Jesus

World-renowned Jewish scholar, David Flusser, presents a biography of Jesus set in Jesus's own time and culture. He paints this picture of Jesus with his knowledge of the writings and mindsets of the various Jewish sects at the time of Jesus. His goal is to demonstrate that the Jesus of the Gospels (mostly the Gospel of Luke) is in fact the authentic Jesus of history and not simply the Jesus of the early Church.

Serious Christian students of the Scriptures will find his insights fascinating. However, be forewarned that Flusser is a fully practicing Jew, who merely admires Jesus for his message, but rejects him as messiah. His reasoning is that Jesus failed to bring about the full redemption of Creation, especially Israel, because he was executed. In addition Flusser is a scholar standing in the tradition of German high criticism. While Flusser has made a fascinating argument for the Jesus of Scripture being the Jesus of history, he insists that John and Mark have not portrayed a fully accurate historical picture. He even insists that Mark distorts the historical record to engage in anti-Semitism.

Flusser has great potential for furthering Christian understanding of the thought-world of Jesus. Flusser's passion is to help the world hear the authentic (as he understands Jesus) message of Jesus. Truly, the modern Evangelical church who is often embroiled in the culture wars (and rightfully so) needs to remember the message of Jesus. Consider Flusser's comments in his Epilogue:

"The core of the Gospels is the material that was preserved by Jesus' (sic) first disciples. Not long thereafter various individuals began making internal revisions to this precious nucleus of material, and eventually the Evangelists themselves revised and augmented it. Yet Jesus' (sic) message was never lost. It can still be heard today -- even if it has not been the focus of the belief in Christianity throughout the ages. Over the long history of the Church, however, the religion of Jesus himself did become vital for small groups -- to one of these dear groups (the Mennonites) the present book is dedicated. I hope that somehow in the future the situation will improve, and the Church will begin placing more stress upon Jesus' (sic) message" (p. 177)

Enjoy Flusser's call to return to the actual message of Jesus. However, read with caution.