Why You Cannot Be Spiritual Switzerland Part One

The scene of the crucifixion according to Mark best illustrates the way that the reality of who Christ is polarizes us into two reactionary groups. The theme, you will notice, if you read Mark 15:16-32 is mocking. There are four very different groups of people at this particular crucifixion: Mark mentions pagan roman soldiers, common men and women who were passing by on their way to the Jewish festival, the highest Jewish officials who had political power in Israel, and two dying convicts who were also being crucified. Four groups of people, who were very different, were all doing the same bizarre thing: they were mocking and shaming a man they barley knew, who had spent his life healing the sick and helping the poor and marginalized of their society. And yet these people were unashamed in their openly hostel mockery of a naked and bloodied man as he died in unmistakable agony. What was so offensive about Jesus that would cause this kind of unanimous and inhumane contempt? This hatred of Jesus is something that is seen even today. Anne Rice wrote of how she came upon this contempt in even scholarly academic circles in her book Christ The Lord: Out of Egypt:

“I was unconvinced by the wild postulations of those who claimed to be children of the Enlightenment. And I had also sensed something else. Many of these scholars, scholars who apparently devoted their life to New Testament scholarship, disliked Jesus Christ. Some pitied him as a hopeless failure. Others sneered at him, and some felt an outright contempt. This came between the lines of the books. This emerged in the personality of the texts. I'd never come across this kind of emotion in any other field of research, at least not to this extent. It was puzzling. The people who go into Elizabethan studies don't set out to prove that Queen Elizabeth I was a fool. They don't personally dislike her. They don't make snickering remarks about her, or spend their careers trying to pick apart her historical reputation. They approach her in other ways. They don't even apply this sort of dislike or suspicion or contempt to other Elizabethan figures. If they do, the person is usually not the focus of the study. Occasionally a scholar studies a villain, yes. But even then, the author generally ends up arguing for the good points of a villain or for his or her place in history, or for some mitigating circumstance, that redeems the study itself. People studying disasters in history may be highly critical of the rulers of the milieu at the time, yes. But in general scholars don't spend their lives in the company of historical figures whom they openly despise.”

I too, noticed as I began to explore the world of ‘Christian academics’, that there were many authors whose writing evidenced vast amounts of time and research though they rejected every tenant and claim of Christianity. After reading one author last semester who mocked (at great length and with great research) the claims of Christ, I remember wondering, since he was convinced that Christianity was so ridiculous, why would he not just pursue another field of study? This contempt of the historical Jesus is not just in academics, it is in newspapers and schools, and even church pews. Now, you may be thinking, ‘I don’t despise God and I certainly know more people who don’t care about God then those who hate Him.’ But indifference is the most polite form of disdain, it ignores and goes back to its’ own interests while avoiding confrontation. And then there are those who believe they are not offended by God as they continue to reject Him because they are not actually interacting with the whole of who He says He is, but with a god of their own self creation. The truth about who Jesus is, as a real person, is much more demanding and therefore offensive God than the gods we create. Many people interact with God as though they can conform Him to a ‘spiritual but not religious’ utilitarian being who rewards their goodness, comforts them in pain, and aids in crisis. Who would hate such an agreeable God as that? What is it about Jesus that makes us so disdainful of His presence in our life?

To Be Continued...

Note: Some of these thoughts have been taken from a sermon preached at Redeemer Presbyterian Church by David Bisgrove entitled Mocking Jesus.