Week #5 - Time

Chapter Six- "The Big Picture"

This chapter was so helpful to my understanding of the life of Jesus Christ. As a beginner in reading the Bible, I was thankful that Borg laid out the chapter in this fashion. By simplifying the Synoptic Portrait down into three major sections and then the events down into subcategories, I was able to grasp the way that the books of Mark, Matthew, and Luke were connected. The way that he organized the synopsis, basically reviewing the book of Mark and then discussing the differences between that and the books of Matthew and Luke, was clear and concise.

The idea that stood out to me the most in this week's reading was the mention of the amount of time that Jesus was active in society. "Jesus' public activity was brief. In the synoptics, everything can fit into one year" (Borg, 139). Though John's gospel points to the idea that Jesus may have been publicly active for up to three or four years, either time span suggested is not very long at all. Here are some comparisons that Borg presented within the sixth chapter:

• Moses: Active 40 years
• Buddha: Active 50 years
• Muhammad: Active 25 years
• Jesus: Active 1-3 years

After reading that selection, I decided to do a little research to see how the number of people practicing those religions today correlated with the amount of time that their significant historical figure was publicly active. Here were the results that I found:

• Jews: 14.5 Million Followers
• Buddhists: 376 Million Followers
• Muslims: 1.5 Billion Followers
• Christians: 2.1 Billion Followers

Source (http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm)

Overall, these statistics are shocking to me because of the minuscule amount of time that Jesus was publicly active and compared to the amount of followers that still follow the faith that arose from his life. It is incredible the impact that his teachings made in the short time that he on his mission. Borg stated it well that "the mission of Jesus is like a meteor flashing through the night sky" (139).