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Jesus as a Community Leader
By definition, a community leader is an individual with an active political or social role in society. The gospel of Mark iterates the story of Jesus with the Roman audience in focus. He presents Jesus as a community leader whose influence is felt not only by the Jews he preached to but the Romans, Samaritans, and other groups of people as well. Mark continuously describes Jesus as the Son of Man, because he is made of flesh and blood, but also recognizes the characteristics that separate him from others. To understand Virgil’s model of leadership, one needs to critically analyze the ‘Aeneid’, an epic poem about Anaeas, a mythical hero in Greek mythology. Aeneas escapes the city of Trojan after the Greeks capture it to goes to Italy, eventually conquering it and converting it to Roman’s new settlement area. Jesus and Anaeas, though existing at different times according to texts, shared the similarity in being community leaders, subscribing to the same leadership model. A critical analysis of Jesus as a community leader, as portrayed by the gospel of Mark, shows the similarities in Virgil’s and Mark’s model of leadership.
Value-based leadership is a concept that requires leaders to live by their values and beliefs. In the gospel of Mark, Jesus subscribes to this concept. Values, though different from one individual to another, are an indication of a person’s view on what is wrong or right. Values emanate from various sources such as environment, experiences, and interaction. Jesus practices value-based leadership in how he sets an example to others by how he lives. He attacks the religious leaders for their hypocrisy and interacts with those deemed as sinners in society. For instance, he eats with tax collectors and other sinners in the Book of Mark:
And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed
him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners
and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax
collectors and sinners?”When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who
are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to
call not the righteous but sinners.”
(2.15-17)
Jesus insisted that the gospel of God was not reserved for Jews, instead of for anyone willing to listen and live accordingly. Virgil’s Latin epic poem the ‘Aeneid’ focuses on a values-based leadership found in traditional Roman virtues such as stoicism and pietas. Aeneas struggles with his duty towards his followers when he falls in love with Dido but ultimately chooses his mission over his relationships. Both Jesus and Aeneas value-based leadership that made them great community leaders is found in their upbringing, their interactions with others, and their own experiences.
Compassion is a virtue associated with community leadership, and compassionate leaders are those with the ability to show empathy to others while simultaneously inspiring them through encouragement. Jesus, as a community leader, showed compassion on various occasions. for instance, in the book of Mark highlights an incidence where Jesus heals a leper
A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!”
(1.40-41)
Aeneas, like Jesus, showed compassion on several occasions: towards Danaan, a sailor who had been left on Cyclops island by Odysseus by taking him in as one of their own instead of an enemy. The war had just ended, and there was enmity between the Trojans and the Greeks, but Anaeas chose to serve as a role model and a true leader by showing kindness to an enemy. On another occasion, Anaeas showed compassion to a Latin, Lausus. Lausus died trying to save his father when fighting with Aeneas .when Lausus was dying, Aeneas vowed not to take his armor as a sign of victory and to give his body to his people to be accorded proper burial.
still remain Inviolate, and sacred to the slain,
Thy body on thy parents I bestow,
To rest thy soul, at least, if shadows know,
Or have a sense of human things below.
(Aeneid, X. 819-821)
The mentioned incidences show Anaeas and Jesus can show compassion to anyone. The gospel of Mark and Virgil subscribe to the thought that kindness makes for great community leaders.
A community leader needs to find a balance between leadership and servitude. A servant leader puts the needs of others first, recognizing the importance of enriching the lives of others. Jesus’ display of servitude serves as evidence for his community leadership. Jesus emphasized this value when He proclaimed, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark10:45). Servitude is an attribute that Virgil also bestowed upon Anaeas. for instance, Anaeas ensures that during his hunting sprees, his men all have access to food. Mark’s depiction of Jesus’s servitude is coherent with Virgil’s model of leadership in how he portrays Aeneas.
In ‘Aeneid’, the leadership qualities of Aeneis become better with the increase in responsibilities. He is faced with numerous setbacks and becomes tempted to break away from his destiny, but even though he is tempted to run away from his fate, he gathers up the courage to continue. This shows excellent resilience. Similarly, Jesus’ ultimate destiny was to suffer and die for the sake of man.
They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of
them; they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve
aside again and began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, “See, we
are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief
priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand
him over to the Gentiles; they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him,
and kill him, and after three days he will rise again.” (10.32-34)
Jesus was aware of this, yet he was willing to go through with it as he knew it was his responsibility to save humankind. Jesus also speaks of his death three times in this Gospel, and the better part of the end of the gospel focuses on the passion of Jesus. Mark clarifies the reason behind this is that Jesus is the messiah and must die as his death is the only salvation for humankind. Both men display courage and resilience in fulfilling their destinies despite the challenges.
A community leader is one who is authoritative, with a clear vision, and possesses the ability to lead people towards victory. This is a leader capable of moving masses and having people obey their commands due to their charisma. In the gospel of Mark, his portrayal of Jesus is authoritative and charismatic because when his disciples obey him when he asks them to follow him, crowds are moved awed by his speeches. Even evil spirits listen to his demands in, as seen in Mark chapter five. Jesus has a clear vision of his mission and has the will to achieve it, despite the challenges he faced along the way such as rejection from his own, people. “suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (8:31) similarly, Virgil bestowed visionary authority onto Aeneas where his focus enables his men to not only obey his commands in his presence but in his absence as well. Jesus and Aenea’s authority and charisma helped them to be great community leaders.
The gospel of Mark presents Jesus as a community leader. Virgil, in the epic poem ‘Aeneid’, also portrays Aeneas, the mythical hero of Rome and Troy as a community leader. Though existing in different periods of history, both Jesus and Aeneas share similarities in characteristics in leadership. They are both compassionate in how they sympathize with others. For instance, Aeneas sympathizes with Lausus despite being an enemy while Jesus comforts with a leper, a person regarded as an outcast in society. They both exhibit self-sacrifice, where Jesus sacrifices his life for the sake of the salvation of humankind while Anaeas sacrifices his happiness and love for his mission. They both displayed acts of servitude when Jesus said he came to serve, and Aeneas hunts food for his men. Among other qualities. It is, therefore, evident that Virgil agrees on Mark’s model of leadership.
Works cited
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), online https://www.bible.com/bible/2016/GEN.1.NRSV
Virgil, et al. Aeneid. Shearsman Books, 2015.