New Testament Word & Image: Acts 8:5-17 & John D. Whiting

Samaritan Passover Prayer: 1920, from The Last Israelitish Blood Sacrifice in The National Geographic, John D. Whiting

Acts 8:5-17

 

Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 



Samaritan Worshipers on Mt. Gerizim, John D. Whiting



For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city.

 

Photo of the Young Priest, John D. Whiting

But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.” And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.

 

Son of Samaritan High Priest: Nablus, Palestine 1900-1920, John D. Whiting

Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

 

Samaritans on Mt. Gerazim with Rabbi Carrying Torah Scroll, John D. Whiting

 

Blood & Water

Mother and Son, Dinh Q. Le

John 4:5-42

 

So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour...

 

If you are a regular reader of this blog (Justin, that means you) then you may remember that I briefly discussed the Woman at the Well in an earlier post about The Good Samaritan. Today I would like to discuss a particular element of the today's scripture reading. It is not just another narrative of Jesus preaching to a faceless sinner. It is not just a tale about Jesus' adventures in asking for water. It is one that has specific details and a universal application. The story of Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the Well speaks to so many other stories in history of two groups with a troubled past. The artist for today's post also speaks about two such groups. Dinh Q. Le is a contemporary photographer who splits his time divided between Los Angeles and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). His life and artwork have also been about the divide between the United States and Vietnam. His photographs are literally woven together mixing classic news images of the Vietnam war, the Hollywood representation of them, family pictures and some of his own recent pictures. Dinh Q. Le's work explores the hazy line between individual memory, collective memory and media narrative in the painful history of the Vietnam War. Ironically the greatest discovery to an American viewer may be that Vietnam has a more painful recollection of this conflict (known to them as The American War). Its ramifications continue to affect Vietnamese Americans and Vietnamese nationals to this day. I was born about 6 years after the fall of Saigon and the end of American military involvement in the conflict, however, this era was still rich in film adaptations of the conflict and public bitterness over the country's involvement in the war. Many of my junior high and high school classmates were children of Vietnamese immigrants. Their older siblings would have been making the same transition that Dinh Q. Le made when his family moved to the U.S. when he was ten years old. We don't think about the Vietnam War as much as we did thirty years ago, being that we have had other wars in the intervening years that have reshaped the American conscious just as much. However the lessons that can be learned from it can be useful in finding a healing future for us and other nations that we have had troubled histories with. These are the lessons that can be learned from Jesus and the Samaritan woman.      

 

 

Bad Blood

 

...A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw”...

 

The history of Vietnamese and American relations is based in blood. Blood spilled on a battlefield of good intentions that became clouded by the fog of war. The United States entered the Vietnam War with the intention of aiding the South Vietnamese government against the Vietcong of North Vietnam. It was seen by Washington as fighting off part of the greater Communist threat in Southeast Asia. Like the Korean War before it, the Vietnam War was in effect a proxy war between the Democratic Pacific powers (which includes the United States) and Communist China and the Soviet Union. It was an extension of the Cold War. For Vietnamese Americans it is a different story of blood. It is the bloodlines of families that were separated by political refugees fleeing the civil war between North and South. In seeking asylum in America they not only left their homes but their other family members In Jesus' day the Jews and Samaritans didn't get along. It wasn't based upon a prejudice of ignorance but rather one of familiarity. They had a shared history. This history was one of division, difference and mistrust. The fact that Jesus had travelled through the country of the Samaritans was a taboo in itself: his striking up a conversation with her went further beyond the pale. The beginnings of this bad blood between the two groups was based on blood...not the type that you spill in battle but the type you share with biological relatives. Jews and Samaritans were estranged relatives. The Samaritans were partially Jewish and partially Gentile. They were a people group that had arisen during the Babylonian exile when some Palestinian Jews who remained in the homeland intermarried with the people of the land. In addition to this the Samaritans did not accept anything in the Jewish Bible (Old Testament) beyond the Torah (first five books of Moses). This being the case they worshipped God on Mount Gerizim and rejected the Temple in Jerusalem (which was the center of mainstream Jewish worship/sacrifice). This combination of perceived bad genes and bad theology made dealing with a Samaritan an anathema to Jews of the time. Christ performed no physical miracle in this story (yes he did prophesy, but he seems to have done that on a number of occasions) but him having a dialogue with this Gentile woman was revolutionary enough for the Disciples to take note of and the Gospel writer to include. The revolutionary act was to show love and friendship to one's ethnic/national enemy. To see them as a fellow human being... but even more than that: a familiar human being... as a neighbor, as a friend, as brethren. The Jews and the Samaritans never had any physical armed conflict...only a cold war. They "had no dealings" with each other. When actual war comes into the picture between two groups the hatred, misunderstanding and coldness can be much worse. Jesus did not hold back his opinion on the matter of the theological differences between Samaritans and Jews but he also did not hold back his love. Jesus' solution to the Jews and Samaritans not having "dealings with each other" was to deal with one. He served as a mediator between the Jewish and Samaritans by offering a personal friendship that went beyond the hardships of the past. He was someone who as knowledgeable of both what had happened and what could be developed. I remember back in high school when one of my Vietnamese friends showed me pictures of their Summer trip to their grandparents. Unlike other classmates this wasn't a trip to Baton Rouge, La. or some other local state, it was a trip back to Vietnam. These bi-cultural kids were integral in communicating healing to both countries. They were both fully Vietnamese and fully American. They revealed a future that could be developed between both countries beyond the hurt of the past. They were Americans that would have dealings with Vietnam and Vietnamese who would understand what it was like to be an American. The solution of dealing with two groups with bad blood is to create a third type of person in the situation. One that can be a friend, brother and neighbor to all parties involved. One that can show a new way to all involved.    

