Would we also send Jesus to the cross? – A Holy Week Reflection

“Would we also send Jesus to the cross?” – A Holy Week Reflection

“Here is my servant, whom I uphold . . . He will bring forth justice to the nations.” (Isaiah 42:1)

“Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.” (Matthew 15:3)

“By a perversion of justice he was taken away . . . stricken for the transgression of my people.” (Isaiah 53:8)

“Would we also send Jesus to the cross?”

This is the question we must in penance ask ourselves, during this Holy Week.  The practice of self-examination during the Holy Week usually focuses on the inner life; our sins of both omission and commission.  Of course, many believers, particularly Evangelicals, have no need for setting aside this week as a week of spiritual reflection; “We are free of all such traditions!”  The Holy Week comes and goes, and we remain satiated yet spiritually dulled in spite of our sustained praise.

But for those whose hearts are turned: Are we willing to let this examination of our walk with the Lord, now sift through our entire existence as a community of believers?  Towards the systems, the apparatus, the values, the very ethos of our gathering together?  Are we willing to allow the Spirit of God to deconstruct all that we think is right and just and good, to only find that what we perceived was right and just and good, is not God’s truth but only chaff in the wind?

What would happen if Jesus Christ came into our church and said, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted?”  What would happen when He begins to uproot things in the church?  Would we recognise Him or would we also send Him to the cross?

Let us be clear:  It was not, as commonly presumed, that Jesus preached an inner righteousness while His opponents sought only an outer righteousness, and that for this reason they nailed Him to the cross.  No, it’s not that simple.  We now know enough from the sources of Jesus’ day, to suggest that His opponents were in many respects also deeply concerned with both an inner and outer righteousness of the heart.  Nor did Jesus’ opponents nail Him to the cross because He inferred His divinity or inferred Himself as the awaited Messiah.

Rather, the root cause of Jesus’ death was that as God’s prophet, He questioned the prevailing consensus.  He sought to uproot “plants” which God never planted.  He publicly questioned and sought to uproot practices, systems, and symbols to which Jesus’ opponents had so deeply attached their self-identity, dreams, aspirations, and demarcations of faith to.  He questioned prevailing perceptions, interpretations, and postures towards symbols and institutions such as the Sabbath, the Torah, the Temple, the restoration of a political nation-state; and most threatening, the exclusive authority of the ruling elite.  He questioned the “boundary-markers” of faith; of “who is in and who is out.”  And even more, Jesus envisioned and proclaimed an alternative and empowering consciousness which radically jeopardised the authority of the existing power players of His day.  He publicly questioned all these things again, again, and again.  And thus those who were threatened by His questioning, sought to kill him.

And how did they kill Him?  They killed him by maligning His character, His integrity, His place within the community.  They sought to silence Him as a social deviant, an unpatriotic antagoniser, a rebel and a liar.  That is why they nailed Him to the cross, for by nailing Him to the cross, they sought to forever ruin the name of Jesus.

The question remains:  If Jesus Christ came into our church and said, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted,” would we recognise Him or would we also “nail” Him to a cross?

I have reflected on the practice of Christmas amongst many churches and believers.  Here in Singapore, as within many religiously pluralistic societies, every year Christmas is vividly preceded by the Muslim festival of Hari Raya Haji.  Last year, the two holidays were only a week apart, which provided quite a contrast between visible expressions of faith and celebration, between the Muslim and Christian communities.  Given the short span between the two holidays, I saw something, which I found most perplexiing.

On the day of Hari Raya Haji, the Singapore Muslim community slaughters thousands of lambs, giving away most of this meat to poor Muslim families; to families in need.  Given the enormity of this exercise, we are reminded every year of this event through the media.  Lest Christians draw the wrong conclusion, this is not a case of the media playing privy to the Muslim holiday..  Not at all; the enormity of the event simply warrants news coverage.

And so, Christmas celebrations also receive ample news coverage.  Coverage of the hundreds of thousands of dollars churches spend to give a distinct “Christian message” to the Singapore Tourism Board’s “Christmas at Orchard Road.”  Hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on bringing in star-studded overseas performers, Christians providing some kind of “witness” through their dancing, singing, and varied on-stage performances, Christians walking about in brightly coloured, presumably first century Holy Land costumes yet quite comical in appearance; nativity scenes, floats, and “Christmas Village.”  All to insure that the “purity” of the Gospel is somehow held intact within the Orchard Road light-up.”

Just to clarify, Christmas should involve celebration; it is a festivity and celebration of the coming of Christ.  We can and to some extent should proclaim Christmas through this pageantry, dancing, and singing.  However, there comes a time where we must reflect on what we’re doing and in the greater picture, what kind of message are we really communicating through our attempt to keep Christmas at Orchard Road, “Christianised.”  For what some have subtly witnessed in last year’s calendar is this:  In midst of all the time and money given to keep Orchard Road “Christianised,” the Muslims dutifully budget and provide a free meal for the Muslim poor in the land.

I am aware that the “Christmas at Orchard Road” has also generated substantial funds for varied charities.  But in terms of the greater picture of December of all that transpires during the festive season, this contrast between the ethos and behaviour associated with Christmas and Hari Raya Haji remains still quite vivid.

I wonder then, if the Holy Spirit might be speaking a “word” to believers through Hari Raya Haji, to ears not yet opened.  For what is Christmas?  Is not Christmas the advent, the dawning of the Messianic Jubilee?  Perhaps Christmas should therefore involve most all, a giving to the poor, even as Christ first came to the poor.

What if rather than investing so heavily in our performance / entertainment driven “Christianisation” of the Orchard Road light-up, we rather take a less glamorous but socially conscious approach to Christmas.  Perhaps an approach that might even involve some reflection on the actions demonstrated one week earlier on Hari Raya Haji- and maybe, the Holy Spirit might even provide us a creative way to publicise that kind of spiritual act- a witness to the real meaning of Christmas, even at at Orchard Road.

If Jesus came in the flesh today, what prevailing consensus would He question?

“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice . . . Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house . . . Then your light shall break forth like the dawn.” (Isaiah 58:6-8)

“Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted, will be uprooted.”