Over the last few weeks we have been looking in an informal way at a number
of issues that I believe that the church has not done a good job of dealing
with as a witness too, and in our modern culture. "For this reason many
are weak and sick among you, and many sleep." (1 Corinthians 11:30) That first week we looked briefly at communion,
both as sacrament and in a wider context. Next we looked at money and how we
for some reason think that is ours and not the Lord's. Last week we looked at
Jesus our "Bright and Morning Star," our hope in this world and the
world to come. This week we will look briefly at church or covenantal culture.
As we approach Passover and Easter celebrations, it is good that we examine
ourselves to see things we have inherited from our past that we could rectify.
This could make this season more memorable to ourselves and our families.
And He, bearing His cross, went out to a
place called the Place of the Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where
they crucified Him and two others with Him, one on either side with Jesus in
the center. Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing
was:
JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS
Then many of the Jews read this title, for
the place were Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in
Hebrew, Greek and Latin.
Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said
to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews.' but 'He said, I am King
of the Jews.'"
Pilate answered, "What I have written, I
have written." (John 19:17-22)
In all four gospels we have a rendition of this event. This description in
John being the most complete. The questions follow, do we really believe that
Jesus was king of the Jews? Or as Christians, are we content to create an Arian
(or Aryan) Jesus? The one that looks like the Norwegian in all the pictures. If
that icon is true to us, perhaps it is because our culture, both western and
religious has some antiSemitic roots that need to be pruned. As we examine
where we want to be, to be associated in any way with that Jewish Messiah, or
our we content with "Our Jesus" that the American Evangelical church
has done an excellent job of creating. It is true that religious leaders both
Jew and Gentile have done an excellent job of convincing us that, "He said, I am King of the Jews."
But the Bible states four times, just as Pilate finally makes clear, when he
says,"What I have written, I have
written."
The fourth century threat to Christianity came from Arius (256-336) as a heresy
that denied the full divinity of Jesus Christ. The church dealt with this
problem in the Council of Nicea in 325 and again at Constantinople in 381.
Those two councils gave the church the great heritage of the Nicene Creed,
which confirms the very nature of Christ, as fully God, and fully human. One
could say that most of our orthodox Christian doctrines flow from this
document.
Not just content to maintain, or reestablish orthodoxy however, the councils
also severed all that remained of the religion's Jewish roots. Easter, as best
as we know, was named after Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon name for the goddess of
spring and fertility. Her festival was celebrated on the day of the vernal
equinox, and it is where the traditions of the Easter rabbit (fertility) and
colored eggs (to represent spring sunlight) began. The church's new Easter was
therefore celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the
vernal equinox. All contexts relating to the Jewish Festival of Unleaven Bread
and Passover disappeared from western religious culture. This for interest
only, is also where the celebration of Christmas began, again related to the
pagan holiday for the winter solstice.
Our practice of eating Easter Ham probably comes from the time of the
Spanish Inquisition which started in the late fifteenth century because Jews,
and later converts to Islam through coercion or social pressure had insincerely
converted to Christianity. By forcing all to eat pork as a means to celebrate
Easter, it was thought that only true baptized Christians would do so.
Therefore it served as a means, among others, to select out those heretics for
persecution and even death. This Inquisition was broadened by 1520 to include
Protestants.
We as Protestants however, are not without our own little antiSemitic acts.
The original King James translation of Acts 12:4 has Easter as the festival
that is mentioned even though as we have seen Easter, as such, would not exist
for another three centuries:
So when they had arrested him (Peter), he
(Herod) put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep
him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover (Easter).
From all this we can see that Christian and Jewish cultures, God's chosen
religious communities, really want very little to do with the real
JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS
Whether we write it in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, or English we want our lives to
testify to the fact and all religious culture to say: Therefore
the chief priests of the Jews (and
Christians) said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews.' but
'He said, I am King of the Jews.'"
But Pilate answered for all time as the voice of God speaking through his
words:"What I have written, I have
written."
"So fire up the oven Martha, they have those great spiral cut hams
available all over this time of year, for such a great price. Later Sunday, we
can have this great Easter feast, after of course we let the kids collect the
easter eggs, and we go to church this one time. We don't want to get all
carried away with that bloody Passover thing. Jesus really was not God after
all. Just a great prophet, like Moses, Mohammed and other great eastern
teachers. Sure wished we had not lost so much money in the stock market these
last couple of weeks. We could have gone out late Easter afternoon and bought a
new SUV. It sure would have been a great Easter gift for the whole
family."
But what if for once we celebrate this Resurrection Sunday, the One who
truly was God, and that the true Catholic (universal) Church has said He was
these last two thousand years? Seventeen hundred in this form.
I believe in one God the Father Almighty;
Maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the
Father before all ages.
Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten not made, being of one substance
with the Father; by whom all things were made.
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate
of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary, and became man.
Crucified also for us under Pontious Pilante, He suffered and was buried.
And on the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures.
And ascended into heaven, and sat at the right hand of the Father.
And He shall come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. Whose
kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds
from the Father, Who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and
glorified, Who spoke through the Prophets.
I believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
I acknowledge One Baptism for the remission of sins.
I await the resurrection of the dead.
And the life of the Ages to come. Amen
Nicene Creed (Greek Orthodox version, 381 CE; Christian Era)