The greatest gift one can have in this world is being granted the beingness, usurped in childhood. We live in a world where being oneself is viewed as criminal. Each person is expected to agree with the environment. No one is allowed to be Himself. A newly born baby is confronted with the dos and don’ts, throughout his/her childhood. This is a challenge for the entire humanity.
And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me” (Matthew 18:3-5 NIV).
Jesus was talking about what was stolen during childhood. Human beings lost everything about themselves in childhood. The grand oppression of humanity is exerted with vengeance, in childhood. It is in childhood that the frailty of humanity gets exposed.
The problems of humanity are a result of not being granted one’s beingness by others. Ordinary people prefer identifying the people they perceive according to what is considered in their surroundings. It is uncommon for anyone in this world, to be granted his/her beingness. Even Jesus became a victim of the falsified identity.
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah (Matthew 16:13-20 NIV).
Simon Peter’s granting of beingness to Jesus, established the foundation of God’s Church. People had all along assumed Jesus to be what He was not. Anyone in this world can testify to being granted the beingness that is different from one’s true beingness.
That behavior is not surprising, as falsehoods are granted credence, rather than truthful information. Parents tend to grant children the beingness that is not theirs. Even Joseph and Mary succumbed to granting Jesus with the beingness that was not His. Falsehood is carried by every human being.
When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:42-49 NIV).
Jesus asserted His beingness when He was still aged twelve. The parents ought to have known that Jesus was the Son of God, considering the miracle of His birth. The parents, like everyone else, still had not yet appreciated that Jesus had His inherent beingness with Him.
Parents claim the ownership of children, who end up becoming what the parents would have not expected them to be. The greatest gift that parents could give to their children is granting them their beingness. However, the accurate description of Jesus’ beingness, by Peter, was to be treated secretively.
Jesus told those disciples to avoid revealing that Jesus was the Christ. His beingness had to be hidden, only for the reason that the beingness of humanity had still been hidden. But, the real purpose of Jesus coming on Earth was to free humanity from spiritual bondage. The cause was in their stollen beingness.
The bondage from which humanity would be set freed concerned the individual identity. Who are the individual humans identified as? Each has his identity described by others rather than their exclusive individual identity. This has been the captivity that has remained stuck with humanity since Adam.
Of course, adopting the beingness does not mean hurting other people, or doing what one would not like done to himself. The beingness identifies with God because the person was created in God’s image. Doing anything else is reminiscent of being under bondage.
At His inauguration, Jesus stated that he had come so that humanity would be granted freedom. He used a scriptural reference whose fulfillment He had come to provide. But His listeners could not accept it, as granting Him with a beingness that would not be His.
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day, he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:16-21 NIV).
The proclamation of Jesus, having come to grant humanity freedom, is a landmark. There is no other gift, surpassing that reality. Therefore, of importance, is to appreciate the question of what one is being set free from. A person having been set free, becomes free indeed. One cannot think of other things restricting him, after having been granted freedom.
The only reason a human being remains subjected to slavery is when he is unable to know what freedom entails. Any person is free, as long as not bothered by what other people think about his condition. A free person is not limited by anything, as long as he/she appreciates his or her beingness.
Jesus remains a model, representing a person who was free indeed. Hence His parents could not understand Him when they found him sitting with the religious leaders. They expected Jesus to behave in some particular way, and not according to Himself. In the above Scripture, Jesus summarized everything to do with His coming on Earth. He had come to grant freedom to humanity.
Being oneself means one would be God’s child, who cannot be manipulated by anyone, or anything. Like Jesus, that person is free indeed. The reason that Jesus did not try to avoid being arrested or killed on the cross is that He was free. A free person is not afraid of physically losing his life.
That person is clear of being God’s child, unaffected by what troubles humanity. The person would no longer be of the flesh, therefore unaffected by the things of the flesh. Freedom is the greatest gift any person could ever have, but impossible to realize without knowing one’s identity. What is strange are those known to disbelieve being God’s children.
The basis of killing Jesus was His declaration that He was God’s child. His killers sought to deny Jesus the identity of being Himself, as Jesus knew where He came from. We find that in our current environment, humans are not allowed to be themselves. Everyone is assumed to be what is molded according to the expectation developed by suggestions in the environment.
Those calling themselves Christians ought to know that being Christian sets one free, from this type of slavery. Their beingness is established, as long as they believe in Christ. The question about the person’s identity is answered by those who appreciate being God’s children. This is after having adopted the identity of being God’s child, thereby, becoming different from the rest of humanity.
God’s children are different, in many ways. But that does not suggest any one of them is better than his counterparts. God’s children are unified by the aspect of being the brethren. From this, Jesus would mold a structure, comprising those belonging to His Church.
“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Matthew 23:8-12 NIV).
The only special reason why those people would not be called “Rabbis” among themselves, is the Spiritual component with them. If all are God’s Children, therefore, no one could superintend above others. This carries a simplified logic, suggesting that God’s children do not need supervision, just as Jesus did not also need supervision.
The most attractive thing for each of God’s Children is service. What is of utmost importance is what the person would be doing for others, not what others would be doing for him. That person enjoys serving, more than being served.
What describes this world are people who desire being served, rather than delivering service. A person who desires to give service is most denigrated, as mistaken for carrying ulterior motives. Those enjoying serving are assumed to be egotistical or proud, whereas the truly proud, as unable to serve anyone, are granted beingness.
Those displaying interest to provide service, out of conviction, get persecuted, as to be prevented from accessing freedom to be themselves. The suppressive conditions are determined to see those desiring to serve others, judged ruthlessly. As far as the suppressive people are concerned, serving other people is criminal.
A true Christian is aware of his/her identity, and inconsiderate of other people’s viewpoints, except God’s viewpoint. A fake Christian always desires to please those in one’s surroundings, rather than pleasing God. Such are the people who were drastically castigated by Jesus, as He crisscrossed Jerusalem and the surrounding cities.
“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others” (Matthew 23:5-7 NIV).
A person cannot display His true identity and be accepted in this world. If that was the case, then Jesus could not have been crucified. Jesus was crucified for His unflinching stand for His Godly identity. Those called by Him also get persecuted, not for being like Jesus, but for being themselves, like Jesus.
A true child of God does not hesitate to stand firm for what he considers to be true. That person gets persecuted heavily but remains among the happiest people to ever live on this planet. His happiness is not derived from physical nature. But derived from the Spiritual condition, whose certainty is as valid as the rising sun tomorrow.
God loves humanity, regardless of whether they are sinners or not sinners. His love is encompassing so that there cannot be a person who could feel prejudiced as not to be loved by God. This was displayed at that time when Jesus took the position of the worst sinner, called Barabbas.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16-17 NIV).
Jesus did not love His body so much as to protect it from those who sought to kill Him. He allowed humiliation upon Himself, for the sake of redeeming the entire humanity. His followers are called to do likewise. His true enemies are pretenders, calling upon His name in vain. Such are the wishy-washy Christians, used by Satan, in advancing falsehoods.
Andrew Masuku is the author of Dimensions of a New Civilization, laying down standards for uplifting Zimbabwe from the current state of economic depression into a model for other nations worldwide. A decaying tree provides an opportunity for a blossoming sprout. Written from a Christian perspective, the book is a product of inspiration, bringing relief to those having witnessed the strings of unworkable solutions––leading to the current economic and social decay. In a simple conversational tone, most Zimbabweans should find the book as a long-awaited providential oasis of hope.
The Print copy is now available at Amazon.com for $13.99
Also available as an e-copy at Lulu.com for $6.99
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