(see the first Armchair Safari - "Snapshots of Jesus through the Lens of History" in the left column)
Part I – WHO?
Peter, Paul . . .and Mary?
Let’s start with Peter. . .
Say
two individuals are applying for a job representing a prestigious company. Both
are dressed clean and neat. The first one speaks with precise, carefully
enunciated words that bring to mind yachts, European vacations and the best of
schools. The second mumbles, struggles with vocabulary and uses idioms and
slang straight out of the inner city. The first seems upper class, the second
‘gangsta’ material. Nothing else is known about these two individuals except
their appearances. Who would likely be hired?
The
second individual is initially the accepted quick view of how Peter the apostle
of Jesus looked to the world around him. So grab you cameras and let’s go back
to the first century and catch a few shots of this man.
Here is a fisherman by profession – but is this the low end on the totem
pole of career choices? The remains of a fishing boat from that time period has
been found and it is made of expensive woods and needs at least twelve sailors
to handle it. Hmmm…maybe Peter was a business owner with income, mortgages and
employees. Let’s take a few photos.
New archeological finds suggest that he probably
lived in a large, Roman style house with several rooms surrounding an inner
courtyard. Go, ahead and walk around noticing the comfort, elegance and number of
servants that flit here and there. His
home, in which Jesus often stayed, was in the Galilee and the city of
Capernaum, a cross roads for culture and major money dealings. The high and
snooty, however, considered this a place filled with uneducated hicks having
‘no class’ and so unfortunately his way of talking and carrying himself is
colored by his home town. I’m reminded of the New Yorker with lots of ‘dees’ and
‘dems’ sprinkled throughout his speech, but is highly moneyed and an important mover
and shaker. Someone from the Midwest would
jump to the conclusion this was a mafia hitman, but not so.
Peter’s
first impression on others unfortunately, follows him throughout life, causing
ridicule and disbelief when he wants to impress and be taken
seriously. Jesus, who grew up in this part of the world saw underneath the thin
veneer and chooses Peter as his disciple entrusting him with his precious
teachings, and staying at his comfortable, and I am sure, comforting home.
Like all of us, New Testament writers love to make things pretty and
just a little glorified. Yet, Peter is remembered constantly asking questions
and even arguing with Jesus. He fails and then once again pulls himself up by
the sandal straps to pledge undying loyalty. These human faults are what we are
asked to remember, and perhaps take heart from. Take a quick peak in the first “Snapshots"
album at the photos we took in the Garden of Gethsemane? When push came to shove, and the Temple
soldiers came and took Jesus to the elders for trial, Peter really screwed up.
He denied knowing Jesus, not once, but three times. How human -- and how guilt
shattering for Peter!
Yet,
Jesus understood this humble man, loved him and even said he would be the rock
on which his teachings would go forth into the world. Jesus changes his name
from Saul to Paul, because Paul means ‘rock’. And so it was. After Jesus was
gone, we can take some clear snapshots of Peter standing tall with renewed
faith and commitment leading the apostles, the hundreds if not thousands of
followers in Jerusalem, and sharing the responsibilities as an elder in this
new Jewish sect that will eventually be called Christianity.
Moving
forward in time we can take a few more snapshots of Peter helping to steer this
unwieldy conglomerate of communes. We will find him at odds with a newcomer on
the scene called Paul. (We will cover him in the next section.) But that is the
least of his problems for the moment.
Peter is arrested and beaten by
order of the Temple priest for his insistent teachings about Jesus, the
healings he perform in Jesus’ name, and worst of all because of the
accusations he hurls against the powers that be for taking the life of the true
messiah.
And with every stumbling block he faces and then conquers, large
numbers of Jews continue to follow behind him. He walks a tightrope trying to
help lead this burgeoning Jewish sect, and he totters frequently. There is so
much for him to be concerned about – structuring a whole new concept of communes
sharing fairly all their worldly goods with each other; the ugly discrimination
in their ranks between Greek Jews and Jerusalem Jews; then the thorny issue of
including gentiles and, horrors of horrors, should these adult male gentiles be
circumcised as proper Jews or not?
Whew! This ain’t a pretty sight, but take a few snapshots anyway. This
is just the beginning of the infighting about organizational structure and the
differences in interpreting Jesus’ teachings that will create revolts and resentments and schisms for hundreds of years, and right to the present day.
By the end of Peter’s life, around 65 A.D., Peter is authoring two
important letters to the Christian communes. Did he write them? Probably not
with his own hand since, fisherman or not, during the first century individuals
across the economic landscape naturally depend on experienced scribes to write for
them. (But, more on the writing of the New Testament later.) And though the scribe’s
job was to ‘pretty up’ what was dictated, Peter’s thoughts, commitment and
desire to ‘stir up’ the congregations with the true memories of Jesus, by an
original disciple, is clear and strong.
Peter wants to keep this staggering behemoth of a new church, struggling
with doctrinal disputes, diverse religious interpretations, and the pull of a
sexually loose society, on a righteous track -- even after his death.
(Next section to research and offer to you will be - "Paul", so keep an eye out for my next blog)
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