WAS JESUS A HOMOSEXUAL?
Australian educator, Michael Kelly wrote: "The question is, apparently, provocative....even asking the question is sacrilege, blasphemy, a vilification of Christianity, and a mockery of people's deepest beliefs." 1 Judging by the anger shown by many Christians toward the Da Vinci Code book and movie, some find it difficult to wrap their minds around the concept of Jesus having been sexually active. The thoughts that he might have been gay or bisexual are even more difficult to handle.
There is nothing in the Christian Scriptures (New Testament) which specifically identifies Jesus' sexual orientation. The Bible does not say clearly whether Jesus had sexual feelings at all. If he did have sexual attraction to others, the Bible does not say whether he was a:
Heterosexual, having feeling of sexual attraction only to women, or
Homosexual, being attracted only to men
Bisexual orientation, being attracted to both men and women.
I have this nagging question for the longest time: If Jesus was an ordained Rabbi as it is reported, according to Jewish law he should have married by age 28 and did not. I also found it suspect that he only associated with men, seldom with women and none of the Scriptures mention any type of relationships he had with either.
Jesus Speaks of Homosexual Acts
(CENTURION WARRIORS)
A lot has been said about what Jesus did or did not have to say about homosexuality. Jesus Christ is the core of Christianity. Yet today many people seem to consider homosexuality to be the single most important issue before Christians. Catholics claim that being homosexual is not a sin, but homosexual acts ARE sinful. Others use the words of the Bible to deny gays basic human rights, such as the right to marry. Or they use the Bible to justify abusing and even murdering gays. It is hard to believe that Jesus would have been completely silent about something so important. Yet the claim is that, somehow, he was.
That claim is wrong. Jesus DID speak of homosexual acts. Specifically he said:
"There is NOTHING from without a man, that entering into him can defile him"
Those are the words of Jesus Christ, from Mark 7.
The simplest thing to do is just to compare homosexual acts to that statement. Do homosexual acts involve something entering onto a man from without? Why yes, they do. So we know they do not defile a man -- they are not sinful. That is simple, direct, and accurate. All that is required is to believe that Jesus Christ knew what he was talking about, meant what he said, and did not lie. If anyone thinks they have something else in the Bible that contradicts that, then they are wrong. Jesus Christ himself says they are wrong, and he should know.
Homophobes consistently tear pieces of verses out of context to try and promote their anti-gay message.
While they don't particularly care if their interpretations hold up, pro-gay passages are held to a very different standard. They not only must show that there is nothing is wrong with homosexual acts, but they also must show that it is IMPOSSIBLE to come up with a valid interpretation that excludes the pro-gay message. Therefore it is necessary to review the entire chapter, in the full context of the Old Testament and the traditions of the times.
There are three major parts to Mark 7. The first (Mark 7:1-13) is the accusation of the Pharisees that the Apostles do not follow the traditions of the elders, which set the stage for the words of Jesus. In that segment, Jesus pointed out that the Pharisees were wrong, gave examples, and expanded the context to far beyond the original incident.
The second (Mark 7:14-16) are the words of Jesus to EVERYONE, where Jesus provides a test which can be used for ALL of the traditions which match -- and the anti-gay traditions are a perfect match.
In the 3rd part, Jesus speaks to the Apostles, who apparently do not want to believe that the words of Jesus were as all-inclusive as they actually were. Jesus makes it quite clear that he did not misspeak in his original comment
The links at the top will take you to the various segments of this analysis that shows that it is impossible to come up with a valid interpretation of the words of Jesus that exclude the fact that the anti-gay message is wrong.
Perhaps it would help to look at exactly what Jesus Christ said was NOT of God but of Man in Mark 7.
Mark 7:1 Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem.
Mark 7:2 And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.
Mark 7:3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.
Jesus is speaking of these:
Leviticus 22 :: King James Version (KJV)
5 Or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath;
6 The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water.
7 And when the sun is down, he shall be clean, and shall afterward eat of the holy things; because it is his food.
Then there is this one:
Mark 7:4 And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.
Mark 7:8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
This sets aside these:
Leviticus 6
27 Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy: and when there is sprinkled of the blood thereof upon any garment, thou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in the holy place.
28 But the earthen vessel wherein it is sodden shall be broken: and if it be sodden in a brasen pot, it shall be both scoured, and rinsed in water.
29 All the males among the priests shall eat thereof: it is most holy.
and this:
Leviticus 11
31 These are unclean to you among all that creep: whosoever doth touch them, when they be dead, shall be unclean until the even.
32 And upon whatsoever any of them, when they are dead, doth fall, it shall be unclean; whether it be any vessel of wood, or raiment, or skin, or sack, whatsoever vessel it be, wherein any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the even; so it shall be cleansed.
33 And every earthen vessel, whereinto any of them falleth, whatsoever is in it shall be unclean; and ye shall break it.
Leviticus 15
10 And whosoever toucheth any thing that was under him shall be unclean until the even: and he that beareth any of those things shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
11 And whomsoever he toucheth that hath the issue, and hath not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
12 And the vessel of earth, that he toucheth which hath the issue, shall be broken: and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.
Then we have this one:
Mark 7:10 For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death:
Mark 7:11 But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free.
Mark 7:12 And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother;
Mark 7:13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
That relates to this:
Leviticus 20
9 For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.
and this:
Leviticus 16 :: King James Version (KJV)
29 And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:
30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.
31 It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.
32 And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office in his father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments:
33 And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation.
34 And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Jesus is particularly upset at the idea that the PRIESTS provide atonement for cursing your parents by receiving a "gift". Jesus felt that atonement should be made to the PARENTS -- the ones who were wronged.
