What Jesus runs away from

[Student of X]

The son of Mary, Jesus, hurries up a slope
as though a wild animal were chasing him.
Someone following him asks, 'Where are you going?
No one is after you.’
Jesus keeps on, saying nothing, across two more fields.
'Are you the one who says words over a dead person,
so that he wakes up?’
I am.
'Did you not make the clay birds fly?'
Yes.
'Who then could possibly cause you to run like this?'

Jesus slows his pace.

I say the Great Name over the deaf and the blind,
they are healed. Over a stony mountainside,
and it tears its mantle down to the navel.
Over non-existence, it comes into existence.
But when I speak lovingly for hours, for days,
with those who take human warmth
and mock it, when I say the Name to them, nothing
happens. They remain rock, or turn to sand,
where no plants can grow. Other diseases are ways
for mercy to enter, but this non-responding
breeds violence and coldness toward God.
I am fleeing from that.

As little by little air steals water, so praise
Is dried up and evaporates with foolish people
who refuse to change. Like cold stone you sit on,
a cynic steals body heat. He doesn't feel
the sun.
Jesus wasn't running from actual people.
He was teaching in a new way. -Rumi

I thought it might be fun to hear from you all in your own words what Rumi is teaching here. Your opinion?

 

[Hevenly Heathen]

That you cannot teach everyone, and even those who listen not all of them will retain the lessons. You can't force others to learn, the easiest way to teach is by example, not rhetoric. Let the students find you, don't seek them out.

 

[Freedomelf]

Let the students find you, don't seek them out.

Perfect quote....and one I wish all religions would learn.

 

[Super Universe]

The passage looks like it's from one of the books not in the bible. I'm not doubting it's accuracy one bit though.

Jesus was not born fully aware of who He was. He was born a human child with some extra gifts. As a child He would sit by the water and form clay animals with His hands and then bring them to life. He was a child prodigy, a child of God, and certainly acted as any other child would that had exceptional ability. Over the years, as Jesus grew and matured He became more and more aware of who He was.

The passage you've posted is a reflection of the child Jesus, a true Son of God who knows that He is special but has no idea how special. He was frustrated with human beings who, then and now, too often choose the golden calf (materialism and power).

 

[A-ManESL]

This passage is from Rumi's masnavi. You can read the complete version here.

 

[John Thiel]

The son of Mary, Jesus, hurries up a slope
as though a wild animal were chasing him.
Someone following him asks, 'Where are you going?
No one is after you.’
Jesus keeps on, saying nothing, across two more fields.
'Are you the one who says words over a dead person,
so that he wakes up?’
I am.
'Did you not make the clay birds fly?'
Yes.
'Who then could possibly cause you to run like this?'

Jesus slows his pace.

I say the Great Name over the deaf and the blind,
they are healed. Over a stony mountainside,
and it tears its mantle down to the navel.
Over non-existence, it comes into existence.
But when I speak lovingly for hours, for days,
with those who take human warmth
and mock it, when I say the Name to them, nothing
happens. They remain rock, or turn to sand,
where no plants can grow. Other diseases are ways
for mercy to enter, but this non-responding
breeds violence and coldness toward God.
I am fleeing from that.

As little by little air steals water, so praise
Is dried up and evaporates with foolish people
who refuse to change. Like cold stone you sit on,
a cynic steals body heat. He doesn't feel
the sun.
Jesus wasn't running from actual people.
He was teaching in a new way. -Rumi

I thought it might be fun to hear from you all in your own words what Rumi is teaching here. Your opinion?

When you quote Rumi, it's the same as if he were posting here, because you know what you have posted.

 

[John Thiel]

And look, you're the all and none man and paradigm shifter.

 

[BBTimeless]

The son of Mary, Jesus, hurries up a slope
as though a wild animal were chasing him.
Someone following him asks, 'Where are you going?
No one is after you.’
Jesus keeps on, saying nothing, across two more fields.
'Are you the one who says words over a dead person,
so that he wakes up?’
I am.
'Did you not make the clay birds fly?'
Yes.
'Who then could possibly cause you to run like this?'

Jesus slows his pace.

I say the Great Name over the deaf and the blind,
they are healed. Over a stony mountainside,
and it tears its mantle down to the navel.
Over non-existence, it comes into existence.
But when I speak lovingly for hours, for days,
with those who take human warmth
and mock it, when I say the Name to them, nothing
happens. They remain rock, or turn to sand,
where no plants can grow. Other diseases are ways
for mercy to enter, but this non-responding
breeds violence and coldness toward God.
I am fleeing from that.

As little by little air steals water, so praise
Is dried up and evaporates with foolish people
who refuse to change. Like cold stone you sit on,
a cynic steals body heat. He doesn't feel
the sun.
Jesus wasn't running from actual people.
He was teaching in a new way. -Rumi

I thought it might be fun to hear from you all in your own words what Rumi is teaching here. Your opinion?

I really like this. I will have to think about it for awhile. Thank you for sharing.