Faith Venture

We struggle to understand Jesus. Yet we are taught about him from our youth (at least in the culture I grew up in–blogs are global, so I assume not everyone who reads this is from rural Ohio).

Imagine if you were taught from your youth about what the new “Anointed One” (translation of Messiah into English–Christ is a form of the Greek translation) would be. There was a tradition that he would be what Moses called “one who comes after me who is greater than me.” There was another tradition that he would be like David–a King who established a political empire.

Let’s consider the Moses tradition. Remember Moses? He talked directly to God. It was said he saw God. When he came down from the mountain, he was so caught up in the experience that people were uncomfortable seeing him. They placed a veil over him so that they wouldn’t feel so uncomfortable.

Who was Moses? He was the deliverer from slavery. He gave them the Laws. He tried to lead the people into a relationship with God.

I think the disciples, along with the Jewish people of the time, expected David. What they got was Moses. Jesus delivered them (and us) from slavery and tried to teach us how to live in a relationship with God. Doing it by the Law didn’t work. Jesus brought a new way.

Isn’t it interesting that Jesus taught for 40 days after his resurrection, but very little is recorded. On the road to Emmaus, he explained the scriptures to the disciples. What did he say? Evidently what he said before. But now there was new power and understanding.

Jesus had now experienced death and resurrection. His disciples now experienced his death and resurrection. The experience was so powerful that they scattered around the world forming new communities teaching about this experience. It was so powerful that it appealed not just to Jews but to everyone.

I work in engineering–now as a writer. We are discussing how schools need to add more experience to teaching in order to deepen the understanding of engineering students. I think the same applies spiritually.

The disciples really didn’t need new teaching. They just needed a refresher course after they experienced the end game. That must be why there are no new teachings recorded. You learn a little intellectually. You experience. You reflect on that experience. You re-learn what you thought you knew.

That’s what makes spiritual disciplines so important. They lead to experiencing God.

Another group of people with an agenda that Jesus threatened was the Temple leadership. They had established a system of Temple worship. But it appears the they had become corrupt having found a way to turn religion into a good and powerful living.

Jesus taught a personal religion. He taught that merely going through the religious rituals wasn’t the path to God.

The Temple leaders needed to preserve the status quo. They needed to make sure that the Romans were satisfied. If the Romans became angry, they had the power to destroy the Temple and change life in Israel forever. And, indeed, after one more rebellion by the Jews around 70 (about 40 years later), the Romans did just that.

I wonder sometimes about how Christians have erected their own versions of Temples that must be guarded against any threat by a personal spiritual relation with God. We sometimes make compromises with political leaders seeking political power. We justify it that we are doing God’s work. But we really just need to satisfy our need for power.

We really need to be reminded about Jesus’ message and why he died. He talked about tearing down the Temple and building it again in three days. What he meant was that “religion” is really a relationship with a person, not a ritual in the Temple.

Relationships are hard. Sounds easy. But this is a good week to rebuild that relationship.

I got to thinking about all the groups of people who were aligned against Jesus when they came together to execute him. Yesterday, I looked at the Pharisees. But I thought about how we are still like them. Today, I’m thinking about the Romans.

The Temple leaders had decided they needed Jesus out of the way. He posed the possibility of upsetting the delicate balance they had achieved with the Romans. So they went to Pilate, the Roman ruler of Judea. Now Pilate wasn’t going to do something just because the Jews wanted it. So they told him that “you are no friend of Rome if you don’t execute him.” They said Jesus claimed to be King of the Jews–and that was not allowed.

If Pilate was ever going to get a promotion, he needed to keep peace in Palestine and keep the grain flowing to Rome. Pilate’s reign was marked by terror and cruelty. He once executed over 2,000 followers of another wannabe messiah and strung their crosses for miles along the roads of Galilee. Jesus was a boy then. He knew that.

Rome was all about power. Jesus was all about love. It was a clash of worldviews played out in the agendas of people in power. One reason Jesus had to die in this moment was to protect his followers from the same fate as that other messiah from his youth. He loved his followers and he believed in their power to spread his message to the world. Jesus showed a different kind of power that has lasted long after the Roman empire.

But I get to thinking that sometimes we forget about love. We also think that it’s all about power. Political power. Power within the church to tell others what to do, think, believe. We all know someone who was given a little power and it “went to their heads.” They began to believe they were invincible. They began to think they could just give orders and others would get in line. Everything in life is about control. And I need to be the one in control.

But Jesus wasn’t in control. He did what he had to do to fulfill his mission. Think of Gethsemane. He prayed that he didn’t have to go through the next 24 hours. But he did. He gave control to God.

Are you exhibiting power? Or love?

The Jews must have been quite religious at the time when Jesus lived. From the gospel accounts and other histories, Jerusalem and especially the Temple were very busy places during Passover in those years.

By religious, I mean observing holy days, rites, sacrifices, daily rituals. You say the right things. You do the right things. Notice that nowhere did I mention where your spirit is. Your intention.

By the time of Jesus last Passover, he had made enemies of just about every part of the Jewish establishment. Today, I’ll consider the Pharisees. And wonder why we are still like them even after learning all Jesus’ teachings about them.

The Jews were all about regaining their lost glory under David and Solomon. When they were an independent nation. They could worship Yahweh, the One God, in their Temple without foreign oversight. (Sounds a little like some of them today.)

The Pharisees thought they had the path to getting rid of the Romans. They would reclaim some of the prophetic teachings that said the people had stopped being observant of traditions and rituals and therefore God had withdrawn his favor. So, if only the people would become more observant, then God would come back and destroy the Romans.

They didn’t impress Jesus, though. He kept pointing out that their religious rituals were without meaning. They just went through the motions. And, they liked to tell other people how to act. They liked to judge others thereby making themselves (at least in their own minds) better than others. They were the chosen few that would lead to God’s redemption.

Jesus said things like the cup being clean on the outside and dirty on the inside. The Pharisees heard him, and they knew he was attacking them. But instead of cleaning up the inside, they attacked Jesus. He didn’t understand that they knew the way to God.

It’s something like the story of The Grand Inquisitor in Dostoevsky’s novel, “The Brothers Karamazov.” In the story, Jesus returns to medieval Spain at the time of the inquisitions. He is put in jail. The Grand Inquisitor (a Catholic Cardinal, and therefore supposedly a Christian) tells Jesus that he’ll have to kill him. Otherwise he’ll stir up the people in some fruitless search for freedom when what they really want is their daily ration of bread from the Church.

I’ve studied all this. I know the arguments. But sometimes I catch myself being a Pharisee. Is it more important to dress well? To attend church regularly? To say the right words?

Or is what’s inside a person more important? Do I take time to understand other people? Do I care for them and help them? Or just criticize.

One reason Jesus died was to undermine the power of the Pharisees–replacing a legal approach to God with a Spiritual one. We are to enter relationship with God, not a legal agreement.

Have we become Pharisees? Or did Jesus not die in vain because we understand that it’s all about relationship with a person, not a list of laws?