Then there is this:
"Mark 7:14 ...Hearken unto me EVERY ONE OF YOU, and UNDERSTAND:"
Jesus is clearly speaking to EVERYONE. He himself has identified these words as IMPORTANT. He insists that people should make the attempt to understand them. They should not let their preconceptions get in the way of understanding the words just as they are phrased. Jesus is not throwing these words around with no thought. He expects people to MISunderstand unless they really make the effort to think about the words.
That is important, because he is saying words that contradict the traditions that people have come to incorrectly accept as the word of God. Most people would prefer to turn a blind eye to the facts rather than admit that their traditions are wrong -- especially if those traditions are harmful to others. They would have to admit that they themselves have been spreading evil AGAINST the word of God, and it is so much easier to just ignore the words of Jesus.
"Mark 7:15 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him:"
There it is. That is the test. The entire chapter is about THESE words, which Jesus Christ himself has identified as important for ALL to understand.
Christians DO recognize these words as very important and significant. In fact, they have led to a major difference between how Christians and Jews act even today. These words are widely interpreted as overturning the kosher laws. And they have. After all, eating involves something entering into a man from without. Therefore, the kosher laws, which said that a man was defiled by eating certain things, are set aside for Christians. Jesus says they are wrong, because they involve something entering a man from without.
Likewise, blood transfusions, medication, organ transplants, and artificial insemination are not sins and do not defile, because all of those involve something entering a man from without.
Likewise HOMOSEXUAL ACTS are not sins and do not defile, because all of those ALSO involve something entering a man from without.
SOURCE: © 2003, by JRichards. All rights reserved, except that free distribution via any medium is permitted as long as author's credit is given and no profit is involved.
http://www.ralliance.org/JesusProGay01.html
JESUS SAID HOMOSEXUALS ARE BORN THAT WAY!
There's an ongoing joke about Jesus's ideas on homosexuality: A pamphlet is titled "What Jesus Said About Homosexuality" and you open it and it's blank, page after page, blank.
Of course, that's true. Jesus never mentioned homosexuality. Though He did mention Sodom and Gomorrah, using them as examples of inhospitality to strangers--AND neglecting to mention "sodomy."
So you have to wonder: if Jesus was God, as Christians believe, and so gifted at least in some way with Divine Omniscience, so He'd know there would one day be a terrible problem in Christianity and culture over homosexuality, gay rights, and same-sex marriage, why didn't He say anything specific.
Why didn't He say that He was abolishing all the rules in the Old Testament EXCEPT the rule against homosexual intercourse?
Why didn't He distinguish between His forgiving the woman brought to him in adultery ("Let him who is without sin cast the first stone") and His wanting to continue to hold homosexuality against people?
Why didn't He say anything about how homosexual marriage would defile the sanctity of the relationship of man and woman?
Why didn't He say anything?
Did He just keep forgetting to mention it?
The closest thing He DID say is very instructive.
In speaking about "protecting the sanctity of marriage" Jesus said:
"Because of your hardness of heart, Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.
"And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery."
The disciples said to him, "If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry"
But He said to them, "Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given.
"For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother's womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it." (Matt 19: 8-12)
Curiously, if you look in the glossary of the Bible I just quoted from, it defines "eunuch" as "chamberlain, official." If you depended on that for a dictionary, you'd have a hard time ever understanding what Jesus was talking about. You'd think the choice was between getting married and being a politician.
So what were eunuchs?
Eunuchs were men who didn't have sex with women and/or couldn't reproduce--who were therefore considered safe to be around women in the harem. Since they had no children, they had no vested interest in leaving a fortune to the next generation so they could be employed in government and civil service because they had no reason to be crooked or seek advantage for their own sons.
(Of course, not all men who don't or can't reproduce were necessarily thought of as eunuchs, though in that culture at that time and situation in history, most men were married and did reproduce. Having children was a way of serving God by increasing God's people in a world in which human beings were scarce. The point here is that when Jesus talked about eunuchs, he was certainly including men who didn't fit that norm. He himself didn't.)
Eunuchs were sometimes men who'd been castrated in order to serve in these functions. That's the "eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men."
Eunuchs were also men who just didn't look very masculine, who weren't interested in marrying or having sex with women, who were "sissies." Eunuchs included men who were obviously what we'd today call homosexual.
Those--clearly--were what Jesus referred to as "eunuchs who were born that way from their mother's womb."
SO JESUS SAID HOMOSEXUALS ARE BORN THAT WAY!
The other class of eunuchs are those who "make themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven." The Catholic Church has used that quotation to justify requiring celibacy and non-sexuality of its priests.
But eunuch means a man who can't reproduce, not a man who isn't sexual. Indeed some men were castrated in the old days specifically so they would stay young and pretty and could be sexual. Alexander the Great's lover Bagoas (The Persian Boy) is a prime example.
So eunuchs are men who choose the Kingdom of Heaven over marrying and raising a family. Eunuchs are men who 
choose to live in the present--where the Kingdom of Heaven is to be found.
Many modern gay men would fit that definition of eunuch.
SOURCE: http://www.tobyjohnson.com/cause.html
PHOTO SOURCE: http://spiritlessons.com/Documents/Jesus_Pictures/Jesus_069.jpg
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http://spiritlessons.com/Documents/Jesus_Pictures/Jesus_107.jpg
http://yougotjesus.com/jesus_photo/jesus_crist/imagepages/image237.html
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