A Jesus Like Us: A Black Perspective

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Isaiah 52:2-3, NRSV

For he grew up before him like a young plant,
    and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
³ He was despised and rejected by others;
    a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him of no account.

How might one’s ethnic origin influence her understanding of Jesus?

Many Christian African Americans in our nation identify with Jesus because of his minority status. Jesus was a minority in many aspects. He was a minority not only because of his ethnicity and culture within the predominant Roman empire, but he was also a minority because of his religious beliefs that were often considered to be antithetical to Judaism by many of the religious elite (Luke 6:7; Matt 9:34). Jesus was also a minority within his own community because of the place where he grew up (John 1:46). Because of his minority status that was compounded by his hardships (Luke 9:58), marginalization (Luke 4:29), and trauma that he experienced (John 19:1-6; Luke 22:44, 63-65; 23:10-11, 36), many blacks have found in Jesus someone who is like them, with them, and for them.

What have you found in Jesus? What aspects of the life and person of Jesus do you resonate with?

In global theologies, each culture may interpret the Scriptures through its own communal biblical worldview. And that is part of the beauty of God’s wonderful design for humanity. God has given each person his or her own set of eyes to see the world through. By understanding theology through a lens unfamiliar to us, we may discover the multi-faceted dimensions of God’s glory in Jesus and his work in each culture and each person, and our own individual theology may broaden. But not only might it broaden our theology, it may open dynamic dialogue between people groups that would otherwise remain segregated from one another. Furthermore, we may learn more about ourselves, God, and those we participate in conversation with.  For white Christians in America, that may mean that they would have a better understanding of a black theology that finds camaraderie and cohesion with the suffering Messiah who is also a liberating Messiah who lifts up those who have been cast down (1 Sam 2:8).

Where might such an understanding of lead us?

Jesus offers hope to people of color whose lives reflect that of Jesus’. Unlike most of us who are limited in what we can do in fighting the powers that be, Jesus transcends those powers of darkness, rises above the oppression, rejection, and discrimination of his person-hood and self-worth, and prevails. He prevails by walking in newness of life and offering that same new life to those of us who will be courageous enough to follow him despite opposition, hatred, and violence.  We are in search of a realm that extends liberation, is formed by Jesus, and that is regulated by justice, mercy, and peace for all her citizens.

Let us seek that place and enter in.

And let us understand that while we are called to live in harmonious relationships with one another, we do not do so at the detriment of our unique perspectives. For it is our unique perspectives that help each person to see more clearly the person of Jesus and his mission, and God’s complete vision for the world.

Written by Rev. Karen Jenkins