What Jesus Subtly Said About Himself

Gospel according to the Codex Bezae, several biblical quotations attributed to Jesus demonstrate differences when compared to the Septuagint transcript; furthermore, these variations have often disappeared from the other manuscripts where these verses were changed in order to better suit synoptic parallels. Throughout these words, Jesus expressed thoughts concerning his own self, indirectly answering the question: “What do you say about yourself?” His answers restructured the Prophets’ words. Through these words he has applied the divine attributes to himself without imposing a hierarchy. For instance, evoking the temple, he said: “It is written that My House is a house of prayer” which was generally rendered as a quote: “It is written that “my House will be a house of prayer”. The same remarks can be made concerning other words attributed to Jesus which are not quotes from the Bible. Overall, ten verses are concerned. These differences between the Codex Bezae and the standard text are apparently minor: they consist in a preposition, the tense or the voice of a verb, the word order, the presence or the choice of a pronoun; as they are never demonstrative, they easily go unnoticed. When Jesus said, speaking of Zacchaeus, “today, Salvation has come into this house”, was he not alluding to his physical arrival since his name means “the Lord saves”? The preposition “in” has disappeared and the meaning has become “salvation for this house”; which better suits a Hellenised society which, in that way, no longer had access to the etymology of Jesus’ name. The lesson provided by the Codex Bezae is shared by the Codex Alexandrinus and also by the Coptic and Syriac traditions which are among the most ancient. Would a better knowledge of all the different scriptural sources not favour the renewal of our approach to the Christ?