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A God of Incredible Surprises: Jesus of Galilee
Why was Jesus, Son of God, from an obscure village in Galilee? What does it mean to our spirituality that he chose not to seek favor from the powerful, but identified with the marginalized, the powerless and those in need of healing? In this remarkable rereading of the life of Jesus, theologian Virgilio Elizondo, cited by TIME Magazine as one of the spiritual innovators of our time, focuses on the humanity of Jesus and the healing his life offers to ourselves and our world today. Readers of this book will see Jesus in a new and powerful way. This is a thought-changing and life-changing book.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published November 10, 2003
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September 9, 2021
The late Father Elizondo makes a commendable attempt to help the reader see their humanity in the humanity of the incarnate Jesus who died and rose again, especially for the mestizo and the poor and marginalised of society. The book itself helped me understand myself a lot more as a mestizo, or Afro-Latino. He draws from his own Mexican cultural practices and pastoral experience to relay to the reader the love of God in the God-man, Jesus Christ. Many of these are quite powerful to read. He does miss the mark a few times, however.
For example, he spends a little time talking about how Christ's own sacrificial blood has redeemed an ancient, pagan religion that sacrificed human beings to have their blood please the sun god and, therefore, make the earth fecund. He says, "Nature did not need to be nourished by the physical sacrifice of human hearts, but all of creation needed to be re-created by loving hearts" (p. 101). Here, I strongly disagree. He completely misses the mark when talking about sacrifices and human blood. All of creation did not need to be recreated by loving hearts, which brings the focus off of Christ and onto us and our meagre works; rather, all creation needed to be recreated (or rather, redeemed) by THE BLOOD OF JESUS.
He also has an entire chapter dedicated to Mary, which isn't surprising since he was a Catholic priest, whose "union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ's virginal conception up to his death... (Lumen Gentium 57 and 58, Catechism 964)" (p. 116). Of course, as a Lutheran, this troubles me. It is not that I am anti-Mary, because I'm not. I am merely anti-the-worship-of-Mary. He essentially describes Mary's relationship to Jesus as being dual partners in salvation, which is troublesome because Jesus Christ is the only name under heaven by which one must be saved (Acts 4:11-12). This worship of Mary is simple idolatry, though she certainly ought to be revered as the Mother of God.
All this being said, I would recommend this book to gain a better understanding of the Latino community in America, especially the Latino Catholic community, so that one would understand their way of thinking and therefore learn how to converse with them regarding who Jesus is for them.
For example, he spends a little time talking about how Christ's own sacrificial blood has redeemed an ancient, pagan religion that sacrificed human beings to have their blood please the sun god and, therefore, make the earth fecund. He says, "Nature did not need to be nourished by the physical sacrifice of human hearts, but all of creation needed to be re-created by loving hearts" (p. 101). Here, I strongly disagree. He completely misses the mark when talking about sacrifices and human blood. All of creation did not need to be recreated by loving hearts, which brings the focus off of Christ and onto us and our meagre works; rather, all creation needed to be recreated (or rather, redeemed) by THE BLOOD OF JESUS.
He also has an entire chapter dedicated to Mary, which isn't surprising since he was a Catholic priest, whose "union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ's virginal conception up to his death... (Lumen Gentium 57 and 58, Catechism 964)" (p. 116). Of course, as a Lutheran, this troubles me. It is not that I am anti-Mary, because I'm not. I am merely anti-the-worship-of-Mary. He essentially describes Mary's relationship to Jesus as being dual partners in salvation, which is troublesome because Jesus Christ is the only name under heaven by which one must be saved (Acts 4:11-12). This worship of Mary is simple idolatry, though she certainly ought to be revered as the Mother of God.
All this being said, I would recommend this book to gain a better understanding of the Latino community in America, especially the Latino Catholic community, so that one would understand their way of thinking and therefore learn how to converse with them regarding who Jesus is for them.
Displaying 1 of 1 review