I was thinking about all my reading through the teachings of Jesus and the fact Matthew paints Jesus as a Moses type figure – and I got to thinking…maybe the term ‘gospel’ (good news) is about a personal Exodus situation?
Think about it. In John there is a lot of talk about freedom – ‘whom the son sets free is free indeed’ (for example). In Matthew one of the ideas for Jesus’ mission (from Isaiah) is ‘to proclaim freedom to those captive’. Maybe the point of the good news is that we are actually free (in God) and to live as slaves under a human construct (like the politics of the Romans) was too limiting and debased our humanity in some way…like it did to the Israelites in Egypt. Maybe Jesus’ life represents this?
I am beginning to think we were created to be ‘free persons’ – free in the sense that we can ‘choose’ what it is we should become. Once we put the construct of politics (for example) into the frame we become a very limited people under the thumb – not of God – but of the philosophies of humanity. Even our religious constructs can limit our abilites to be freely us.
Maybe the point is to be you and that is a ‘good thing’. To take that introspective look at your life and see who it is you are, your capabilities, and those pieces of you that can be shared within the communities we reside in (or even the families we reside in). We need to develop this freedom as we grow from child, to teen, to youg adult, to adult, to mature adult, to senior. We begin an Exodus out of many of the trappings that hold us captive (including our own addictions and problems) to something more freeing.
It may bring us in total conflict with the society around us – as in the case of Moses or Jesus – with the leaders of their day….and in one case cost the person their life (which doesn’t seem freeing – but is). I can say one thing about Jesus – he lived a good life and was not restricted by measures of society around him – and this cost him his life…in the same vein as ‘if this world cannot hand us our freedom – I am going to die trying to change that” (with a type of hope after this life). We see this in cases of civil rights workrs in the 50’s and 60’s and also within Gandhi’s movement to free India from British rule. We’ve seen Exoduses people and those always inspire us!
Maybe the gospel is about Exodus? Maybe the gospel wants us to approach growth in a way we do not follow the limits around us that do not allow us the be free as was originally intended by God in creation of this species?
Loosing My Religion 
The catholic way of thinking states that the OT was about the Christians not the Jews. So that would slant in your favor.
“The catholic way of thinking states that the OT was about the Christians not the Jews. So that would slant in your favor.” (Which bible)
(a) The Catholic way of thinking is fairly backwards if the Tanakh is about the Christians and not the Jews…it’s what we call ‘usurping one’s history’…it’s quite dishonest really.
(b) That does not slant in my favor that the Catholics believe any such thing – since I don’t. I am not representing that perspective (since it’s intellectually dishonest for me to do) nor have I ever.
I am merely stating a ‘theme’ tied to the Tanakh the gospel writer’s seemed to write in the same vein about in the NT.
“Maybe the point is to be you and that is a ‘good thing’. To take that introspective look at your life and see who it is you are, your capabilities, and those pieces of you that can be shared within the communities we reside in (or even the families we reside in). We need to develop this freedom as we grow from child, to teen, to youg adult, to adult, to mature adult, to senior. We begin an Exodus out of many of the trappings that hold us captive (including our own addictions and problems) to something more freeing.”
Beautiful! This was a great post, thanks! I needed to read it!