The Authentic Gospel of Jesus

The Authentic Gospel of Geza

Geza Vermes has made his life-work the calculated debunking of the traditional Christian gospel message of the substitutionary suffering and atonement of the God-man Jesus Christ.
In "The Authentic Gospel of Jesus Christ" he attempts to persuade the reader that the traditional, historical message of the incarnation of God in Jesus, as the prophesied Jewish messiah, is a fabrication of his disillusioned disciples since Jesus had eventually died. Vermes claims to detect layers of interpolation that supposedly build the story of a destined dying and rising savior, which is supposedly not part of the authentic message of the merely charismatic teacher. He asserts that Jesus' mission was ultimately defeated with his unforeseen execution by the authorities as a troublemaker in the realm of organized Judaism.
Essentially Vermes would have us believe that the interpolations which depict Jesus as the willing sacrifice for sinners as well as the resurrected and glorified Lord are the after-thoughts of his fanatical adherents. Supposedly they were so embarrassed by the execution of Jesus that the gospel writers reworked the included events of surprise of the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus so as to depict the disciples as misunderstanding the predictions of Jesus concerning his death but who afterward came to understand it fully.
But it is completely ridiculous and not believable to think that the adherents of Jesus would bother to keep the elements of embarrassment at all rather than provide a wholesale lie about how the mission of Jesus was known and believed from the very beginning and objectively vindicated by their observing the realization of the prophesied suffering and resurrection of Jesus!
With his minimalistic characterization of Jesus Vermes actually creates more problems and resolves none. He does not bother to explain many important ramifications resulting from his "authentic" Jesus.
For examples: When Israel already had the revelation about the kingdom of God since the exodus and Mosaic covenant, why does Jesus demand that converts "follow" him rather than simply demand reformation as Moses and the prophets had? If Jesus really was a charismatic teacher announcing the coming of the kingdom of God solely for the Jews (as Vermes believes) where is this kingdom for the Jews solely by now, if the Christians were not the true recipients? Supposedly the prophet Jesus was so wrong about the nearness of the coming kingdom, but the Jews in fact do not have their temple nor priestly service since the era of Jesus. If the supposed invented Christian version of the mission of Jesus is wrong, why are the Jews, who were supposedly correct about their negative assessment of Jesus, dispersed and without even the biblically-depicted glory of their earthly kingdom with temple and service? If the Jews reverence the Hebrew prophet Isaiah, then who would be the suffering servant, who was despised by his fellow countrymen, who dies as a substitute for the guilt of others, and who is resurrected to enjoy the results of his mission, if not Jesus? If the Jews reverence the prophet Isaiah, then why do they disregard the prediction about the righteous branch of Jesse, the son provided for Israel as a righteous ruler, who would also be a signal for all the nations to be drawn to the true worship of Yahweh? This in fact is the case only with the multi-national conversions of the followers of the son of David, Jesus.
Vermes is as foolish as atheists who rob God of his glory (the one regarding his redemption, the other regarding his creation) and then think they have provided humanity with a more satisfying explanation of the world as we know it with all its sin and sorrow.