What if Jesus' birth, not the resurrection, heralded humanity's rebirth at a whole new level?
What if we had passed the first phase of our development and were ready to see that we had emerged from the animal world to become something new by being more fully conscious of each other and ourselves, and all that implies. Jesus saw and acted as if that unique human capacity was available to all of us, equally. What made that emerging consciousness different from animal evolution was that it was not physical; it was perceptual: how we look at our inner selves, the outer world and their relationship.
The miracle was not his birth but the understanding that each human birth is a miracle, a totally innocent, unblemished being coming into life. Starting afresh, each and every person has the possibility to experience, reflect, learn, grow and improve the world as a whole. While all animals also have the same potential to evolve, theirs slowly takes place over eons. The difference is that with our self-awareness we can recognize our possibilities and so can act on them and change much more quickly, even in our very lifetimes. Jesus saw and described and actually stood for the fundamental implications of that understanding.
Human consciousness is bottom-up. Once we understand that, we become responsible for what we do in the world. No one takes our experiences and transforms them into action for us. If Jesus saw someone suffering, he took the initiative. If a wrong is done, he didn't invoke the authorities to set it right it. He acted. For those about to stone a woman to death, he asked them to look into their hearts and realize that they are not perfect. What is this "look inside ourselves" question? If others followed his example, they also would act as he did. His eyes were open and he was aware of the consequences, and of his role, his responsibility, his purpose in life.
This understanding means on its most basic level that human one-on-one interaction is much more important than class, institutions, governments and static rules. Personal knowing inevitably leads to deeper understanding, compassion, sympathy and caring. Love does conquer all. He told that story over and over in his parables and actions. The individual matters, not the structures.
The implications continue to unfurl.