Hindus have an explanation when their divine incarnations don’t follow the rules. (Krishna is famous for it.) They call it Their “lila,” or divine play. To the unsympathetic or incurious observer, such an explanation seems flippant or trite; but there is something deeper here.
The fact is that divine life – which is what real Truth is – is spiritual in nature, transcending the rational; therefore, any attempt to systematize it, to put it into a box, of necessity fails.
The Pharisees made this error constantly, judging Jesus by their own conception of perfection. A less rational but more reasonable response would be to admit one doesn’t understand what’s going on, but recognizes the divinity before one all the same.
If you have ever been in the Presence of the divine, you know that any attempt to critique it simply falls away. It is Its own witness. To the heart that will receive it, no explanation is needed.
When I was still practicing the Christian religion, I never understood how people like Peter and the other disciples could simply abandon their lives at His call. I couldn’t imagine what would lead someone to do that. The reason I didn’t understand was that I still thought of faith as a primarily rational process.
Like the Hindus, I believe that God has appeared on earth more than once, and probably many times. Some people are so saintly, in such intimate relationship with the divine, that it isn’t clear whether they are divine incarnations or simply exceedingly holy people. In truth, I don’t think God gets upset about whether someone’s conception of Him falls on one side of the divide or the other, so long as the relationship is there. After all, the relationship is the reality, not what you think about it.
There was a Hindu woman who lived from 1896-1982 who was born in what is now Bangladesh named Nirmala Sundari, but became widely known as Anandamayi Ma, or “bliss-permeated mother.” The parallels to Christ are astonishing; miracles fell from her like rain, and merely being in her presence changed people. I am not Hindu, so it’s difficult for me to be certain; but based on what I’ve read I think she could have been accused of not following the rules, as well. Over the years, she was photographed, filmed and recorded many times; and numerous people have reported having a transcendent encounter with her while looking at her photograph. I am one of those. After encountering Ma, I knew how people could simply turn away from their lives on the spur of the moment without looking back; so, now I know how people could have done it with Jesus.
Conventional Christians would be scandalized, triggered, by the suggestion that Jesus was a sinner; but I’m not sure Jesus would be. Given what I’ve read of Him from non-traditional sources, I suspect He might laugh. I think the important thing is to know Him. Knowing Him, like knowing Ma, quiets the mind of questions and doubts, and brings peace.
