Couldn't Bear to Watch

I wonder if some of the disciples ran from Jesus, not because they feared arrest or death, but because they couldn’t bear to watch him suffer for his love?  

Perhaps their motivation was mixed, but he was still alone, bereft of friends at the darkest of moments.  

The love that turns away from love— right when he chooses to suffer for his love— is that truly love?

Debating Jesus, Part 1

Jesus went out of Jerusalem that night to sleep.  The next day, he was back in the temple, teaching.  Some Pharisees came up the next day to challenge Jesus.  They flattered him, trying to make him give a foolish response to their question.  

They said, “Master, we know that you teach the truth and that everything you say is right.  So please tell us, should we pay taxes to the Romans?”  They knew that if Jesus said “no” then the Romans would arrest him, but if he said “yes” that he wouldn’t be popular with the people.

Jesus didn’t respond how they thought, however.  He said, “Why are you trying to trick me?  Do you have a Roman coin?”  One of the Pharisees pulled out a Roman coin and showed it to Jesus.  Jesus then asked them, “What image is on that coin?”  

Some of the Pharisees backed away, because they realized that Jesus was displaying to all the people that they had brought an image into the temple, which was immoral and illegal. One of the Pharisees responded, though, “That is Caesar’s image.”  

Jesus said, “All right then, since the emperor’s image is on the coin, if he wants it, give it to him.  It belongs to him, as you can see.  On the other hand, God’s image is on every one of you.  So give to God what belongs to Him.”

"Caesar Augustus/Son of God"

What Jesus Said About Welcoming Sinners

Mark 2:14-17

As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, "Follow Me!" And he got up and followed Him. And it happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, "Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?" And hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Luke 15:1-32

Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." So He told them this parable, saying,

“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!' I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”

Luke 15:11-32

A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.' So he divided his wealth between them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. But when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! 'I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men."'

"So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.' And they began to celebrate.

"Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.' But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. But he answered and said to his father, 'Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.' And he said to him, 'Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.'"

Matthew 20:28-32

But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go work today in the vineyard.' And he answered, 'I will not'; but afterward he regretted it and went. The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, 'I will, sir'; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father? Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. For God’s prophets came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe them; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe them; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe.”

Luke 17:3-4

If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' forgive him."

Matthew 18:15-35

If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector…Then Peter came and said to Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

Luke 19:10

For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

The Poverty of Jesus

From the book Poverty of Spirit by Johannes Baptist Metz

To become human as Christ did is to practice poverty of spirit, to obediently accept our innate poverty as human beings.  This acceptance can take place in many of life's circumstances where the very possibility of being human is challenged and open to question.  The inevitable summons to surrender to the truth of our Being suggests itself in many ways.  Here we want to highlight the most important forms that our poverty takes, to show how our daily experiences point us toward the desert wastes of poverty.

Poverty of the commonplace
There is the poverty of the average person's life, whose life goes unnoticed by the world.  It is the poverty of the commonplace.  There is nothing heroic about it; it is the poverty of the common lot, devoid of ecstasy.

Jesus was poor in this way.  He was no model figure for humanists, no great artist or statesman, no diffident genius.  He was a frighteningly simple man, whose only talent was to do good. His one great passion in his life was his "Abba."  Yet it was precisely in this way that he deomonstraed "the wonder of empty hands" (Bernanos), the great potential of the person on the street, whose radical dependence on God is not different from anyone else's.  Such a person has no talent but that of one's own heart, no contribution to make except self-abandonment, no consolation save God alone.

Poverty of neediness
Related to this poverty is the poverty of misery and neediness.  Jesus was no stranger to this poverty either.  He was a beggar, knocking on people's doors.  He knew hunger, exile and the loneliness of the outcast (so much that he will judge us on these things).  He had no place to lay his head, not even in death-- except a gibbet on which to stretch his body.

