Jesus Reflection

When answering this question I started by thinking what does the terms Jesus is Israel and Jacob is Israel really mean? Superficially, one might think that symbolically, they are representations of the people of Israel and by extension all of us. Going back over the class lectures I began to realize that the concept is multifaceted and as one peels away the layers we find a deeper meaning. For me the key to understand the identity of both Jesus and Israel hinges on the solidarity that Jesus identifies with Israel, and his disciples. We cannot address the identity of Jesus without addressing the identity of the disciples. As a result it would logically follow that if we understand discipleship we would know what it meant to be a follower of

The apostles represent Israel and all of us. This principal theme is directly linked to the questions of (“Who is Jesus”) and discipleship, and (“Who is Israel.”) These questions are illuminated through the stories of the two blind men that Jesus healed. Accordingly,, the physical blindness correlates to the spiritual blindness of the disciples and the lack of understanding of (“Who is Jesus.”) Simply put the major theme, of the travel narrative, is the question that Jesus put to Peter. Who do you say that I am? In this second, healing of the blind story, we can see that it picks up on this major theme of the travel narrative, and has the blind man correctly identifies Jesus. Bartimaeus, not only wants to be healed physically, but by embarking on the road to Jerusalem with Jesus, shows himself ready to be tutored, as to the deeper meaning, of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. It takes a supernatural act of grace to heal the blind men and it will take a supernatural act of grace to likewise heal the