This was our discussion at our Soup Supper last night – if you were there, this might still be worth the 3-minutes it will take to read. We focused on a long passage from the Gospel of John (aren’t they all long in John?), chapter 8, which has Jesus in attack mode against Jews who do not believe that He was the Messiah. It is curious, because the beginning of that chapter has a really beautiful conversation with a woman dragged before Him, accused on being caught in the act of adultery. The fact that the man she is caught with is nowhere to be seen is conveniently left out. Jesus forgives her, with the famous “you without sin can cast the first stone” statement, telling her to sin no more. In the following verses, Jesus is purported to call those so-called misguided Jews children of the Devil, and they counter by calling Him a Samaritan who is demon possessed. Sounds like something we might hear from our elected officials. Anyway…
I showed a number of disturbing “christian” images from the last 8 centuries depicting antisemitism, all from the false idea that the Jews killed Jesus. They did not. Some of the more educated and pious Jewish leaders participated in setting Him up, as did some of His disciples, but the murder of Jesus was committed solely by the government – the Roman Empire. Crucifixion was a Roman punishment meant to torture, demean, and warn others that the same would happen to them if they weren’t careful. Jesus wasn’t a threat to their hegemony, but that didn’t matter. Jesus was at the center of a tiny, harmless parade on Palm Sunday, and some of the poor people thought He was special – the one in the line of King David who would lead Israel in victory against their oppressors – but He was no threat. The church, however, took the easy route. After all, who would you blame – the killing machine that ruled the known world, or a powerless religious group you were in competition with?
And while antisemitism has existed for longer than Christianity, the church has, for 2000 years, been the prime teacher and promoter of hatred against Jews. We also tried to wipe out Muslims, but that’s for another day. The idea that the Jew’s killed Jesus is one of many lies the church has, and still is, telling us. And that lie is still permeating the culture in deadly ways. Let’s all do the right thing – let’s be ready to be allies with people when they are lied about. Let’s learn more about our faith. Let’s confront the lies and tell the truth. Being educated in our faith allows us to stand with those being abused by ignorant people. That would be the Jesus thing to do.
Prayer – Forgive us, God, if we have ignored the lies that have been told in Your name. Give us the courage to stand up as allies. Amen.
Today’s art is Michelangelo’s statue of Moses with horns. When the Bible was translated into Latin, the word “radiant” was changed to “horned.”