Angela Jhoie G.

Tolentino
A51
Jesus Before Christianity by Albert Nolan
Jesus before Christianity is a classic context about Jesus mission written thirty
years ago by Albert Nolan. It tackles about how Jesus spirituality is relevant in our
modern day. Also elaborates on how to deepen the peoples understanding of spirituality,
crisis individualism, globalization and developments after the scientific era. Lastly, it
gives a specific point of view why we need the profound freedom of Jesus.
Nolan writes about the spirituality of the man from Nazareth who has experienced
the union with God as Abba and the connection of this union to his prophetic mission.
This signifies that Christians must combine a touch of spirituality to their passion in their
daily lives. The statement, which says, The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not
humankind for Sabbath, depicts that Jesus did not reject the law of the Torah however;
Jesus has strengthened it using the previous statement. Thus, a given law is not to enslave
the people but to help the people. Unfortunately, the biggest misconception happens when
the people think of the law as something to worship.
Jesus depicts his revolutionary side by challenging his disciples to move afar the
borders of the blood family to the broader family of Gods kingdom. Jesus never blame or
hate individuals for what they did, he would also never single out an individual. For Jesus
he is not the man who would do harm to an individual but for him he is a healer. Jesus
ministry of healing is one of the things that Christians must know about him and believe
in his capabilities.
Jesus himself demonstrated a path of personal transformation. For him personal
transformation is possible and it would do well to follow today. Jesus saw himself clearly
by having inner peace and serenity, which also lead to see his mission clearly. For him a
child is a model of humbleness, trust, spectacle and liveliness. He also has the ability to
let go of things and that is what we should learn nowadays because in the modern world
that we live in we cannot help but to be materialistic. Being materialistic is one thing that
we should practice to let go. Not only materialistic things but for Jesus he can also let go
of tradition. Our habits is one of the factors that affect our well being today and at some
point we should let go of it to be a better person. As for how Jesus does this? He practices
it. We cannot be better right away; it has a gradual process to attain personal
transformation.
Jesus also practiced unity, in which it is a significant element of living a sanctified
life on earth. Practicing unity means having love as an ingredient. By practicing unity, it
can lead to compassion for others wherein it is not just for our own sake but we will
always have a soft spot for others. Also by learning the value of sharing leads to unity.
Lastly, unity can lead to having freedom, and by having freedom we can be in complete
service to God and to others.

We always think that God has a slow response to our needs, however; it is not his
intention to make us waiting but it is his way for us to learn that things do not come easy
all the time. It is an everyday process, because God is securing our future. Our future will
be secure because of Gods Work. When one dies his entire ego will vanish and a
persons true self is what will be left to continue its journey with God.