Convinced Martyrs
Agnes bought the latest Newsweek magazine featuring an article on Jesus and how He became the Christ. Written from neither a Christian nor a skeptic’s perspective, the author chose to sit on the fence as he explained how early views about Jesus changed from Him being the military messiah to God’s sacrificial lamb for the atonement of sins. It wasn’t easy for the early Church then. They had to wrestle with disappointment and disillusionment after Jesus’ death. All their hopes and dreams fell apart when their messiah died a criminal’s death. They had to struggle with their understanding of Jesus and His mission. They had to rethink their ‘theology’. They had to grapple with conflicting views of this Jesus who seemed to be appearing to them sporadically. Sometimes, they couldn’t even recognize Him! Was the risen Christ a human in physical form? Was He a ghost? Thomas seemed to be able to touch Him, yet, there were times when it seemed as if He could walk through walls! The only thing that was certain was that the tomb of Christ was empty.
It was about this time, in the midst of all the confusion, that the disciples began to believe that Jesus’ mission was never to lead them in a political or military revolution. They slowly began to recall that Jesus may have told them this during His ministry on earth. Could the disciples have been mistaken? And their recollections nothing more than a mere delusion borne out of disillusionment? Whatever it was, they were willing to die for those beliefs.
I felt particularly disturbed by one of the illustrations in the article. It was a painting that depicted Romans with whips herding a group of lions and tigers back into their pens in a coliseum. On the ground are bits and pieces of human body parts, torn apart by the animals. There is blood everywhere. On the lower left hand corner, lies the bloodied, naked body of a woman. In the background, charred human bodies hang on wooden crosses, some of them still covered in flames. Martyrs… men, women and children, who died because they were so certain that Jesus died for them. What convinced them so?
It was about this time, in the midst of all the confusion, that the disciples began to believe that Jesus’ mission was never to lead them in a political or military revolution. They slowly began to recall that Jesus may have told them this during His ministry on earth. Could the disciples have been mistaken? And their recollections nothing more than a mere delusion borne out of disillusionment? Whatever it was, they were willing to die for those beliefs.
I felt particularly disturbed by one of the illustrations in the article. It was a painting that depicted Romans with whips herding a group of lions and tigers back into their pens in a coliseum. On the ground are bits and pieces of human body parts, torn apart by the animals. There is blood everywhere. On the lower left hand corner, lies the bloodied, naked body of a woman. In the background, charred human bodies hang on wooden crosses, some of them still covered in flames. Martyrs… men, women and children, who died because they were so certain that Jesus died for them. What convinced them so?
posted by sojourner @ Saturday, March 26, 2005
1 comments
1 Comments:
Martydom is what Jesus predicted for himself and for all those who follow him.
It is argued that martydom is a psychological condition springing from deep mental disturbances and disorder. I've read analysese from this perspective and the language of 'science' is inadequate when it comes to the thorny question of value, preferring instead to ramble along in a predictive narrative that is nihilistic and clinically utilitarian in conclusions about the value of human life.
The age old conundrum that underpins reason is the concept of a universe devoid of the objective reality of a Creator, which is the cause and effect of an identity crisis that expresses itself in the disingenuous treatises and philosophical enquiries that later become canonical ideas which give meaning and purpose to national identities.
People who are prepared to die for their country in defending its corporate identity are caught up in a universal problem of an impersonal universe. Rejection of objective truth will predicatbly therefore set the path of its adherents on a course that will force them to consider martyring those who haven't rejected OT because from their perspective an identity outside of the one they have corporately believed as true, for which many of their countrymen have died, is like facing a horned beast in the arena of reason/meaning that has to be eliminated. It is an apocalyptic condition that John saw on Patmos, always with us and yet potentially explosive.
Reading closely the dialogue between the Pharisee and Jesus, one can see the battle lines of identity and meaning. One rooted in human reason and the other in other worldly reason.
The boot and the arse of this dialogue is the uncertainty and certainty of identity wholly kept in conflict by rejection and acceptance of atonement.
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