A native of Portland, Oregon, Jeff Lethcoe now lives in southern California with his wife and two children. He has been a middle school teacher for the past 13 years, specializing in English composition and Religious Studies. He holds a M.A. in Humanities with a specialization in Philosophy.

             To me, Jesus was the representation of Spirit.  I use a capital “s” here because it seems to me that the entire universe is comprised of some kind of unifying Spirit.  It is the Spirit, the pneuma, the breath, the prana, which generates life and keeps life going. Jesus became in tune with this Spirit. He was a man who understood.  Unlike most humans, Jesus' intuition surpassed the confines of flesh-filled entanglement with sin. In other words, he could see outside of himself and his own, pointless selfish ambition. I think this understanding helped him stay focused on what life was really all about. It helped him keep from getting side-tracked.

            I think Jesus had a main center from which other expressions that give life are to flow. The center was compassion.  From this paradigm flows serving, the pursuit of peace, and loving help to all who are in need.

            The messiah concept was an ingenious way to communicate purpose and motivate life.  First, there was the Law.  Rules and constructs to facilitate life.  However, with the ability to have free will, people chose to disobey the rules and the construct failed.  Next we had prophets, which were tantamount to guilt.  Guilt is a powerful motivator, however, proves too oppressive in the long run.  People give up. Though people understood that what they did was wrong, they still chose to try to get away with it and outrun the guilt. Finally, mercy is presented. Mercy allowed for the human to use the power of choice to choose righteousness instead of being demanded of it.  Still, humans choose to disobey, however those who choose to be righteous do so with pure hearts and not because of law or guilt.

            Though only a fragment of society may experience a life dedicated to the Spirit, (in the way Jesus' was) the purity of the Spirit and all that it is stays intact with the message of mercy.  Not so with the Law or with judgment. Not all will experience the kind of freedom Jesus had.  People who choose to channel their free-will toward life-promoting actions (for themselves and others) will live by the power of the Spirit.

            Jesus was a messenger of the Spirit that can dwell and empower all of us if we connect with it.  Humans have a battle of instincts: some for self-preservation and some for other-preservation. We understand we need to take care of our own needs as well as helping others take care of their own needs. Bottom line, we need each other to survive.  The Spirit can help us to effectively preserve the well-being of others around us, while infusing us with a perspective and power that meets our own needs at the same time.  The word “needs” is important here, I think. For example, I “need” nutrients to keep my physical bodies working.  However, I “want” ice cream because the sugar gives me pleasure.   Does my body “need” ice cream to run efficiently? No. In fact, my body probably doesn't want ice cream as it doesn't serve it well. So, at times, there is a difference between my spiritual and physical needs and my spiritual and physical wants. In today's religious societies, people sometimes confuse spiritual needs and wants.  I think Jesus let the Spirit decide which were needs and wants.

            Jesus tried to get people to understand that we need each other.  His method was to show mercy, compassion, and self-sacrifice.  The savior of the world is not just a person but a Spirit.  This Spirit is to be infused in all who will accept it and live by it.  Jesus did not consider himself good.  He understood that “good” was Spiritual.  To act “good” meant to deny self-preservation and to serve by the Spirit of good.  No one was actually good.  It was only actions...good ones, or bad ones.  I'm reminded of the tree and its fruit analogy Jesus gives in the gospels concerning the spirit behind a person's actions: good spirit=good action, bad spirit=bad action.

            Choices.  Jesus understood and accepted that he had a purpose to communicate the power of compassion and mercy and forgiveness.  He was a prophet, yes, but not of the old order.  He was a prophet of a new order. In the new order, guilt is replaced with mercy.  Guilt was paid for through the action of mercy.  Because of this replacement, people were now able to choose their actions. He said to go and do as he did.  Those who would follow Jesus' Spirit would redeem the guilt of others through acts of compassion, forgiveness, and mercy.  This message is unique among religions.  It is not about self-mastery, abstinence, judgment, or self holiness.  The message of Jesus was that even though we are sinful, (all of us) we can still choose compassion for others, we can still choose to forgive others, we can still show mercy to others.  The guilt from law-breaking has been taken care of. Now, sin just promotes selfish ambition which preoccupies us from utilizing compassion, mercy, and forgiveness.

            Jesus was different than an angel.  He was different than just a messenger.  He wasn't other-worldly. He was a man who practiced his message of life by the Spirit. He seemed other-worldly though because the effects of life in and by the Spirit produced other-worldly results.  I believe this is because the Spirit is other-worldly.  It was Jesus' purpose to show and infuse that same Spirit into all who would be willing to accept it. People have the same capacity to live by the Spirit as Jesus did.

            I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the father but through me.  To me, the focus of this verse is not on the “I”, but rather the “way, truth, and life”.  Remember, I AM means Ever-Existing...the ever existing way, truth, and life. This is the life that is lived by the motivation of the Spirit.  This Spiritual motivation uses mercy, compassion, and forgiveness to sustain the life of the user and the recipient.

            Like begets like, so says science, that is to say, monkeys produce monkeys, not frogs.  The same scientific law governs Spirit.  Mercy, forgiveness, and compassion, beget the same.  Self-centeredness, greed, and unforgiveness breed the same in return; it's karmic.