The Final Call

This Man Jesus

By Starla Muhammad -Managing Editor- | Last updated: Apr 8, 2020 - 6:31:25 PM

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Dispelling myths about the Messiah, exploring His role in history and prophecy

Photo: MGN Online

Over 2.1 billion Christians worldwide are preparing to observe Easter, commemorating the triumph of Jesus the Christ over crucifixion, death and his subsequent resurrection and ascension to heaven. Yet the reality and truth of the mission and work of this great servant of God often gets lost amid misguided symbolism and frivolity.

Jesus is still presented by many theologians as a meek and mild historical figure, his teachings relegated to “turn the other cheek,” and “love your enemies.” Yet, he was far from that. He was a revolutionary and dedicated freedom fighter who unselfishly sacrificed himself on behalf of downtrodden and oppressed people. His uncompromising faith was a threat to the status quo leadership causing him to make enemies along the way among religious and political leadership, particularly among members of the Jewish community. The Jesus of 2,000 years ago was not loved or appreciated by the masses.

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What effect has this misinterpretation and misrepresentation of Jesus had on the hearts and minds of people in general but the Black man and woman in particular? Why is there a tendency to grasp on to the historical Jesus and ignore One he prophesized of in scripture that would come after him to usher in a new world, sit down tyrants and battle Satan?

The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad pointed out in His teachings from His teacher, Master Fard Muhammad that the mission and role of Jesus was not understood. “I have taken up Jesus and his teachings because after Master Fard Muhammad taught me, I saw quickly that this man’s (Jesus’) history was the world’s most misrepresented and misunderstood. What Allah has taught me of the truth is common sense and makes sense,” the Nation of Islam patriarch wrote in a book compiled from a few of His articles on this subject titled, “The True History of Jesus.”

His chief student, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan in reiterating what his teacher taught stated, that “if Black people really understood the truth about Jesus, we would be free overnight.” The reality of Jesus and his mission is critical, Minister Farrakhan explained.

“The real truth of Jesus is so important because of the Power and the Truth that Allah (God) would give Him to end Satan’s rule. It is natural then that Satan would work very hard to deceive the masses of the people with respect to Jesus,” the Minister stated. “Satan is trying to preserve his power, and, his power is in his ability to deceive. The greatest deceit is to deceive you about the man you expect to be your Saviour.”

A revolutionary Black man

Like most revolutionary figures in history, Jesus has been redefined and his teachings “watered down” to make him more “weak and comfortable” for the masses of the people, explained Father Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Church in Chicago. “Jesus was a revolutionary person; he was a radical person and his teachings were so radical,” said Father Pfleger.

“I have consistently said that I think the Bible is one of the most radical books ever written when we really read it. Remember that he was murdered by both government and religion and because he came putting in place a new order, and a teaching about the equality and the love and the concern and the care for all people,” he continued.

“I think preaching too often in pulpits has made him sweet and soft and cute, and not radical and revolutionary and transformative,” he told The Final Call

In his book, “The Politics of Jesus: Rediscovering the True Revolutionary Nature of Jesus’ Teachings and How They Have Been Corrupted,” theologian Obery M. Hendricks, Jr. reflected on the confusion he felt as a youngster in the way Jesus was presented to him. Something about the way he was portrayed “just didn’t make sense,” he explained.

“Was this meek, mild Jesus the same Jesus who defiantly called the Pharisees, ‘a brood of vipers’ and described them as ‘whitewashed tombs full of every unclean thing?’ Was this the same outraged Jesus who, swinging a fearsome stick, set the Temple money changes to flight? And if he was so meek and mild, how could he get anyone’s interest in the first place, much less hold the attention of thousands at a time and effortlessly get tough guys to follow him, like the apostle James, who was so rough and blustery that he was nicknamed “Son of Thunder”? wrote Mr. Obery, a visiting scholar in Religion and African Studies at Columbia University and Emeritus Professor of Biblical Interpretation at New York Theological Seminary and elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Jesus challenged the status quo and as a result, was not popular among the masses of people. “Jesus would have been one of those people that was on a certain do not invite to speak list,” explained Rev. Melech E.M. Thomas. “In fact, there were certain spaces where Jesus could not go, so you know when you think about the prophets of today who are banned from certain countries, because of the truth that they speak, it’s almost as if those who are well loved by everyone that say that they represent Jesus, if you’re well loved by somebody who was disliked by everybody, that says something,” said the 32-year-old Chicago-based pastor.

