My Problem with Jesus

Yeah, I knew that title would get attention. But beyond the debate over whether he was is or supposed to be the Jewish Messiah, the redeemer of Israeli power in Roman times, My main issue is that he seems really unapproachable, unfriendly, short-tempered, grumpy, impatient, and a lot of other things that he shouldn't be, if he is supposed to be the great teacher. It reminds me that although he was supposed to be God-like in his superhuman abilities, he was all too human in his emotions, and bound up in his physical body just like the rest of us are. I guess that is supposed to give us hope, his humanity, his physicality, but I just sigh, because he seems no 'better' spiritually than a few other smart Jewish guys I know. I am reading "Mystic Christianity" and it was written about 100 years ago by a Yogi - a practitioner of eastern religion who has used his focus and intellect to explain some of the New Testament stories in the light of traditional Eastern mystical thought. He explains that Jesus did visit the eastern countries of China and India (among others) and gained considerable learning and mastery there that enabled him to return to teach his disciples about the true nature of God, the brotherhood of man, our purpose on earth, and what happens after. There are eastern writings of a visitor who impressed the Yogis and Monks with understanding and ability in their own mystical arts, which are attributed to Jesus. Cool, so far, right? I love that Jesus may have learned there, that some of the miracles of healing, and that the loaves and the fishes are not so different from miracles of long ago AND may still be seen today in India or China. In the East, they have realized to a much larger extent how a person can heal him or her self, which in the west, we derisively call the "placebo" effect. But how is it that this Mystical Jesus, a genius in spiritual knowledge, gets so bitchy with his apostles on the boat when the storm comes up. If you'll remember the story, Jesus was asleep, a huge storm whipped up, the disciples woke him up and he calmed the wind and seas, then basically says, "Why did you wake me up, couldn't you have taken care of this yourselves?" which is essentially saying "Why aren't you as awesome as me?" Really? What kind of Master behaves this way? Why don't the apostles reply, "DUDE, if we can't wake you up for a really big storm that is about to sink our boat, what CAN we wake you up for?!?" And healing the leper. The story is the Leper came through a crowd, Jesus healed him, and then told the leper "not to tell anyone about this". Seriously? If you are so smart, son-of-God, how is it possible that you think that this could even in your wildest imagination be a directive that could be followed?!? Apparently, it didn't take the leper more than five minutes to shout out about his cure. So is Jesus stupid? Is he naive? Did he give a command that he knew would be disobeyed? WHY would he even bother? The thing is, you know that he rather the leper not talk, because he already was too popular among the sick and poor, and he didn't need any more attention. And his compassion did not allow him NOT to heal the leper. SO why bother telling him off? I don't know, read your bible and tell me I am wrong. There are more examples. I understand he was a hard-ass. But Jesus, really, if EVERYONE quit there jobs, gave away all their stuff, and just wandered around preaching and relying on God to feed, clothe and shelter them, REALLY?? who would do the work? who would raise the crops? who would haul the water? Why are the body's physical needs (like for food) so abhorrent to you? I mean, even in the loaves and fishes story, you can see Jesus getting pissy because the crowd's hunger was getting in the way of his preaching (ok, teaching). And I don't see why you can't be truly spiritual AND raise crops or do any of a thousand other legitimate jobs so that you don't suffer needlessly from hunger, thirst or exposure. Is that what it means to be a Mystic, to be so above the common and base needs of life that you no longer consider it a factor in others' existence? Why would this engender my respect for you?