Christ did not "identify" with misery or "choose" it; it was his lot.  That is the only way we really taste misery, for it has its own inscrutable laws.  His life tells us that such neediness can become a blessed sacrament of "poverty of spirit."  With nothing of one's own to provide security, the wretched person has only hope-- the virtue so quickly misunderstood by the secure and the rich. The latter confuse it with shallow optimism and a childish trust in life, whereas hope emerges in the shattering experience of living "despite all hope".  We really hope when we no longer have anything of our own.  Any possession or personal strength tempts us to a vain self-reliance, just as material wealth easily becomes a temptation to "spiritual opulence." 

Consider Him Who Endured...

The images are engravings by Georges Rouault, from his series called Miserere.

Did Jesus Declare that He was the Messiah?

"Blessed are the cheesemakers?"

Scholars have debated whether Jesus actually declared himself as Messiah or not.  The words of Jesus are difficult, or vague or declared by scholars to be inadequate proof.

And why shouldn't they be questioning this fact?  John reports that the crowds who listened to Jesus were confused as to what he was saying.  There were debates both about what he was saying and about his qualifications to be the Messiah.

Jesus talked much about "the Son of Man", but that title could mean many things and it wasn't completely clear that he was speaking about himself.

Peter called Jesus "the Messiah", which Jesus didn't directly affirm in the book of Mark, and told the disciples not to speak about this.

Demons openly proclaimed him "the son of God" a messianic title, but Jesus told them to shut up.

Jesus accepted titles that declared his Lordship, like "Son of David" or "the Son of God" but he never affirmed them.  Was he just being polite?

All of this is quite confusing, really.  And many other indications, from a critical standpoint aren't absolute, such as later declarations by disciples or claims of fulfilled prophecies which could be interpreted many ways.

I think that the problem is that such scholars limit their scope to what Jesus said and aren't looking at what he did.  Jesus purposefully made his speech confusing, so that it might only be understood in combination with his actions.  What did his actions say?  There are four items that, from a scholarly standpoint, seem affirmed about Jesus' life.

1. Jesus healed
John the Baptist asked Jesus through messengers whether he was the "one" they waited for or not.  Jesus only demonstrated who he was, he didn't speak it.  "They blind can see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the poor have the gospel preached to them."  These are actions that should happen at the center of God's kingdom, the temple.  Instead, Jesus himself was acting like a mobile temple, leaving healing and salvation in his wake.  This is again vague, but to heal is to claim to have the center of God's power on earth, to be the center of God's kingdom.

2. Jesus entered Jerusalem on a colt
This action wasn't just some strange ritual but was a clear declaration of Jesus' intentions that the leaders and people of Jerusalem clearly understood.  They knew that to enter Jerusalem on a colt with a number of disciples declaring his victory was a clear reference to Zechariah 9-- "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey."  This does not mean that the inhabitants of Jerusalem believed in Jesus because of this fulfillment.  Rather, they would see this Galilean woodworker as an upstart.  However, this action clearly speaks to Jesus' intention-- that he is the king of Jerusalem, the Messiah.

3. Jesus cleansed the Temple
In the first century there were multiple, even contrary, ideas of what the Messiah was.  The term means "anointed one" and there were three offices in ancient Israel in which one could be anointed: King, prophet or priest.  Some declared that the Messiah already arrived in the person of the High Priest, who, for all purposes, acted like a king over the Jewish people.  The real target of Jesus wasn't Herod or the Romans, but the High Priest and his power base-- the Sanhedrin and their representatives through the synagogue system. It was this well-organized, structured theocracy that Rome feared.
          When Jesus entered Jerusalem the day after his colt declaration, he re-ordered the Temple according to love.  The High Priest had approved of money exchange agents to set up their tables within the temple, in the only place where women and Gentiles could worship YHWH.  Jesus got rid of them, making room for true worship.  In changing the High Priest's policy, Jesus was declaring himself the replacement High Priest, the one who can order the temple.  Thus Jesus declared himself the anointed King of Jerusalem and the anointed Priest of Jerusalem.