 

 

Good Water

 

...Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”

The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”

Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He”...

 

Before the America's involvement in the Vietnam war, the two countries didn't have that much of a relationship. Southeast Asia (or Indochina as it was once referred to) was largely a domain of French colonialism. The only thing that America and the United States shared was that one could consider them Pacific countries... and even that is a stretch since Vietnam is actually bordered by the South China Sea (the Philippines are border between the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea). Both countries are considered "Pacific Rim" countries, so their is that general maritime connection.  Even though they may not share much in the literal water, the United States and Vietnam can share much in Jesus' metaphorical treatment of water. The thing that united the Jews and Samaritans was water and time. The well of Jacob united Samaritans in their shared history in the Old Testament Patriarch. Yet with that it also showed the other historical differences (and differences in viewing history) that divided their dealings in the present. Yet the "living water" that Christ promised to the Samaritan woman was the spiritual refreshment that would unite the futures of the Jews, Samaritans and the whole world. As Christ promised, the hour would come when access to this spiritual water would not be determined by geography or the errors and prejudices of the past... in fact it would wash those considerations away. This living water is the irrigation of the Kingdom of God. It is the knowledge that God has made all men brothers through the blood of His dear Son. It is the mind of Christ that looks past the trespasses of the past and imagines ways to foster peace.

 

 

Strange Fruit

 

...And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?” The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” Then they went out of the city and came to Him. In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors”...

 

We reap the fruit of those who have labored before us... We stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us... there are many ways to state the truism that we are affected by the things that our ancestors have done. Sometimes this fruit that we reap is sweet. The Apostles reaped the benefits of the laboring of the Prophets of old and Christ who went before them. The fellow Samaritan townsfolk who heard the Samaritan woman's witness of Christ reaped the faith wrought from her encounter with the Word Incarnate. We reap the Gospel that the Apostles labored to spread long before our time. Sometimes the fruit that we reap from our ancestors can be bitter like lemons. Earlier generations left us a fairly mangled situation in our relationship with Vietnam: whether it be the colonialism of the French or the shortsighted policeman of the world policies of Cold War America. What are we going to do with this fruit that they left us? Are we going to learn from the sins of the past? Is the Gospel going to shine in the darkness? Are we going to make lemonade from these lemons? That is the greatest question that the images of Dinh Q. Le asks of us. The Vietnam War is one among many similar stories: The genocide and disenfranchisement of Native Americans during the years of the Indian Wars, the treatment of Muslims worldwide in the post-9/11 era (including the Iraq and Afghanistan wars). Centuries worth of acts of war, imperialism and prejudicial disassociation between nations and ethnic groups has been placed in our laps and we are challenged to engage it in a Christ-like way. It naturally appears to be a bad thing (and yes it is based on the results of bad things) but it is actually a calling. God doesn't just call Christians to have faith but rather to have faith that produces deeds... deeds that are done in a fallen world and that reconcile the fallen world back to God. The fruit that Christ said that the Disciples/Apostles had inherited was the living out of the Gospel. The living out of the Gospel is what establishes the Kingdom of God on Earth. It is the fruit that we too are called to share with our neighbors and enemies.  