“If the country that has policies and doctrine and philosophies that grind specifically and intentionally against the Gospel of Jesus Christ loves you, honors you, celebrates you, you might want to double check what Jesus are you preaching?” argued the young AME pastor and activist.

Another perpetual myth about Jesus is that he was White. “Nobody as far as I know has a Polaroid picture of him but the scriptures—he’s referred to in the Bible as a man with bronze skin, and wool-like hair,” said Father Pfleger, a White Catholic priest whose predominately-Black church has a large painting of a Black Jesus on its wall.

“When people say to me, that’s not how Jesus looks I say to them, well, I never saw him. But the scriptures—my mural at St. Sabina reflects what the scriptures say about him. Christ is all things to all people, according to our scriptures. If he is that anybody who looks at him, ought to be able to see themselves in him. Racism has betrayed Jesus as this White man with blue eyes and blonde hair, through the history of time and perpetuated that lie to support White supremacy,” he continued.

“As long as we continue to see Christ like that, we continue to see White skin as the God and as a superior person. I don’t think the pictures that have been painted or hung in churches around this world has anything to do with Christ has everything to do with White supremacy,” said Father Pfleger.

Let this mind be in you

Rev. Willie Wilson and his wife Rev. Mary F. Wilson served for decades at their church Union Temple Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. The couple retired in 2018 and their daughter Rev. Dr. Anika Wilson Brown is now lead pastor.

One of the obstacles facing Black people and how we view Jesus is that since Africans were kidnapped and brought to America as slaves, we have been taught the religion “about” Jesus but not the religion “of” Jesus, Rev. Willie Wilson told The Final Call referencing Matthew 16:24 which states, “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Jesus is an example of how we should strive to live our life, he explained.

“Jesus was saying essentially, if you want to be my disciple, you have to die to self even as I have, you must be willing to take the cross of self-denial to become self-less instead of selfish. Juxtapose that to the message that we have been given, which is called the charismatic message and that singularly deals with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus and which results in a kind of substitutionary theory where we are absolved of accountability and responsibility and put everything on Jesus that he died and essentially I don’t have to do anything,” said Rev. Willie Wilson. This mindset grew out of the 325 AD Council of Nicea when the Roman Emperor Constantine who accepted Christianity, but who was ingrained with Pagan practices of Rome and Babylon made a deal with church leaders that brought the church under one umbrella, he pointed out.

However, the example of Jesus must be internalized to those who profess to follow and believe in him, said Rev. Willie Wilson.

“The resurrection of Jesus embodies our own resurrection in terms of our own resurrection if we understand the message of Jesus and that our own personal ascension takes place when we understand that the same power that was available to Jesus is available to us and rather than looking up in the sky, for God we understand and find that God within. This is the message that Jesus brought, as he talked about the kingdom of God is within you, so that if the kingdom is within you, then the king must be where the kingdom is, in you.”

The life and existence of Jesus points to who we are individually and that the power God deposited in him is in us, added Rev. Mary L. Wilson. “We too are defined as sons and daughters of God, and that we have access to the same power, we have access to the same abilities that Jesus exhibited,” she said.

“While we honor Jesus and we recognize his sacrifice and even his suffering, it also puts us on a plain level field of our own sacrifices and our own suffering that we have endured and that we even have yet to endure, knowing that just he prevailed so we too can prevail and triumph,” she continued.

“The example that we portray as pastors and as leaders, our job is to let people know that they have access to the same power.”

Father Pfleger agreed. “Our job is to build his kingdom on earth and to build it based on his values and his teachings, which are radical. It’s about transforming the world and reminding ourselves we’re in the world. Our Bible teaches we’re in the world, but we are not of the world and we can’t keep saying that if we look just like the world,” he said.

“It’s easy and it’s cute to remember the resurrection of Jesus, but that’s safe. I think what it ought to be about is the resurrection of his people, and the resurrection of his spirit and the resurrection of his teachings.”

