Was Jesus of Nazareth a traveling Cynic-like sage, an itinerant rabbi, a Jewish holy man, a wisdom prophet, a Jewish peasant leader of a renewal movement? Who was he anyway? Was he a revolutionary zealot, a reformer, a charismatic, a wonderworking healer, a Galilean magician/shaman? Is it possible to uncover from the scant evidence who he really was? This study involves itself in the quests for the historical Jesus and makes some rather amazing conclusions.

What is the most explosive fact to be learned? It is the thesis of this book that just as the result of the Bible getting into the hands of scholars and average people in the pew in the sixteenth century had a dramatic, explosive Reformation effect on both the Church and the world, so with the real Jesus being discovered by scholars and average people in the pew, a similar dramatic, explosive Reformation effect may soon impact both on the Church and the world. Hints of this can be seen in the numerous studies being produced and in the hundreds of college students at secular universities signing up for electives on the historical Jesus. You are now on your own quest.

Ed Tenhor has directed housing projects in New York City, working with the homeless while also serving on the staff of local churches. Since the early 70’s he has been interested in adult education in congregations and has established “free universities” in Michigan, New York, and New Jersey teaching a variety of courses. Along with colleagues, Tenhor also teaches inmates at a local prison. He became interested in the quests for the historical Jesus. He has used a draft of his quest as a text in Jesus Seminars in both New York and New Jersey. Ed is a graduate of Drew University and has graduate degrees from Wagner College, New Brunswick Theological Seminary, and New York Theological Seminary.

Itinerant Rabbi Jesus and his disciples walked into many villages and towns around Palestine. They probably also walked into some of the larger towns and cities. They spent a great deal of time out-of-doors, walking from place to place. There were no large auditoriums in those towns. There were synagogues that at that time were more like community meeting places, and Jesus, as a rabbi, would accept invitations to speak there. But Jesus’ school was primarily on foot, peripatetic, walking to places where people usually gathered. Everyday he sat down with groups of people and taught them. Sitting down was the normal teaching style of the day. He could be itinerant because he had few possessions and few roots, not held down by family concerns. In fact, itinerancy was characterized by detachment from possessions, like the railroad hobos, the hitchhiking hippies, or homeless vagabonds, all, because of their itinerancy, had few possessions To carry out the powerful drive within him to usher in the reign of God, Jesus preferred open-air meetings and speaking to people in their homes.

Jesus and the disciples probably invited themselves to the homes of the peasants that they met. “Tonight we want to spend the night at your home.” It seems to be not only to have been the homes of the poor that Jesus visited. On a trip through Jericho Jesus chose a well known, rich Jewish tax collector, named Zachaeus. Jesus is reported to have said, “Tonight I want to spend the evening at your home.” It is also reported that this probable corrupt, dishonest chief tax collector was so inspired by Jesus’ visit that he said he was going to give half of his goods to the poor, and, if he had defrauded anyone, “he would return it to him fourfold.” He had probably defrauded many! Zachaeus seemed dramatically changed. Probably over the years, bothered by the disparity between his early training in the law and the breaking of the commandments in his daily life style, longed for something more. Then he found it.

Jesus walked from place to place, from the countryside to desert places, along the sea-shore, on the roads, in the villages, hillsides, plains, all are mentioned, where the multitudes of peasants would feel comfortable to come out to meet him. Itinerancy was the model Jesus used, poverty was the style, vagrancy was the image, having messianic banquets of eating and drinking in the homes of peasants was the method of contact, subversive teaching and healing were the gifts to the family in return for hospitality, detachment from possessions and volunteer poverty were observable qualities, and watching for the reign of God to surreptitiously slip in was the hope.

Itinerancy, the peripatetic traveling around from place to place, is fascinating to me. During a recent summer in south Jersey two different traveling circuses set up near my home, Cole Brothers/Clyde Beatty Three Ring Circus in Tom’s River, New Jersey and Evans Five Ring Tent Circus in Waretown, New Jersey, both very entertaining. I am the only one in my family interested in going to circuses and so I went by myself, two circus in one week! I watched the circus begin to pull up to the large field reserved for the big tent. Huge eighteen-wheelers drove up carrying equipment, animals, and even five elephants. Scores of travel trailers also descended on the area, carrying the large contingent of performers and circus workers, setting up camp for the overnight stay. I am fascinated by this itinerant life style, no real geographical roots for the greater part of the year, until the winter quarters in Florida. Just camping or trailering for a week or two in the summer with four children used to wear me out. Though I am fascinated with itinerancy, I like a place for roots to take place. Besides, unfortunately, I have too many possessions to ever consider itinerancy, but I still get attracted when a group of gypsies, a group of hobos, or backpacking students pass by.

The gospel of detachment from possession that we later read about in the history of the early church can be traced to Jesus’ teaching. I suppose that it must have been too radical for the church to continue to practice this detachment from possessions and so it did not last too long. Try to start itinerancy and a style of detachment from possessions in today’s church, and you too may see something happen, perhaps something quite close to crucifixion! Jesus abandoned a home of his own and the synagogue as central and made itinerancy the model.