(The Nationalist, 2 April 2004)
A large part of the Gospels is about conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders of his time. Why is so much attention given to this? I think it is because Jesus was trying to free people from a narrow view of religion. His opponents were systematizers. They had a theology which virtually made God redundant. It was a system of rules, and their view was, ‘Keep the rules and the rules will keep you’.
Jesus tried to wake up his opponents, to bring them to see the essentials and not get lost in the details. Sometimes he was blunt with them because they were smug and self-satisfied about their system.
An example of this was the woman caught in adultery. (In passing, can a woman commit adultery alone? Where was the man?) Jesus’ critics asked him if she should be stoned as the law of Moses prescribed. The question was a trap. If he said yes, they could depict him as unforgiving. If he said no, they could say he was disobeying the Law of Moses, so how could he be from God?
But Jesus was trying to get them to look beyond the narrow confines of the certainties which they had identified with the truth. They had a theology which, for them, was God’s will. They had taken the mystery out of God and replaced it with man-made doctrines.
There is no system which can encase the mystery of God. To attempt to create one is to create an idol, a god made in one’s image and likeness. Jesus was subversive of their religious system. It’s no wonder they killed him.
P.S. I recently saw the film The Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson. I thought it was a (mostly) accurate portrayal of the closing hours of Jesus’ life. I’m glad I went to it, and, if I get the chance, I’ll probably go again. It was violent, but, of course, the reality it depicts was violent. There is no non-violent way to scourge a man, put a crown of thorns on his head and crucify him. I don’t think the film overdid it. But an important point is that the Gospels are more concerned with why Jesus died than how. Jesus died for the sins of all humanity.