda instead of fitting into theirs." 


Comments

    About the blog

    My thoughts on how following Jesus calls us to go with the grain of the universe and against the grain of the world. I love the Bible, theology, and philosophy and how they intersect with just about anything else. 

      Subscribe! Get new blog posts delivered to your inbox 

    Submit
    Search:
    Use the search box below to find past blog topics
    Tweets by @BransonParler

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.