I don’t work at the Barna Group.
But I think it’s safe to say that 97.368% of Christians – if given the opportunity to travel back in time – would travel back to the time of Jesus. Of those people, 87.593% would want to see the crucifixion. The other 12.407% of us would want to see “other” events in the life of Jesus Christ.*
That’s right. I said 12.407% of us.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure that viewing Jesus’ crucifixion would be an amazing and holy and emotional experience, but if I’m going to drop my hard-earned coin on time travel (I’ll be an early adopter of time travel technology, and we all know that early adopters pay through the nose to be first in line) I want to learn something from Jesus. That’s why I’d go back in time to see Jesus and the money changers.
It’s the best of both worlds, really. You’ve got some crazy, intense action, and you get to watch the Lord dole out His righteous anger. That’s something I can use in my day-to-day, you know what I’m saying? By watching Christ’s example, I can bring that lesson back to the present day and apply it to my life. Feel free to disagree with me, but that seems like a time-travel opportunity NOT squandered.
In other news, the holiday season is officially underway and you know what that means: marathons of Biblical archaeology shows on The History Channel. I love these shows and their titles always intrigue me even though I’ve seen them countless times: “Who Was Jesus?”, “Discovering Adam”, “Eden and Mesopotamia”, etc. I love ‘em. Can’t get enough of ‘em.
Today, I’ve combined my love of Biblical archeology documentaries with my fascination of Jesus and the money changers. Two worlds collide. You win.
Two questions: If you could go back in time to Biblical days, what would you want to see? Also, what are you looking forward to as we kickoff the holiday season?
*Someone call David Kinnaman and have him verify these numbers.
Check out the [IMG] Behind the Scenes post for Jesus and the Money Changers!
Yeah, I’d much rather see him preaching to the masses than the end game on the cross. To hear him talk about love for one another and peace. Of course, I’d need some kind of translation device as well :)
Dude, I didn’t even THINK about that! You’d need to have a time travel guide who is fluent in Aramaic! That’ll no doubt add another premium to the cost of the trip. :\
I bet we could get a Biblical historian to go along for the ride for cheap :)
My money is on Jesus and the round house kick.. that would just be sweet.
Wes, I would be banking on the fact that you would hear his teaching in your own language, I believe it would be a ‘tongues’ plug-in for the flux capacitor.
Love this! Or it’ll be like in Acts when everyone understood each other despite the different languages being spoken.
A plug-in for the flux capacitor would be boss technology, though. :)
I don’t think I’d want to visit the crucifixion because it would be far to painful to watch, but I would love to camp outside the tomb afterward. Just sit around a roaring fire with some s’mores and wait for the resurrection. Now that sounds like a good time.
Though it’s weird to think about a group of time-travelers taking pictures of a crucified Jesus on their iPhone 15S’s. Kind of ruins the mood.
The Resurrection would be cool to see. You’re right, though . . . people would Instagram the crap out of that.
I’m going to go with the creation of the Mosaic covenant. Very sturm and drang, old school.
A nice choice, sir.
I’d want to know what he doodled on the sand, but I’d be a bit reluctant to spend my time travel funds only to find out he was just writing “Jesus was here”.
Jesus was the first “Banksy”.
MIND
BLOWN
(I’d totally watch Antiquing on the Bayou…) I’d have to say that if I could go back in time, it’s not Jesus or his many miracles/deeds I’d want to see. I’d rather see the events of Joshua 3, where the Israelites crossed over the Jordan, and it started flowing straight up. Coolest miracle ever.
You guys are making me rethink my time travel choices . . .
I can’t decide between two Moses events – the parting of the Red Sea or the reading of the Ten Commandments. Either way, I would hope that he would be very much like Charlton Heston but without his gun fixation.
The gun fixation is what MADE Charlton Heston, though.
First, this is a fantastic comic and if I could get a poster of it I would be all over that.
Second: if I could go back in time to Biblical days, I think I’d want to follow Luke around as he gathered information for his Gospel. Not only would I get to see Luke’s process firsthand, I’d also get to hear all kinds of material that for whatever reason didn’t make it into the final version.
As far as the holiday season goes, I am looking forward to not having to work for Christmas, and also The Hobbit.
I’m jacked for The Hobbit, as well.
The prof’s name? Balance aloof and snobbish with the stereotype of out-of-touch acedemicians…suggesting
- Dr. Eldridge Tenured
- Dr. Tucker Tweedjacket
- Dr. Lukaas (with two a’s…) Chinbeard
Love these.
Thanks, Kurt!
Dr Lukaas Chinbeard! That is priceless.
I’d have to go with the water to wine miracle, just to settle old arguments about whether the wine was fermented or not.
And I liked “Dr. Tucker Tweedjacket”
I bet it was fermented. :)
I really liked the extended format for this comic. It really helped the pacing.
Thinking about time traveling to a biblical time is interesting, and I agree with you about the crucifixion. One of the problems that I am having, is that there are just too many moments I would love to see.
I think just being at the Sermon on the Mount would be incredible. It’s one of those things that, just to hear Him teach would be so humbling. I also think it would just be awe inspiring to see his baptism by John.
That should be His* baptism by John
Awesome thoughts, man. Thanks for sharing.
I’m glad you liked the extended comic. I’m going to do more of these longer comics from time to time. :)
For some reason, I started reading the merchant in a sassy black lady voice. It only added to the hilarity.
I’d want to ask Paul if he wrote Hebrews. Also I’d want to hang with Luke as he interviewed the Apostles. And I’d want to see the argument between Paul and Peter over eating with Gentiles. And the conversion of Cornelius. And the post-Penticost Church sharing everything. And go on adventures with the 2 Samuel Mighty Men of David. The story of them running through the battlefield to fetch David a drink of water is so badass…
Also I would want to hear Jesus curse the fig tree. That story has challenged me a lot lately.
The first thing I thought of when you asked the time travelling question was the Sermon on the Mount scene from “The Life of Brian”: “I think he said, ‘Blessed are the cheesemakers…’” I have horrible hearing, so I probably would hear something along the lines of, “Blessed are they that corn, for they small key condo-plated.”
I’d also love to meet that talking donkey and see if he was anything like Eddie Murphy in “Shrek.”
I wonder if Balaam was anything like Shrek . . .
Brilliant. So you stole my choice. I’d definitely want to go back to this moment in biblical history and watch Jesus throw down.
We are purists when it comes to Thanksgiving so we didn’t start playing Christmas music in our house until Black Friday, but it’s one of my favorite parts of the season.
I’m a purist, too. My wife would happily start listening to Christmas music in August, but I act like a brat about it until Thanksgiving. :)
I would like to go back to the Sermon on the Mount. To actually hear the voice of Jesus speaking those words would be phenomenal!
Looking forward to hanging lights this weekend!
Heck, Jesus only had a three-year ministry. Might as well stick around for the whole thing. But then I’d miss all the action in Acts…aww heck, gonna have to get this time travel thing working soon so I can just travel back and forth all the time…
I’ve recently decided to study the cleansing of the temple in contrast to turning the other cheek. To really round out my time travel visit, I’d need to visit this event AND the sermon on the mount, plus some everyday life. Is that greedy?
Not greedy at all. In fact, totally awesome.
Here’s a treat for y’all: http://www.scifiwright.com/2012/12/nativity/