Jesus Christ:
Conflicted Christianity

This 1617 painting by Pieter Lastman is of Jesus and the Canaanite (or Syro-Phoenician) woman.

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As recounted by the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 15 (ESV)::

And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon (a pagan land beyond the Galilee).  And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.”  Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

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This is a most unusual encounter in two respects:

- Jesus intentionally demeans this foreign woman in terms that today that could be considered as racist.

- Despite baiting her, the Canaanite woman gets the better of the interaction with a comeback overpowering Jesus’ initial disregard of her situation.

A perfect example of Jesus’ purposefully setting up the conflict, then rewarding the one who can takes the heat and works through the contradiction.

March 2023

“Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division!”
– Jesus of Nazareth, as quoted by Luke 12:51

We each have our own personal image or metaphor for Jesus. To some, he is the great shepherd. To others, the son of God or maybe son of man. Or how about the way, the truth and the life? The word? The teacher, healer? The Christ? The king of the Jews?

At this Christmas season and without discounting any of these possibilities, we offer yet another alternative – Jesus as the first and last of the Christian heretics.

What is meant by heresy? Very simply, articulating a belief and practice in opposition to the orthodoxy of the day. Jesus delivered a message that was uncomfortable to the ruling elite of his day. For this, he was executed. Then in defiance of all odds, he resurrected and ascended to heaven..

At the outset of this year, we began this excursion into the great heresies of Christianity with the first New Testament gospel. From Matthew the tax collector turned disciple  to Martin Luther of Protestant Reformation,, the central argument has been that each of 11 proto-Christian figures introduced some new twist to the Christian faith – challenging the orthodoxy of their time.

The resulting legacy has been one of dissension and conflict within the Christian ranks – from the 1st century through the 21st. A simple question is posed: Is this conflict intended or unintended? To answer the question, we must travel back to the source – back to the very person of Jesus.

Even today, 20 centuries later, Jesus points to a path, a way of life we are inclined to avoid or ignore. What was Jesus’ heresy? Very simply, the heresy of Jesus was and is conflicted Christianity. This statement embodies three distinct but related themes:

  • While early New Testament era authors each gave their own spin to Jesus’ life, the reported conflicts reflect something far deeper – contradictory statements and actions by the historical Jesus himself.

  • Jesus intentionally set up situations of conflict and contradiction.

  • We can never fully experience the kingdom without living through the contradictions – both individually and collectively.

Jesus intended the conflict. He desired that we be fully immersed in the turmoil. And there is a purpose – that we wrestle with the contradictions, draw new understanding synthesized for changing times, and apply the understanding in the here and now of our daily lives.

When we fail to grasp the message, we miss the full wonders of God’s kingdom – the kingdom that is here among us now.

As Jesus lived in and through conflict, he asks as much of those who follow behind. We are commanded to work out our salvation via conflict – both personal and familial. So that, like the pagan, Canaanite woman who was rebuked by Jesus, we persist until the master relents, saying: “Be it done for you as you desire.””

For more detail regarding the topic of Jesus’ heresy, click here on Conflicted Christianity. For a synopsis of all the heresy topics covered by this web site, click on 12 Heresies of Christianity. Or click on any images for other topics of interest below.