Of course, this difference in communication leads to a strange dynamic in Jesus’s social life. Autistic people are often stereotyped as antisocial but Jesus demonstrated exactly how social autistic people can be with the right community. While autistic people may have difficulty fitting in, they thrive in environments where they find their people, those who understand them and are often as socially rejected as they are. Jesus didn’t just gather the first twelve people he passed by. [1]In fact, his initial form of friend-making was incredibly awkward, exemplified by announcing for anybody to follow him. Similar to how autistic people find community in open and relatable Facebook groups or online forums, Jesus befriended his disciples through open invitation. We must remember that he did not hand-pick his followers but rather collected whoever happened to connect to him, those who could drop everything to follow him, those who were often outcasts themselves. Whether someone was a fisher or a tax collector or a zealot, Jesus formed a space for all of the outcasts in the society to find a purpose. The autistic social sphere is never based on small talk or pointless “chilling.” Rather, comradery is found in shared tasks and deep conversations. Jesus reached out with the promise of a mission and a deep spiritual transformation, the very promise that would speak to autistic people looking to make friends. There were many “normal” people who simply didn’t drop everything and Jesus and who likely thought he was strange and awkward. However, for those who did choose to know Jesus, their devotion and thirst for knowledge and understating were well-rewarded.
Even with a strong, core friend group and a myriad of followers, we must recognize that Jesus was an introvert. Though Jesus was often surrounded by people, he made an intentional effort to isolate from others to rest and recharge.[2] He would escape to the wilderness for forty days to recenter himself and would escape to the middle of a lake on a boat to find rest from the crowds who were following him. Jesus relied on the friendship of those close to him but he still need time to himself to pray or sleep or grieve the loss of his cousin, John. Jesus is often expected to be constantly “on” and available to every crowd that desires a speech, every disciple that needs answers, and every lost soul that touches his cloak. However, he still demonstrated a need for boundaries and a need to be alone. This is how autistic people tend to process information and take time for themselves without the loud presence of other people around. By escaping the constant sensory information from the world around him, Jesus was able to find peace.
Despite his wide following, Jesus still faced issues with socializing, even amongst his closest friends. Jesus’s emotional response to certain events left much to be desired by the onlookers. When Lazarus became ill and died, Jesus provided neither the urgency nor the emotional support Mary was looking for. To Jesus, Lazarus was simply asleep.[3] Jesus knew that he could and would raise Lazarus but didn’t acknowledge that Mary and the others didn’t know this. In fact, the only way onlookers were able to know how much Jesus cared for Lazarus was when he wept. Jesus wept not out of loss for Lazarus but out of noticing the emotional distress of everyone else and connecting with their pain. Autistic people are often criticized as being unable to present the emotional response our neurotypical culture would prefer us to present. However, as Jesus demonstrated, emotions are often guided by knowledge and there is no use in presenting emotions that aren’t genuine if we know that said emotions are unwarranted.
Jesus would often demonstrate atypical responses to situations.[4] In the midst of a storm, he would be fast asleep and awake confused as to how his disciples could be so worried. Yet in the peaceful garden late at night, Jesus would also wonder how his disciples could sleep so easily with the threat of crucifixion looming above their heads. Once again, the disciples did not know how easily Jesus could calm the storm or exactly what Jesus was preparing to face in the garden. Even though Jesus’s reaction was out of place among his followers, it was actually the appropriate response given the information Jesus had that other people lacked. Throughout his ministry, Jesus told countless people in distress to stop worrying, chastised the emotional response of his disciples when soldiers came to take him away, and even faced death with a sense of calm. These responses were never out of a lack of compassion, as any biblical scholar could see, but out of knowledge beyond the comprehension of those around Jesus. If we can recognize these traits in scripture, can we not also afford the same introspection to autistic people today?
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