Reflection

Jesus was tried and convicted for being a “superstar” who was rocking the world with his vision of a new a world order where power and wealth no longer belonged only to those in authority but is shared. He championed the poor, the sick, the criminals, all who lived at bottom of society. The Son of God, his superstar status was a threat to the Jewish leaders as well as the Romans. Like many rebels who have fought the status quo, he paid the price with his earthly life. The hope of the Kingdom of God continues through all those who continue to do his work and continue to fight injustice. I really can relate to these readings and their message because I listen to music that questions society’s intransigent structures and calls for reform.

Cure on a Sabbath John 10:1-15

1) There was a feast and Jesus went through Jerusalem. 2) There are five porticoes at the pool at the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem. 3) There were many ill, blind, lame and crippled there. 4) The Lord would send angels to heal them with water from the pool. 5) There was a man who was there for thirty-eight years. 6) Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be well. 7) He says there is no one to help him to the pool when it is stirred. 8) Jesus tells him to rise and take his mat. 9) It was the Sabbath, the man was healed and left. 10) A Jew said to the cured man it was the Sabbath and he can't carry the mat. 11) The cured man says his healer told him to. 12) They ask who the healer is. 13) The cured man did not know who the healer was. 14) Jesus found the cured man in the temple and told him to sin no more. 15) The cured man said Jesus healed him.

Those that are ill in Jerusalem go to the Sheep Gate pool to be healed by an angel of God. One man had been there for thirty-eight years because he had no one to help him there and when he managed to get there a person had taken his spot to be healed. Jesus heals him and tells him to sin no more. If people would be more considerate toward those who need assistance then the world would be a more compassionate place. It is written that Jesus would often preach about compassion toward others and how it would bring people into the Kingdom of God.

On Trial example: The Wall by Kansas

In the Book, Jesus Before Christianity in chapter 18, Albert Nolan, recounts Christianity as the history of those who came to believe in Jesus and who were inspired to take up the challenge of his death. The elements of this challenge are present in our everyday lives, in our thoughts, actions, written word, and music. A musical piece that inspires me to recount Jesus’ challenge is the song The Wall by Kansas. When I think of the challenge of Jesus’ death, I recount the sacrifice, courage and conviction a single man endured for others. Jesus’ chosen life path had lead him to a task or obstacle. This was his “wall” between what he was on Earth and all that he knew could be if he endured the pain and suffering of a trial and crucifixion. As Nolan discusses, Jesus as a man feared this test and prayed others would not be as severely tested as he was to be. Alone with his thoughts, and seemingly abandoned by his friends, he feared he was too weak to take up this challenge. However, when the time came, he did it. His actions in this trial stood to others as a symbol and a sum of what his life was; he knew in the end he must act to tear down this wall, sacrifice himself to bring the kingdom to earth. Through this act, all that he was, and all that he was ever meant to be would exist in harmony. It would be a kingdom open to all who wanted to live and believe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBMsulQMqm8

A New Time and On Trial Examples

http://www.jango.com/music/Ace+of+Base?l=0 (top right hit play button)

The song The Sign by Ace of Base is an example of Albert Nolan's new time brought about by Jesus. "I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes" is referring to Jesus and how he opened the eyes of the Jews by talking about the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus spoke of God's word and how they if they believed in him they would be saved. Plato's Allegory of the Cave is similar to this because everyone in the cave is blind, which relates to the Jews during time of Jesus. Eventually, one of the non believers finds a way out and sees the reality of the world. This correlates to the lyrics of the song when it says, "to get to the light where you belong". After seeing the sign, the now believer goes back to tell the others who discards what he says. This emphasizes how those who make the choice to believe in Jesus and his teachings will be saved. They have to experience Christ in their own life and acknowledge what has been there all along.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvep7FzeVa4&feature=related

This movie clip from the Passion of the Christ is an example of a modern interpretation of the trial of Jesus. Both the movie and Nolan state the accusers charge Jesus for claiming he is the Messiah and have the high priests of the Jewish religion turning Jesus in for Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Palestine, to judge. When Pilate questions Jesus about him being the king of the Jews, Jesus does not answer the question and simply inquires about why Pilate asks the question. Jesus does not admit to being the king of the Jews, it is a title he hinted at with him leading them to the Kingdom of Heaven but he professes it to not be on Earth. Jesus stays quiet while he is being questioned, allowing the others to determine their path in life, to either lie about him and continue to accuse him or to believe and come into the Kingdom of Heaven. I think the movie does an acceptable portrayal of the betrayal, trial, death, and ressurection of Jesus Christ.

