The Gospel According to Me

by John Winsor

If you're a Christian, you're the victim of a two-thousand-year-old con job. You may be skeptical of my assertions that Jesus didn't believe he was the Son of God; that his idea of salvation was admission to an earthly kingdom; that he based salvation entirely upon good works; and that he didn't believe anyone - not even him - was bound for heaven. However, I intend to demonstrate that these assertions are true. I'll use his own words - or the closest approximation we have - to make my case.

Your preacher may have told you that the gospels are loaded with symbolic and mystical meanings that are beyond your comprehension, that you can't really read and understand what the gospels mean without guidance from the pulpit. In truth, they're relatively straightforward biographical accounts of the life of Jesus. Christian leaders have intentionally and deceitfully obfuscated parts of their meaning in order to support a false dogma. If you have a Bible, please get it out and look up the abundant references I provide in this text. Your preacher expects you to believe what you're told, but you really need to read the Bible itself.

Here are some important caveats:

  • Nothing has been found that was written by or about Jesus during his lifetime.
  • Jesus and his disciples were illiterate commoners and had no biographers.
  • The gospels were written long after Jesus died by people who almost certainly never met him.
  • Religion and politics were not separate and distinct fields. Even the best historians of the day were prone to hyperbole and politically motivated fiction. The gospel authors were almost certainly preachers. Each intended to support a specific point of view, so they aren't reliable historical accounts, but they're the best we've got.

Despite these caveats, the message is so consistent in the synoptic gospels that it is almost certainly based on what Jesus believed. Mark is the oldest of the gospels. The authors of Matthew and Luke used Mark as a source. I refer mostly to text from Matthew and Mark below, but the same or similar passages exist in Luke. John was written much later than the others and offers a significantly different and less reliable message. The early Christian leaders waffled between including and excluding John when they assembled the Bible.

There were many accounts of Jesus, his friends and relatives, his childhood, his life, his sayings, and so forth, but the three synoptic gospels were widely recognized as the most reliable and authoritative biographies in existence. For the early Roman Christians, the synoptic gospels presented a "Catch-22" of sorts: They wanted to win the ideological debate of the day, so they had to include these texts in their Bible in order to claim that they held the definitive truth, despite the vast discrepancies between the gospels and their own dogma.

For Jesus, salvation was admittance into a future kingdom here on earth. He believed that the path to salvation was a life of service to the poor and the meek and that it required living day-to-day and hand-to-mouth - like the birds of the air and the lilies of the field (Matthew 6:26-29). Church leaders deceptively claim that "son of man" is a title for Jesus himself, but it simply meant people. When Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath; so the son of man is lord even of the Sabbath" (Matthew 2: 27-28), he was referring to people in general. His point was that observance of the Sabbath was a guideline rather than an inviolable rule - for everybody, not just for him.

The weeping and gnashing of teeth and the resurrection of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that Jesus spoke of in Luke 13: 28 applied to comparative status in the coming kingdom. Those who had done good works would be physically resurrected to happiness inside of the kingdom; those who hadn't would be physically resurrected to misery in Gehenna - an actual place that had a real trash heap outside of Jerusalem, where they would live amidst piles of burning rubbish. They would be able to see the people in the new kingdom but they wouldn't be permitted to enter it. This is why they would weep, not because of "hellfire and brimstone." Your Bible may refer to "Hell" instead of "Gehenna," but that is an intentionally deceptive translation.

The first order of business was to prepare people for Yahweh's new kingdom (the "Kingdom of Heaven" or "Kingdom of God"). It was to be an earthly kingdom. It wasn't synonymous with heaven itself - something your preacher certainly didn't clarify. It was to be off-limits for those who failed to heed the message that Jesus and his disciples taught. For Jesus, salvation meant admission into the new kingdom, not into heaven. So, when he said that the son of man [the people, not Jesus] would come "in clouds with great power and glory" (Mark 13:26), what he meant was that Yahweh would use his power to miraculously remake Judea into a holy kingdom on earth and bring the righteous people into it. Note that it says that the son of man would come (i.e., the kingdom would be here and people would come to it), not that anybody would go to heaven. This passage from Luke should help to illustrate the point:

