Who Is This Jesus?

Who Is This Jesus?

Presented at County Line Brethren Church on March 28, 2010.
Year C, Sixth Sunday in Lent (Liturgy of the Passion)
Scripture passages: Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 23:1-49

What is it about Jesus that we find so intriguing, so mysterious, so odd? What is the essence of this man who stood so tall against the establishment that it resulted in his death? Why have so many people over the last 2,000 years attempted to follow this 1st century Galilean? What is the difference? What makes this man unique other than our theological jots and tittles? If we strip away the thee's and thou's and verily's, what shall we do with this Jesus? This man who walked the shores of the Sea of Galilea, overturned the display tables of vendors at the Passover conference in Jerusalem; what compels us to see him differently than other great women and great men who died for great causes?

Certainly others have died. Certainly others have died more prolonged and painful executions. Certainly others have given their lives for their fellow women and men. Certainly others have taken on the establishment. Certainly others have attempted to live lives of peace and justice. Certainly others have stood up for the poor and the widows and the weak.

Why Jesus? Why this man? And what is different about his death? Without moving too quickly toward Easter and the resurrection, what is it about the passion, the suffering and the crucifixion of Jesus, the Christ, that has encapsulated the best minds of civilization for these intervening millenniums?

Those who saw Braveheart admire his bravery, that he fought for his homeland, for his people, his honor. His death was certainly as violent and troubling as Jesus' death was. Gandhi was shot by one of his own countrymen. This is hard to believe especially after we consider that Gandhi was instrumental to securing their independence from the British. Notwithstanding the theological assertion that Jesus was sinless and Gandhi was probably not, Gandhi's assassination was similarly without sufficient cause to warrant death – as was the death of Jesus. History is filled with those who gave up their life for a cause. Even literature, movies and the arts are full of this theme. Do you remember when Obi-Wan was fighting Darth Vader in the first Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope? Obi-Wan knew his fate as he spoke, “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.” And when he sees Luke watching his battle with Darth Vader, he smiles, withdraws from the fight by pulling the light saber close to his face, closes his eyes and is struck down by Vader.

Joan of Arc was burned at the stake after being judged guilty of religious heresy at an unjust trial for political gain and payback. History is filled with unjust deaths, many having been justified falsely by religious and political leaders. Jesus is one of many. And yet Jesus lures us in for a closer look. Indeed, the suffering and death of Jesus tugs us closer because there is something mysterious in the whole thing.

Scripture clearly teaches us that Jesus knew something about his fate. He taught his disciples that he would have to die. He taught them that he would have to suffer many things. Scripture certainly implies that he knew he would be dead for 3 days and then would be restored. We are given every indication that Jesus knew he would die and that it would not be pretty.

This knowledge about what was to happen makes it even more mysterious and enlightening at the same time. It becomes more mysterious as we try to figure out what Jesus knew ahead of time and what he did not know (if there was anything that he did not know or anticipate). It is enlightening because it helps us to know that he was not going into this blindly. So, we are able to see a stark parallel between Obi-Wan and Jesus in that both of them knew, to some degree, that they would not only come out on the other side, but that they would become more than what they were before.

So, it seems that most people of most every religion are drawn to consider Jesus, particularly his suffering and death as mysterious and quite rare, if not unique to the human experience. Part of this mystery is wrapped up in his awareness of what would happen to him both in the process of the suffering and something about what it would be like on the other side.

Another focus of the mystery and uniqueness of the passion of Jesus was what we perceive as his passivity during the process. Make note that I am stipulating that we perceive him as being passive during the process. This may sound strange to many. Does not the record indicate that Jesus was passive? Not necessarily. If we consider that “the process of his suffering” as narrowly defined as the events which took place during the week of his passion, then my question about him being passive makes no sense. On the surface, it seems that he acted passively. But let us consider the scriptural assertion that Jesus knew why he was going to Jerusalem – and he went anyway. Jesus knew he was becoming the target of the religious leaders – and he challenged them all the more. To say that Jesus was entirely passive is to misunderstand his ministry and the passion. Rather, Jesus is discovered to be quite active in challenging the status quo, the religious establishment, and standing up for the little guy. All of this actively led to the passion.

So, perhaps passivity is not the correct way to describe his response to the authorities during the passion narrative. Instead of thinking of Jesus as passive, this active response is more consistent with what some refer to as non-violent resistance. He stood up over against injustice in non-violent ways, and he also accepted their unjust judgments during the passion without responding violently. Many view this example of Jesus as the foundation of non-violent resistance to injustice. This is quite different than the passive Jesus we were taught about in Sunday School.

With the exception of turning over the tables of the money changers in the temple, we might have suggested that Jesus always peaceful and never aggressive. He was not interested in fighting or using physical force – except for his display of anger at the moneychangers in the temple. He even chastised Peter for cutting off the ear of the guard in the garden. He was not interested in running off the Romans, which is quite striking when we consider how pagan the Roman system was to the Jews. He refused to get caught up in zealotry and rebellions. Perhaps Jesus was peaceful, but not in the ways we normally think of peaceful.

On the other hand, he was not at all afraid of the powers of the establishment – both religious and political. Depending upon how you interpret his prayer in the garden which was certainly full of emotions, he may have experienced fear, but it would have been confined to his very intimate talk with God before his arrest. Perhaps Jesus was fearless, but not in the way we normally think of being fearless.

In our epistle lesson from Philippians, Paul exhorts us as follows.

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death-- even death on a cross.

In this passage we discover two other important characteristics of Jesus. These characteristics are of him generally and are not specific to the passion. He is described as being humble and obedient. Perhaps these are the overriding characteristics of Jesus, the Christ.

Here we are challenged and may inquire as to whether we find that Jesus was entirely humble. Is it possible for us to identify Jesus as humble when turning over the moneychangers tables? Is it possible for us to identify Jesus as humble when he curses and kills a tree for not bearing fruit? Is it possible for us to identify Jesus as humble when he refers to the Pharisees as vipers and sons of the devil? Perhaps Jesus was humble, but not in the ways we normally think of humility.

The conclusion is that we have difficulty identifying any one single description of what best describes Jesus during his suffering and death that would be entirely consistent throughout his recorded ministry. He seems passive, but that does not now seem to be the case. He seems fearless, but maybe not entirely. He was, after all, 100% human. And so, as we might discover with all heroes, real and fictional, Jesus defies precise descriptions – even in his suffering and death.

Nevertheless, despite a Jesus that is hard to pin down, we are able to observe the following:

That he acted without fear, even if he experienced fear.
That he was quite active in preparing for this painful conclusion of his earthly ministry
But after he actively stood strong and challenged the powers of this present age, he accepted their unjust judgment without violent resistance.
That he was principally peaceful.
That he was principally humble.
That he was always obedient.

This is what Paul is talking about when he says, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” This is our challenge as we consider the suffering and death of Jesus:

• Being principally peaceful
• Acting without fear, even if we are experiencing fear.
• Being quite active and purposeful about our ministry.
• Standing up for injustice in non-violent ways.
• Being principally humble.
• Being committed to obedience.

May the peace of Jesus rest in your hearts.