4. Jesus was crucified
You couldn't just steal something in the Roman empire and get crucified.  When modern translations declare some of those crucified to be "thieves", they give a wrong impression.  You had to be a non-citizen in open rebellion against Rome to be crucified.  These "thieves" weren't just robbers, but they saw themselves as Robin Hood-- bandits in opposition to an oppressive government, targeting wealthy Romans, or Roman supporters.
       For Jesus to be crucified, it means that he was seen to be a rebel against Rome.  None of his actions would seem to be worthy of that.  Teaching, healing, discussing interpretation of the law, even rebuking priests and elders are nothing to be crucified over.  But to declare oneself a king in direct opposition to Caesar's rule is certainly a rebellious act.
      If Jesus' act of entering Jerusalem on a colt is seen as declaring messiahship, if Jesus did make a statement about coming in the clouds of heaven to the Sanhedrin, if he claimed to replace the high priest though his actions in the temple, then there is enough evidence for him to be declared a rebel, and to be crucified.   Certainly it is evidence that Jesus' enemies felt they could say he was declaring himself to be Caesar's replacement.

Once scholars accept these four actions as declarations of messiahship, the rest of the story of the gospels falls into place and all the details make sense, not just as a story but as history.

The Silent Declaration of Jesus

When God announced to Jesus that Jesus was to be the Messiah, the king of Jerusalem, the only ones who heard this announcement was Jesus, John and the spirit world.  No other human knew of God’s announcement, and Jesus did all he could to keep it secret.  Finally, Peter figured it out, and Jesus told them his plans to take over Jerusalem: He would be rejected by the priests, killed and then risen from the dead.  The disciples never understood this part, but they were interested in letting people know that Jesus was the king.  Finally, they got their opportunity at the beginning of Passover week—a Jewish festival.  At the beginning of the last week of Jesus’ earthly life, the Jesus began to give Jerusalem hints at God’s call for him.

In ancient societies, if a king or emperor went out to war, and then came back to his city victorious, those in the city would spread their coats in front of him and palm branches, giving him honor as he came into the city.  In the prophecies of the Jewish Scriptures, it says that when the Messiah comes to Jerusalem, that he would come on a colt, and everyone would be proclaiming, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

While staying at Lazarus, Mary and Martha’s house one morning, Jesus approached his disciples and said, “Today we are going to enter Jerusalem.”  He turned to two disciples specifically and said, “In the next village we pass by, you will see a young donkey tied up.  Take that donkey, and there will be someone who asks you what you are doing.  Tell him, ‘The Lord has need of it,’ and he will let you take it.”  The disciples did as he said, and someone did approach them and he did let them take the donkey after they had said what Jesus told them to.

            Just outside of Jerusalem, the large group of Jesus’ disciples gathered around him.  Many of them placed their coats on the donkey, and Jesus sat upon the donkey, showing his authority over his disciples.  Then he rode the colt into Jerusalem, and the disciples placed coats and palm leaves onto the road in front of him.  All the while, the disciples were shouting out, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” and “Hosanna in the highest!”

           Some of the Pharisees saw all this, and felt that Jesus’ disciples were claiming too much for him. They came to Jesus and told him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”  Jesus turned to them and said, “If these disciples remained silent, the rocks would cry out instead of them.”

            After the victory parade, Jesus and his disciples went directly to the temple area.  Jesus looked closely at all that was happening in the temple—some were offering sacrifices, some were praying, and in the outer court (where the Gentiles and women could worship) some were buying and selling animals for sacrifices and exchanging Roman money for temple money, so visitors could buy the sacrifices.  After looking at all this, Jesus said nothing, but went back to Bethany that night.

            The next day, Jesus and his disciples returned back to Jerusalem.  Jesus went immediately to the temple, and began knocking down the tables in the outer court, where people were exchanging money. Then he gathered some cords of rope and started whipping the places where people were selling animals for sacrifice.  He shouted out, “This is my Father’s house—a place of prayer for the nations!  But you have made it a gathering place for rebels!”  Many people in Jerusalem saw this and were pleased, and they listened to his teaching.

            This action angered many people.  The ruling priests were upset because they arranged for the selling to go on in the temple court.  Others were upset at the implication that Jesus had the right to enter Jerusalem as a victorious king and then to make decisions about how the temple was ruled.  “Who does he think he is?” they said.