This story is sad. It shows how, though a number of circumstances, an otherwise innocent guy was killed by his own society. The "stupid" part of the story is how many opportunities there were for the situation to end differently.
Judas didn't have to betray him....and the Bible doesn't really clarify why Judas was motivated to do it. Over the centuries, it has been interpreted as Judas being evil, the embodiment of the devil. I'm not so sure...
Jesus could have said something that makes Pilate release him. Pilate didn't seem to want to convict him, really. When you read the scripture, it sounds like Pilate kept looking for an excuse to set him free. He even asked the people what they wanted him to do and they made the decision. Since when are crowd decisions good ones? Weren't these the same people who cheered his arrival to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday?
Someone could have taken him down from the cross. Not like they had impermeable security systems at that time...
Anyway, the story ends as we (Christians) have been taught - Jesus gets convicted, he is put to death, then he is resurrected to the spiritual realm.
Here is the puzzlement: it doesn't seem like we got enough of Christ's teachings, so why would he go away after such a short ministry? Secondly, if our God is a God of love and forgiveness, why is He still requiring a blood sacrifice? Did this course of action change God, such that we can be reconciled to Him? How can THAT be, if God is eternal, omnipotent, and transcendent of time?
The Presbyterian tradition (and perhaps many reform traditions?) "explains" the course of this story as it being God's will, and that it was somehow necessary for the reconciliation between God and human. OK, I kind-of understand that. If this sequence of actions all have a spiritual purpose, then the betrayal of Jesus by Judas was the action of the betrayer role. Under this assumption, Judas sacrificed himself to history, to be named the reviled one by the generations. Imagine that.
The concept of blood sacrifice, though, bothers me. We don't really do that any more to appease our "gods." Seems like sacrifice is a human concept that we have progressed beyond.
...or have we? Instead of sacrificing animals any more, we sacrifice ourselves when we are troubled, like anorexia, bulimia, cutting, gang violence, domestic violence etc. It seems to be a flaw in our human natures that sacrifice resolves some conflict. I don't know why that is, but it just is.
But I digress.
Sometimes, I don't know why I follow a faith and believe all of this stuff. It does not make sense logically. Yet, I have faith and I seek peace with the dichotomy between faith and logic. Belief in God gives me a better life. Living for God gives me purpose. Knowing that I am reconciled to God gives me comfort and empowers me, even if I don't understand all of it. I am comfortable with the argument that my brain is too limited and small to understand why these things are necessary and important. I am not so arrogant to think that my single, puny human consciousness is powerful enough to comprehend the mysteries of the universe.
Hallelujah anyway. He is risen indeed.
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