Psychologies Magazine , December 2001.
Two thousand years ago, in a small town in Palestine, a man was born who would change the destiny of a large part of humanity. What do we know about this Jew named Jesus, or Yeshua in Hebrew? From sources outside of Christianity, very little. Just that he was born around four years before our era—that is, before Christ, a dating error dating back to the Middle Ages!—and died some thirty years later, crucified on the orders of the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate. The essence of his life and his message has been passed down to us primarily through four accounts: the Gospels. According to them, Jesus, son of Joseph and Mary, led a hidden life in Nazareth and only taught during the last three years of his life. Sometimes contradictory—which, paradoxically, validates their authenticity—these accounts remain vague about his true identity. For many, this religious reformer was the messiah awaited by the Jews as the liberator from Roman oppression. He called himself "son of man" and "son of God," the latter title earning him the hatred of the religious authorities and his condemnation to death. According to the apostles, his body disappeared three days after his burial, and he himself is said to have appeared many times, having risen from the dead.
THE FIVE KEYS TO HIS MESSAGE
1 – No man is despicable.
Although a practicing Jew, Jesus mingled with pagans, outcasts, and the rabble, refusing to make distinctions between people or demonize anyone, which scandalized the staunchly religious. To the moralists who were offended by his granting forgiveness to those who transgressed the law, he reminded them that it was precisely the sinners who needed him. To the hypocritical crowd that wanted to stone a woman caught in the act of adultery, he retorted: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” (John 8:7) And the narrator adds humorously: “At this, they went out one by one, beginning with the older men.”
2 – We have no need for religions to encounter God.
Jesus advocates a direct relationship between humanity and God and downplays the role of intermediaries. This is a subversive idea for religious institutions. Thus, to a Samaria woman (a dissident sect of Judaism) who is astonished: “Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that people should worship in Jerusalem,” Jesus replies: “The hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father… The hour is coming when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.” (John 4:19-24)
3 – God is love.
Faced with the ambiguous image of a God who sometimes appears as a tyrant or an implacable judge, Jesus affirms that he is love, justice, holiness, light, and compassion, and calls him “our Father.” The entire Christian ethic rests on this belief in his love: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and it will be forgiven you; give, and it will be given to you.” (Luke 6:36-38)
4 – Death is not the end.
Jewish schools of thought were divided on the belief in the survival of the soul after death. Jesus, however, is categorical: death is only a transition; there is another life after it. He promises eternal happiness to the humble, the pure in heart, the merciful, the peacemakers, the afflicted, and those persecuted by righteousness (Matthew 5:3-10). He also presents himself as the savior, the one who came to give the keys to eternal life to "all people of good will."
5 – Each person will be judged on the love they have given.
Therefore, it is neither ritual nor faith alone that matters, but love for one's neighbor. Jesus alludes to what he will say on the Day of Judgment (Matthew 25): “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” To the astonishment of the righteous, who never saw him in prison, thirsty, or hungry, he will reply: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”