The blog where I rant about things that should be obvious to everyone


Thursday, September 1, 2011

Jesus and Game Part 1

Anyone who has read the Bible knows that it does not read like a novel. There is very little in the way of detail and a great deal must be inferred by the reader. Though the Gospels are actually easier to read form the stand point of telling a story, it still never mentions anything like facial expressions, tone of voice, or anything like that. Once in a while you get to know what emotions people are feeling, but that is it. So as I analyze Jesus through the lens of game, just know that I have to make a lot of assumptions that may or may not be true.

I'm going to use the book of Luke mostly because it includes a story from when Jesus was 12 that is not present in the other gospels.

Normally I use the KJV both because the underlying text that was used in its translation is vastly superior and because I find that when doing verse by verse comparisons it tends to be slightly different and better in what it says. However in this particular case the old style english would do more to muddle that to revel. So here is Luke 2: 46-50 in the NIV:

46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.
48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”
49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”
50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

The context here is that Jesus' family had traveled to Jerusalem for a religious holiday. When it was over and they left to go home but 12 year old Jesus stayed at the temple. They were traveling in a large group of relatives and friends, so they just assumed that he was somewhere for a whole day of traveling back to their home town. After not being able to find him, the went back to Jerusalem and searched for him there. So, I believe that it was a total of 4 or maybe even 5 days total that he was missing. 1 day traveling home, another traveling back, and then 3 days searching for him.

Now at this point you would think that after finding him just fine and dandy at the temple talking with the teachers, his parents would rightfully be furious. His mom says “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” They are most likely tired and sick with worry. And I have to say that today as a grown man, if I put my parents through something like this and my mother said something like that to me, I would just wither under her criticism. I would qualify and say something like “I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were looking for me.” But that would not be the alpha response.

The alpha mind set takes statements like “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” and sees a shit test. So the alpha response is to either ignore, agree and amplify, or to reframe. The alpha mind does not qualify itself, or make apologies. And here at age 12 we see Jesus demonstrate a massive alpha frame that is completely unshaken by the guilt trip laid on him by his own mother. In stead of apologizing Jesus says “Why were you searching for me?”, and reframes the issue putting the blame of their ordeal right back onto their own shoulders. He then drives the point home “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”. In the context this statement is borderline accusing.

This leaves his parents confused, as the metaphor of God as a father is largely with us today because Jesus used it in his teachings as an adult. It does not say one way or the other whether Jesus tried to further explain it to them, but by just leaving the story with “ they did not understand what he was saying to them”, would seem to imply that he didn't go on to try. This would be alpha aloofness. He just says what he is going to say and moves on. He doesn't have to make them understand, he spoke his mind was done with it.

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