A new Time is at hand but the trial is still on

In Chapter 11 of Jesus Before Christianity, author Albert Nolan emphasizes the interrelationship of time and history, and how such concepts can affect our understanding and interpretation of the Bible and Jesus’ teachings. According to Nolan, time can be viewed as both a quantitative and qualitative concept. The concept of time in Western thought, according to Nolan, contains both quantitative and qualitative elements with quantitative being predominant, particularly when making reference to historical events. For Nolan, quantitative time is a measurement, an empty space that is filled with events of greater and lesser importance. Nolan describes this as being akin to our placing ourselves on an imaginary line with past events behind us and future events yet to come. Alternately, in Western thought, qualitative time is occasionally referenced, for example in discussions of good vs. bad times, wartime, etc. In contrast to Western thought, Nolan elaborates that the ancient Hebrews saw time not as a measurement but rather the quality or mood of events. Qualitative time was a means of seeing oneself on a journey between fixed events. The qualitative concept of time allowed people celebrating a fixed event to be “contemporaneous with their ancestors” who had experienced the same event even though it may have been decades or years earlier. For the ancient Hebrews, the concept of qualitative time reinforced the idea that the only reason for the continuity of time was God. God gave them a sense of history and a sense of destiny. But how does this relate to us today? Nolan advocates that for a true understanding of the message of Jesus we must understand his conception of time. The God of Jesus, according to Nolan is different from the God of the Old Testament- he is at a different place in qualitative time. He is a God of compassion, understanding and forgiveness. God has turned his attention to the human experience and this is open to the development of a relationship with us. Nolan’s ideas on the concepts of time and history help us understand that God can be authoritative and domineering in the Old Testament and still feels compassion for the ordinary person through Jesus’ teachings. Time is changing because God himself is changing or evolving with us and letting us experience Jesus’ concept of the Kingdom of Heaven.

In Chapter 18, entitled On Trial, Nolan discusses the events of Jesus’ trial and death and their relationship to our understanding of Jesus’ concept of the Kingdom. For Nolan, it was not Jesus who was on trail but rather his betrayers, accusers, and even his supporters, including the apostles. Nolan references Scripture citing that Jesus did not defend himself at the trial. Nolan analyzed briefly the perspectives of the Roman Government, as represented by Pilate, who had little concern for the matter other than expediency- essentially a give the people what they want perspective. He also examines the Jewish authorities who felt it easier to protect themselves rather than to protect one of their own. And finally, Nolan looks at his supporters, who betrayed him, denied him or simply fled, fearing the possibility of guilt by association. Jesus stood silently and waited to see if those who truly believed in his “kingdom” would stand with him. They did not; so Jesus accepted his fate and died alone, believing himself in the promise of his kingdom. True to Jesus’ notion of the Kingdom of Heaven as forgiving and compassionate, he gave man another chance to accept the Kingdom with his resurrection.

The Times They Are A-Changin'- A Summary of Chapters 11 and 18

What exactly did Jesus mean when he said “The time has come, the kingdom of God is near?” Jesus didn’t “measure” time. When Jesus spoke of time he was referring to the “tenor” of the times or the characteristics of the times, not hours or minutes. Like other prophets, he told his people that a future event, or eschaton, would change the essence of their lives or times and cause a complete break from past times. This world changing event could be seen in the signs of the times.
The Kingdom of God is that future event. Jesus read the signs in his life to believe the Kingdom of God was near. His work and the work of his disciples were actually changing the world order. They were helping the poor and oppressed. He was curing the blind and raising the dead. These successes were the signs of the time that God was working through Jesus and that God was now a benevolent God who wanted to save his people, not punish them. The Kingdom of God, a kingdom where the poor and oppressed are liberated from suffering, is the new time that Jesus predicted. Like the words of Bob Dylan, when Jesus prophesized “The time has come, the kingdom of God is near” he meant the “times they are a changing.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItPz7f-k-dE&feature=related

Jesus’s sermons on the Kingdom of God led to his trial and death. The Romans charged him with the crime of claiming to be the Messiah or King of the Jews. A Roman court, presided over by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate sentenced him to death for this crime. In reality, Pilate was a ruthless official who stamped out any popular movement that sought change because he viewed such movements as potential rebellions and threats to Roman rule. He feared Jesus was a rebel so he sentenced him to die. Jewish officials, however, were also guilty in Jesus’s death. They collaborated with Rome by handing Jesus over to the Romans to be tried. The high priest, Caiaphas, argued that Jesus should be sacrificed to prevent the Romans from destroying the Jewish nation out of fear of the new “kingdom” Jesus promised. Jesus did not defend himself against the accusations and his silence put thosed who judged and betrayed him on trial. All were guilty. Pilate was guilty of not caring about the truth of the accusations against Jesus and Caiaphas, the scribes and the Pharisees were guilty of not accepting Jesus’s words and believing in the Kingdom of God. Jesus died, but unlike those who accused and betrayed him, he “survived” because of his faith in God.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-lp0E0mkIE