When once the householder has risen up and shut the door, you will begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, "Lord, open to us." He will answer you, "I do not know where you come from." Then you will begin to say, "We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets." But he will say, "I tell you, I do not know where you come from; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity!" There you will weep and gnash your teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God and you yourselves are thrust out. And men will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the Kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last."
- Luke 13: 25-30

The house - the new kingdom - is occupied. The table is set. Righteous people can approach the kingdom from all directions. They're flesh and blood. They can sit at tables and eat. They're not spirits in heaven. The unrighteous are also physically alive. They can see inside, but they can't enter. They are exiled from the kingdom. The people inside will not sit and eat with them. Here's another passage that may be a bit more familiar:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
- Matthew 5: 3-10

Jesus says that the meek will inherit the earth but the persecuted will get the Kingdom of Heaven. Now, if "Kingdom of Heaven" actually referred to heaven, then the meek would be excluded. This is obviously not what Jesus meant. Another point about the Kingdom of Heaven is this: It did not yet exist, except as an idea and a prophecy - but it would come very soon:

And as ye go, preach, saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."
- Matthew 10:7

When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel, before the son of man comes.
- Matthew 10: 23

Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the Gospel."
- Mark 1:14-15

And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Kingdom of God come with power."
- Mark 9:1

Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away before all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch; for you do not know when the time will come.
- Mark 13:30-33

Jesus was mistaken, of course. The kingdom didn't come and he was executed by the Romans for claiming the throne, but his own message - or, rather, its closest available approximation - is the best source of insight into what he regarded as important. Jesus offered hope for a hopeless people. One of the great mistakes that the fundamentalists make is to rely heavily upon the Old Testament for guidance (because it provides "us versus them" hot-button rhetoric). Although Jesus adhered to Jewish law, he strongly opposed the rigid, authoritarian rule of his day and sought to replace it with something much more tolerant.

Jesus taught the Golden Rule as the highest measure of morality. He said, "So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets" (Matthew 7:12). It was a principle of tolerance that had been taught for many centuries before - at least as early as Zoroaster. It actually describes the common and natural human faculty of empathy. Jesus also said, "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?" (Matthew 7:1-3).

Jesus was extremely liberal and tolerant - unlike most modern televangelists. He believed that the Kingdom of Heaven would be established at any moment, so every thought, word, and deed should be directed toward preparation for the event. He opposed public piety. He opposed the accumulation of wealth. He opposed ostentatious religious gatherings and rituals. He insisted that the path to salvation came only from good works.

It is quite clear that Jesus believed the Kingdom of God was at hand - that it would be established here on Earth during the lifetime of his disciples, not a millennium or two later. Although Jesus was mistaken, this is an important point because it is the underlying principle that guided his teaching. If the kingdom was coming at any moment, then vigilance was crucial. There was no point in accumulating wealth because it would be worthless in the new kingdom. So, it was better to give everything away - providing a bit of comfort to one's fellow man in the little time that remained. He taught his own personal prayer to his disciples. I point this out because it makes no sense to suggest that he believed that he was Yahweh. If that had been the case, he would not have needed to pray and, furthermore, his disciples could simply have spoken to him in lieu of praying to his dad:

And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this:
Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
And forgive us our debts,
As we also have forgiven our debtors;
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For if you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
- Matthew 6:5-14

This passage is very revealing: It is Jesus' own prayer. He instructs his disciples to pray as he prays (a practice that would be unnecessary if he were a god himself). When he refers to "Our Father," he clearly means the father of all mankind, not his own parent. Indeed, nothing in his prayer suggests that he is different from his fellow men. He does not ask to be sent to heaven; rather, he asks God to bring his kingdom to them - to establish a kingdom "on earth as it is in heaven." The prayer constitutes a pact between Yahweh and mankind. Jesus expected to become an earthly king. He and his disciples set out to fulfill the Old Testament's Messianic prophesies. They believed that if they could prove themselves worthy by adhering absolutely to Yahweh's law as they understood it, then he would reward them by fulfilling the ancient prophesy. This, by the way, brings a clear meaning to "My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken me?" in Matthew 27:46. Jesus and his followers believed that they had fulfilled their part of the bargain. Yahweh, however, violated his word (as it was described by the prophets) when he failed to establish the new kingdom and put Jesus on its throne.