The One to Come

The three Abrahamic faiths—Christianity, Judaism and Islam—are all expecting the return of One who is referred to by various titles and names.

“The Jews are looking for the Messiah. The Christians are looking for the Christ. The Muslims are looking for the Mahdi. Are we looking for three different men? Or are we looking for one Man described and characterized by the different branches of belief, under three different names? The greatest truth to come to the world is hidden in the truth of the man under the name ‘Jesus,’ Minister Farrakhan explained during the first Savior’s Day in his rebuilding of the Nation of Islam absent his teacher in a 1981 address titled, “A Saviour Is Born For the Black Man and Woman of America.”

“There are two powerful aspects of that truth: one is the relationship of Jesus to God, because Jesus removes the veil between man and God, bringing understanding of the divinity in human nature; and two, did Jesus escape from death?” he continued.

Student Minister Ilia Rashad Muhammad explained there is a challenge in getting people to look beyond getting “caught up” in the historic Jesus of 2,000 years ago, esoteric symbolism and having them look ahead for who fits the description and work of that Son of Man prophesized in scripture who would come and “raise the dead to life.” The Jesus of 2,000 was a prophet who pointed to one that would come after him.

Graphic: Final Call archives/MGN Online»

The misinterpretation and confusion about Jesus has buried the world of religion in a grave of ignorance, stated Student Minister Muhammad, a member of the NOI Research Group. The Holy Qur’an in Surah 23:40 explains that Jesus and his Mother Mary are a sign, he explained. The verse reads: “And We made the son of Mary and his mother a sign, and We gave them refuge on a lofty ground having meadows and springs.”

“Allah is letting us know that these figures are given as a sign. So, we can’t look at everything we read about them as being something that happened in the past. Even right there in the Bible, most people overlook this right there in the book of Revelation 19:10. It says, ‘worship God,’ and then it says, ‘For the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy,’” continued Student Minister Ilia Muhammad.

This verse let’s readers know that what they read of this Jesus in the Bible did not necessarily take place historically, he explained. “That’s why you don’t find any historical records about such a man performing these miracles under that name and doing all of this type of stuff. There’s no record of anybody doing that, of course there were several people with that name Yeshua as they pronounce it in Hebrew.”

It is critical to continue studying and examining scripture and delving into the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and Minister Farrakhan regarding the truth about Jesus, the Messiah. “For those who may not be students of theology, students of scripture, but have some knowledge of this man Jesus from the scriptures, or at least what pastor said; if we just simply measure the work of Minister Farrakhan and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad in the real world, we can find no other person no other entity that matches the life, controversy and just overall life of Jesus more so than Minister Farrakhan and his teacher,” said Student Minister Ilia Muhammad.

The works of Master Fard Muhammad, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and Minister Farrakhan are full of examples that are measurable. One must be analytical when weighing evidence, explained the Memphis-based student minister. Basing things solely on scripture relies strictly on interpretations which can vary and differ. What causes so much confusion in religion is because many students want to go by the Bible or Qur’an but don’t have any real-world evidence to measure what they believe in, continued Student Minister Ilia Muhammad.

“Their belief in scriptures is largely interpretive. So, you can have 27 different people read the same scripture, and they can have 27 different interpretations. What makes the Nation of Islam most unique is that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and Minister Farrakhan, they give us real world evidential criteria to measure the scriptures by. So now, when we read the scriptures, it’s not limited to just my interpretation.”

“No, it’s based on some real world, practicalities and evidence. When we look at it like that with empirical knowledge, with scientific knowledge to compare with the scriptures, we can find no other person fitting these characteristics on earth today, more so than the Honorable Minister Farrakhan.”

His teacher, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad like Moses in the Bible, boldly proclaimed he met face-to-face with God Himself in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad, the Great Mahdi or Self-Guided One. Their Anointed Servant, Minister Farrakhan has picked up that mantle, mission and message and has endured and sacrificed 45 years absent his teacher but is backed by the absolute power of God and His Christ.

“My teacher taught me that Jesus’ teaching was freedom, justice, and equality, which is what we teach today,” the Minister told a packed audience during his March 1 message, “Jesus is the Key,” at Mosque Maryam in Chicago.

He then added, “Could it be that the Jesus you’re looking for is hiding in plain sight?”