Surprise Conclusion

 

...And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His own word. Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

 

This narrative ends with a surprise conclusion. Many of the Samaritans look past the shared history of hurt that they shared with the Jews and accept this Jewish Messiah. They accept the Gospel with gladness at a time when Jesus and the Disciples faced much rejection at home. The Samaritans understood that Jesus wasn't only the Savior of the Jewish people but also the "Savior of the world." They saw past the fact that the messenger looked like their enemy and heard the message of truth and love. The surprise of the post-church age in Europe and much of the Western world is that the "Third World" has taken up the missionary call. It can be seen in the scores of young Vietnamese priests and nuns who serve in American archdioceses and religious orders. In similar fashion their are now several American Episcopalian churches that a overseen by African Anglican bishops and mission fields worldwide are filled with Korean Pentecostals and Presbyterians. All of these Third World churches are the results of missionary efforts centuries earlier from European and American missionaries. In the tradition of African American slaves, the earlier converts in these countries were able to look beyond the evils of their Western oppressors and find the God who came to love all people as His equal children. They could see Prince of Peace beyond the fog of war. As time passes by the strength and energy of the Body of Christ is to be found in the Global South. In conclusion the lesson to be learned from the story of the Samaritan Woman at the Well is one of blood, water and fruit. Christ who has given his blood and washed from our sins, has done so that we can produce the fruit of his Holy Spirit. In doing so we make peace with our former enemies and repair tattered relationships with Christ-like thinking and giving. More than often God surprises us by revealing that He has been creating the same changes in our former foe. It only starts when we take an honest inventory of the mistakes of the past and make an honest effort at peacemaking.  

 

 

 

The Unpopular Jesus

Christ Pantocrator, Daphni Monastery, Greece

Luke 9:51-62

"Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.

And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

It was either the first or second semester of my freshman year that I first encountered the image of Christ Pantocrator. Picture it: It was Sicily, 1932… well, maybe not that far back, but still as picturesque in my memory. I remember being stuffed with several of my fellow Art undergrads in a darkened room with a slide projector and my professor’s “active speaking  voice” that still made us sleepy. While we fought off the temptation of early adult nap-time we learned about the great masterpieces of Western civilization. Then the projected image of this mosaic appeared on the wall, like a photographed memory from Chevy Chase’s last family vacation. Through art and church I had seen scores of images of Jesus by this point: calm and peaceful Jesus, happy Jesus, suffering Jesus, adult Jesus, baby Jesus, ‘Tween lost in the temple Jesus, traditional dark haired Jesus with the mid-scalp part, blond haired Jesus that was probably the Swedish carpenter that created all of those IKEA chairs, Black Jesus with dreadlocks featured on those pop-Afro centric -shirts sold at the Hood mall…even a painting of Jesus by JJ on an episode of “Good Times” that ended up being Ned the Wino. Yet in all of my years I had never seen an image of Jesus like this one. For one reason or another this was an unpopular Jesus. This one seemed like a mean Jesus… not just angry, but mean and sort of suspicious. I thought, “This ain’t Jesus of Nazareth...This must be his cousin Resus of Detroit.” All the while I knew that the disagreeableness of this image wasn’t due to any lack of talent in the artist. Actually it was talent that made the image uncomfortable to view. This was an image of a judgmental Jesus. A Jesus, who may be angry at me and, as the Sovereign of the Universe, has the right as to judge me.

