Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Visions From Our Story: Jesus the Messiah

So why didn't everyone flock to Jesus and declare him to be the chosen one of God? This is a question that has disturbed people from the time of Jesus until now. When we read the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) we read stories of amazing healings, transformational encounters and miracles of feeding and forgiveness. From our lenses (that of 21st century Christians) we can see what we believe to be the obvious. Jesus was the messiah, the Son of God and God incarnate. We shake our heads and wonder about those who were near him, that they could be so obtuse and not see what we see.

The problem with this kind of thinking is that we have the advantage of two thousand years of Christian interpretation and the Gospels themselves to show us the way to our particular set of beliefs. What we need to remember is that in the time of Second Temple Judaism (this is how the time of Jesus is referred to…the time of the second Temple in Jerusalem…the first one being destroyed by the Babylonians and then a new one built after the people returned from exile) there was no consensus as to who the messiah would be or how he would accomplish his task. And the idea that a human being could somehow be God incarnate was a heresy to be avoided at all costs.

While there was no clear consensus as to the "who" or "how" of the messiah there was consensus as to the "what" of the messiah. The "what" was the messiah would drive the Roman's from the land and restore Israel to its status as an independent nation where God's rule and reign and law would be observed. They would establish a political Kingdom of God. Israel would become a theocracy (in some ways like modern day Iran) where only God's people were allowed. Ultimately Jerusalem would become the center of all worship throughout the world as people realized that the God of Israel was the one, true God.

Looking at the life of Jesus through this lens then what we see is that Jesus was not fulfilling these expectations. Jesus was offering a very different version of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God in Jesus' teachings was the fulfillment of God's rule and reign and not Israel's. What I mean by that is that Jesus had come to lead the transformation of the entire world into the world that God had originally intended for God's creation. This is a world in which people live in loving relationships with God, one another and with the world around them. This is a world in which people strive for peace and justice; caring and compassion.

This mission in which Jesus was engaged then pitted him against many people, both Jews and Gentiles. It pitted him against those who desired a political overthrow of the Romans. It pitted him against those who used the Law of God (the Law that is the Torah...the first five books of the Bible) as a way to exclude people from the community of faith and from God's Kingdom. It pitted Jesus against those who believed the Temple (and its rituals) in Jerusalem was the be all and end all of faith. It pitted Jesus against the Romans who believed that all people needed to give allegiance to them above and beyond any other allegiance. What Jesus was doing then was redefining (or actually clarifying) the role of the messiah as the one who was bringing the Kingdom of God for all people.

In terms of our vision then we would be wise to see Jesus in this role…as kingdom bringer and not merely saver of souls. By so doing we honor his work and find our own calling and mission in the world. For if we follow the kingdom bringer then perhaps we are kingdom co-workers with him.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Visions From Our Story: The Promise Made Flesh

The Promise was now held captive by those who believed it was a promise just for them. The Promise that God would use Israel to restore all of creation (the fulfillment of God's promise that Israel would be a blessing to the entire world) did not seem possible since Israel believed that the blessing was simply the restoration of their political independence. In other words the Promise was all about Israel and not the world. We can't blame Israel for losing sight of its larger purpose. In the midst of war, exile and poverty it is easy to lose the big picture and focus instead on immediate needs and desires. God however had not lost sight of the larger picture.

God's promises are eternal. God does not get sidetracked but constantly moves forward with God's plans to restore creation and remake the world. Thus, as our communion liturgy puts it, "when the time was right God sent his only son Jesus into the world." God was going to complete God's plan even when the people who were supposed to be helping to complete it were part of the problem.

The sending of Jesus into the world was not "plan B" for God. Some people have intimated that God had hoped that the restoration of the world would ultimately be accomplished by Israel's obedience to the Law (Plan A) and only when they were unable to accomplish the task did God decide to send Jesus. This view does not coincide with scripture. From the beginning of the Biblical story Israel was to be the incubator of the fulfillment of the Promise, not its completer. The final fulfillment was always to be an act of God. Humanity, because of its self-centeredness, would never be capable on its own of breaking the power of sin in the world. Only God could accomplish this and God would do so through Jesus.

The Bible looks at Jesus through many lenses. The scriptures describe him as a prophet, teacher, rabbi, messiah (Christ), Son of God, Son of Man and The Word. (Next week we will look at how Jesus defined himself and his mission). The Apostle Paul shines his own light on Jesus and Jesus' work here on earth referring to Jesus as "our peace" (Ephesians 2:14), one who was "in the form of God" (Philippians 2:6), "the first born of all creation" (Colossians 1:15), and "Lord" on multiple occasions. Each of these descriptions adds something to our understanding of the person and work of Jesus.

Ultimately our tradition (the Orthodox Christian tradition accepted by the vast majority of Christians over the past 1,500 years) affirmed above all other views of Jesus that in the person of Jesus we see the fullness of both God and humanity at work. This view was not always taken for granted but was arrived at through Bible study, prayer and debate. One of the reasons the church arrived at this conclusion, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to God, was the very fact that scripture makes it clear that human beings (as noted above) cannot fulfill the Promise themselves. And since Jesus' actions initiated the fulfillment of the Promise to save and restore the world then God must have been at work in Jesus in a way God is not and cannot be at work in and through other human beings.

Where this leaves us in terms of our own vision is that this Jesus whom we worship and follow shows us the very heart of God. By making Jesus Christ the center of our lives we are making God the center of our lives and our corporate vision. Thus the Promise can live through us.