Is Jesus Protestant or Catholic?

This question has an obvious answer: no he wasn’t either, he was a Jewish person born in the Middle-East. However, facts are boring and I think there’s an interesting road to go down with this. We all want to find our tribe, our crew, our squad. Across the world there is a need to belong to a tribe of people like me. We all want to belong somewhere. The question is, where does Jesus belong in the midst of this? Is He with me or against me? Is He Catholic or Protestant?

There’s a scene in one of my favourite films, A Knight’s Tale. It’s set in medieval Europe and all the English characters are arguing with some French people about who will win the tournament. The Frenchmen are saying a Frenchman will win because the Pope is French, to which a devoutly religious character by the name Roland responds. “Well the Pope may be French, but Jesus was English!”. 

For some people there seems to be this notion that Jesus supported one ideal over another and so we must support that ideal, coincidentally that just happens to be the idea they agree with. For me, there are two things wrong with this. First is that Jesus was born over 2000 years ago before most of these ideas were conceived so the argument falls apart rapidly. Secondly, we have spent those 2000 years trying to fully grasp what he thought and meant, Most people on Earth have a notion of what Jesus thought. So far I don’t know anyone that has managed to perfectly capture what He was about, He is amazing at escaping the boxes that we try to shove Him into. 

Who was Jesus actually?

As I said before Jesus was born in a small town in Israel, under Roman occupation. He then had to flee that area and become a refugee in Egypt for a time. Until finally settling down in Nazareth, a small backwater town in Israel. So if you’re trying to identify with Jesus, then you need to be a Jewish refugee born into a nation occupied by a foreign power. Add that to a working class background and a splash of being conceived out of wedlock and you’ve got a picture of the life Jesus started with. This is not a background that is often worn with a badge of pride. However, this is how Jesus came into the world, not as the kind of person that would naturally be listened to. Not as someone that we would likely vote for. Chances are, not someone that we’d likely be seen with. This was not a divine miss-click, this was intentional, God has a plan. God doesn’t respect power or influence, God looks beyond the physically beautiful and appealing, He looks at the heart of a person. 

Tribalism

As part of my job, I spend a lot of time talking to students about faith and Christianity. On more than one occasion I have had a conversation that goes down a particular strand. Talking to an ordinary Irish person and will ask, what do you believe? To which the response is occasionally “Well that depends on who is asking. If I’m asked by most people, then I’m atheist, however, if a Protestant is asking then I’m Catholic.” 

While wonderfully amusing, this points to something that is still ingrained within a lot of Irish people. This tribalism that drives us to divide one another, in spite of the fact we don’t necessarily believe these things anymore. There’s a root in our subconscious that keeps us suspicious of the other, the different, the not us. As well as the reality of a considerable history of these particular groups not getting along well let’s say. 

What society deems as important for creating this divide is shifting, but one thing stays the same, the fact that we are divided. I see this in every sphere of society, more extreme in some cases than others. The rivalry between medical and law students is much less than the divide between the Liberals and Conservatives. When we are divided, we dehumanise the other.  Rather than engaging in conversation and getting to know each other, there’s an attempt to highlight the extreme negatives of the other. . 

Self-Sacrifice

I’d like to present where Jesus fits into all this. I talked a little at the beginning of Jesus’ human origins, his background etc. The main point being he was of humble birth, a carpenter’s son. He then grew up and reached the rank of Rabbi in the Jewish religion. There’s a rags to riches story if ever you heard one. Thing was though, Jesus was never rich. He never sought out fame or wealth or any of the things that he was well capable of attaining. 

If he was anybody, he was a person that epitomized the idea of self-sacrifice. So if you see a person claiming that Jesus is on their side of the argument, See what they think of self-sacrifice, not just what they think, but how they act as well. Jesus didn’t just talk about self-sacrifice, I hate to repeat this line, but it’s worth repeating. He was a person that epitomized the idea of self-sacrifice, both in word and in action. His purpose on this Earth was to die on a cross as a sacrifice, the image of innocence put to death for the sake of the guilty. 

Yet there is truth to all those that claim that Jesus is on their side. Not in arguments and ideas, no that is pure delusion. However, Jesus is on the side of all people. He came to restore balance to the world, to undo our notions of lording over one another.To bring us all level where we can be utterly loved and accepted by God, no matter where you come from or what ideal you argue for, God wants to be in a relationship with you. Regardless of whether you're Protestant or Catholic or anything else. 

“But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” - Matthew 20:26-28