Jesus: Mystic, Healer, & Prophet (Bruce Epperly) - Review

JESUS: Mystic, Healer, and Prophet. By Bruce Epperly. Vestal, NY: Anamcharma Books, 2023. 160 pages.

Who is Jesus? That is a perennial question that people have been pondering since the first century of the common era. Note that I used the present tense and not the past tense. While we do ask the question of the historical Jesus, who lived two millennia in the past, for Christians the assumption is that Jesus still lives. Getting to the earthly life of Jesus, when he asked his disciples what they were hearing about him, they gave several answers to the question. Then he asked a follow-up question of his followers. He wanted to know who they thought he was now that they had spent a good bit of time with him. Peter boldly responded to his question by declaring that Jesus was the Messiah and son of God (Mt. 16:16). When Bruce Epperly reflected on this question, he answered by suggesting that Jesus is/was a "Mystic, Healer, and Prophet." Thus, the subtitle of his book Jesus, this brief reflection on Jesus' identity provides his answer, which he unpacks in this book.

Before we dive into what Bruce thinks about Jesus, I would like to introduce him to my audience. Bruce is an ordained minister with standing in the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). He is also a Process theologian, having written widely on Process Theology as well as Christian Spirituality. Bruce has been very effective in bringing together Process Theology, which can be very philosophical in orientation, with Christian mysticism, while adding in a bit of the Baptist/Evangelicalism that formed him in his earliest years. I think it's that last piece of Bruce's identity that makes him different from many liberal theologians. It serves as an anchor that allows him to explore the boundaries of Christian spirituality. In the very first paragraph of the book, he makes note of the fact that at age nine he accepted Jesus as his "personal Savior." Looking back over the six decades since that day, he realizes that this was just the beginning of his spiritual journey (p. 9-10). We see that spiritual journey reflected in this meditation on the identity of Jesus. In reading this reflection on Jesus, we see that after all these years Jesus remains alive to him in his day-to-day activities.

In the first chapter of this meditation on the person of Jesus, Epperly introduces us to Christian mysticism and shows how he believes Jesus fits into it. What he offers here is his vision of the quest to know Jesus. That is not just the historical Jesus, but more importantly, he seeks to encounter the Jesus who is present today. With that in mind, Bruce tells us that in this book he "will be exploring the insights of the Gospel portraits of Jesus—both canonical and noncanonical—as guideposts for our spiritual healing, and prophetic quests as Jesus' companion in healing ourselves and the world." He notes that he does this both as a scholar and as a believer committed to the way of Jesus (pp. 23-24). The invitation here is to encounter the living Christ.

He continues that conversation in Chapter 2, titled “One with God.” In this chapter, Bruce emphasizes Jesus’ oneness with God, whom he refers to as the Divine Parent. Here we get a better sense of the vision of Jesus being a mystic that is central to Epperly's Christology. He envisions Jesus being a spirit person who experienced full unity with God, which in turn inspired his healing ministry and prophetic faith. Thus, we learn more about mysticism and its relationship to Christology. This includes both his earthly existence as one who is one with God and his continuing presence with us. In that way, Jesus is the "ultimate spiritual person," who "enables us to also become spirit persons. His continuing presence is manifest in our vocations as mystics, healers, and prophets in our time" (p. 62).

Having laid out his Christological vision in chapter 2, in the next two chapters he focuses on Jesus’ calling as one with healing power and a prophetic spirit. With the first descriptor used by Epperly being that of the mystic, which he explored in the previous chapters, he turns in Chapter 3 to the second descriptor, that of Jesus the healer. Bruce is himself a practitioner of Reiki, an alternative healing process, and it is that practice that opens him up to Jesus’ healing ministry. Thus, in chapter 3 he explores the way the Gospels portray Jesus' healing ministry. His reflections on the stories of Jesus’ healing activities will prove intriguing. He concludes that “embracing Jesus’ healing ministry is grounded in the belief that prayer makes a difference in the world—and that when we pray, we add to the beauty, health, and growth of ourselves, the people around us, and the entire planet” (p. 115). Thus, in exploring this ministry of Jesus, Bruce invites us to consider how Jesus might have engaged in that work, thereby inviting us to consider how we also might participate in that healing ministry.

Moving to the fourth chapter in the book, titled "Prophetic Spirit," we find Bruce exploring this third dimension of Jesus' ministry/identity. As you can see this vision is different from the traditional doctrine of the three-fold ministry of Jesus as being prophet, priest, and king. However, the two visions of Jesus’ ministry needn't be mutually exclusive. In defining the prophetic dimension of Jesus' ministry, Bruce notes that Jesus' prophetic ministry was focused on justice and empowerment of others. We see this aspect of Jesus' identity reflected in his message from Isaiah as to his own prophetic calling as one filled with the Spirit (Luke) and the message of the Sermon on the Mount. He wants to make it clear that this work of Jesus, which is a work passed on to us, should be done in community. Bruce draws from Walter Brueggemann’s vision of the prophetic imagination, suggesting that we follow the biblical prophets and claim our “own prophetic imagination in alignment with the Divine Dream of wholeness and abundance” (p. 145).

Not only does Bruce lay out Jesus’ three-fold identity as Mystic, Healer, and Prophet, he invites us to embrace our own calling to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. Thus, in chapter 5, he draws on Jesus’ words in John 14, that his disciples would do even greater things than he had done. The message here is that Jesus doesn’t hoard power but instead shares it with his followers then and now. This is because, Bruce writes, “We are his companions, and he is our Spirit Gode. We are his change agents, and he is our prophetic inspiration” (p. 153).

Bruce Epperly’s Jesus: Mystic, Healer, and Prophet doesn’t offer the reader a traditional portrayal of Jesus. He draws on his orientation as a Process theologian and as one who has embraced mysticism, healing, and prophetic ministry to define his own ministerial identity, and roots this in Jesus’ own ministry. I should point out that while many Process-oriented theologians tend to be overly philosophical, Bruce has long had an interest in what one might call esoteric things. You will find that orientation present in this portrayal of the life of Jesus. What we find here is a portrayal of Jesus that is inclusive and empowering. While my own Christology is more traditional than Bruce’s I can say that he offers a picture of Jesus that is compelling and inviting. The most important piece is that, unlike some quests for Jesus, Bruce doesn’t leave Jesus in the First Century of the Common Era. It is worth remembering that while Bruce may venture to the edges, he has that old Baptist anchor keeping him centered.