As I stated earlier the image is an image of Jesus entitled Christ Pantocrator. Christ Pantocrator is not one image but a genre of Christian art/icons, akin to a Crucifixion or a Madonna.  Even though this type of image is one of the earliest images developed in early Christian Art, it and the theological concept behind it are not as popular in Western Christianity (Roman Catholicism and Protestantism) but is a staple amongst the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Rite Catholics. This specific Christ Pantocrator mosaic was found in a monastery in Daphni, Greece (near Athens). It was created around 1100 A.D. during the Byzantine Empire, a.k.a. “The Roman Empire part II: My Big Fat Gr∑∑k Empire”, written by Nia Vardalos with a cameo appearance by Joey Fatone of ‘N Sync (and yes, I am aware that the Byzantines were actually Roman, now get off of Wikipedia). If you look closely at the images corners you will notice that it was covered at one point, possibly falling victim to the rounds of iconoclasm (Christians who are against images, specifically their veneration) that popped up at various points in the Orthodox Church. Many Eastern Orthodox churches feature a large Christ Pantocrator in the central dome of building. When you look up, Christ is literally looking down on you.

Unearthing this great Byzantine image also dusts off the understanding of God that is embedded within it: Christ as judge. This is a concept that many Liberal theological Christians may be slow to embrace or promote and many Conservative theological Christians may not fully understand or appreciate the implications of. The major fear in focusing on Jesus as a judgmental figure is that judgment in itself is seen as a discriminatory action: choosing one set of beliefs, actions or even people over another. Pantocrator translates as “All Mighty” (a concept and title that we usually associate with God in the Old Testament) or “All Powerful.” A better understanding of its usage would be “Sustainer of the world.” In discussing Christ Pantocrator Orthodoxwiki.org states “The icon portrays Christ as the Righteous Judge and the Lover of Mankind, both at the same time. The Gospel is the book by which we are judged, and the blessing proclaims God's loving kindness toward us, showing us that he is giving us his forgiveness.” It appears that if we dissect this image and Luke 9:51-62 a little more we will discover that Christ’s role as judge of humanity is a little more nuanced than we may have previously suspected.

Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.”

Jesus was personally very familiar with receiving the judgment of others. He was as familiar with being unpopular as he was with being popular. When Jesus and his disciples entered this Samaritan village on the way to Jerusalem he encountered judgment from others in the form of rejection. When he and his disciples were rejected from this Samaritan village, it was done so because they were Jewish. By this point Samaritans and Jews had a few centuries behind them of disagreement and animosity. That is what makes the story of the “Good Samaritan” so awe inspiring. Much of the division between the two groups was based in the fact that the Samaritans were in effect partial-Jews (ethnically) and partially people of the land. To put it the way the Samaritan Woman at the Well would phrase it, Jews and Samaritans “had no dealings” with each other. They lived in two different sections of the same land, shared several holy books but were in effect worlds apart. Sadly ethnic prejudice is not something that has been foreign to Christians and history. Specifically, Anti-Semitism is one of the greatest sins that our ancestors consistently committed. Contrary to Jesus’ command to love our neighbors and without recognition of our Savior’s Jewish ethnicity Christendom has centuries full of blood on its hand for its crimes against Jewish people… long before the Holocaust. For centuries our Jewish brothers were systematically disenfranchised, ghettoized, expelled and murdered. Much of this is was from a misunderstanding of Scripture and a twisted sense exacting revenge for Jesus’ death. The false teaching that motivated this was that the Jews as a race were collectively guilty of this crime (In a later blog post we’ll get into how this is simultaneously un-Christ like, bigoted and Biblically inaccurate). I’ve taken such long portions writing on this because there is no way to understate it. Understanding and remedying the great sin of anti-Semitism that many of our forefathers have woven into our understanding of Christianity is one of the greater tasks that a Christian can take up. Why? First, because Christ came that we might know Truth and it is the Truth that will set us free. Secondly, it is because it is the foundation for understanding the deeper reason of why these Samaritans rejected Jesus and his disciples: anti-Judaism. It wasn’t because they were ethnically Jewish; it was because they were religiously Jewish. They were rejected because they were going to Jerusalem to worship. The Samaritans greatest point of departure from mainstream Judaism was the fact that they rejected the temple in Jerusalem. Samaritans held a version of the Hebrew Tanakh (the Christian Old Testament) that ends with the Torah (the first five books of Moses). We call mainstream Jewish religion “Judaism” because it was based around the thoughts and religious culture of those residing in the region of “Judea” (where Jerusalem is), which is roughly the tribe of “Judah” and not the northern tribal areas (where Samaria was). This being the case they believed that Mount Gerizim was the appropriate place to worship God. Anti-Judaist thought has also woven itself into much of Christianity. The roots of it are based in the fact that Christianity and the Rabbinical Judaism both have their roots in first century Judea. We are the children of Jesus & the Apostles versus the Pharisees (Rabbis). They were both pre-made formulas of how to practice the religion of the Jewish God outside of the Temple. For Christians it was because they expected a time when the temple sacrifice would be no more and Christ would be our “temple” (place of sacrifice and worship of God). For Pharisees it was because they were a group of non-priest who wanted to live out the commands of the Tanakh (what the Bible calls “the Law & the Prophets”) in everyday life (thus they created the Synagogue). So when the Temple in Jerusalem (and eventually Jerusalem itself) was finally destroyed by the Romans it was suddenly show time for these two Jewish sects. Things became even more complicated when Christianity started making the transition into a predominately Gentile religion. This led St. Paul and other Apostles to formulate how non-Jews would fit into this picture. It is natural for religions and sects to compete; however, the real problem came when it turned from competition to opposition. Christianity stopped seeing itself as a continuation of or sequel to Judaism and more of an antidote to Judaism. As it became increasingly Gentile it became more of a Church versus Synagogue narrative (there is even a genre of Christian art image expressing this theme). As Christians became more politically powerful Jews became more religiously and ethnically persecuted. With every inch we made towards anti-Judaism, Christianity lost a few feet of understanding original intent of the Biblical authors. Contemporary progress has been made within Christianity towards rectifying our ancestor’s wrongs toward Jews. Catholics, Lutherans and assorted Evangelical groups have all made strides toward rejecting the anti-Judaist bias. Amongst Evangelicals there is an emerging Messianic Jewish movement. These are Jewish believers (and a few Gentile converts) who are blurring the line once again between what it means to be Jewish and what it means to be a believer in Jesus as the Messiah. Now while a few are controversial, much of the developments in Messianic Judaism’s effort to define itself seem to be aiding the Body of Christ in general in rediscovering its Jewish foundation. Now some readers may point out early persecution of Christians by Jewish authorities. Yes, this happened, but you do not answer a few decades of persecution by Jewish leaders with several centuries of persecution by Christian leaders! Added to that is the fact that followers of Jesus should be the first to head one of Jesus’ greatest commands: turn the other cheek. Much like the Christ Pantocrator image it can be unpopular at times and can be covered up.

And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did? But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.”

That admonition to turn the other cheek is exactly what Jesus did when he found himself being judged by others. Maybe he was thinking of his words in the Sermon on mount where he said “love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” Jesus’ response to being rejected by others was accepting them. Instead of desiring to destroy the lives of his enemies, Jesus says that he (the Son of Man) came to save their lives. Sometimes when we Christians get aggressive, bitter or even blood thirsty in our tactics or thoughts we often site some Old Testament reference in our justification. That is exactly what happened with the disciples. These Samaritans (who they viewed as no better than Gentiles) had refused to show kindness to God’s spokesman (Jesus). So they thought that they would employ the same methods used in the Old Testament by Elijah (God’s spokesman at the time) for those that rejected him. This may seem reasonable to some of the readers of this blog, because it’s “biblical”, right? No, because this single incident in the life of Elijah does not testify to the whole council of the Word of God. Being the Word incarnate Jesus understood that collective wisdom of Scripture reveals an overall story of peacemaking, forgiveness and salvation. The spirit of God’s commands is life-giving. In the midst of being rejected we find Jesus accepting all men, saving all men. This is why it is critical for us to not only accept and promote Jesus as a judge but understand it. Much like they misunderstood Jesus’ role as a King (the Messiah); the original Disciples misunderstood his role as the righteous judge. They understood the might and power parts of Christ Pantocrator but had no idea what those strengths were to be used towards.  A judge is one who not only pronounces guilt but also pronounces innocence. Not only one who meets out punishment, but one who meets out settlements and recommends therapy (in a contemporary sense). Even for one who is found guilty there is salvation in a judge’s sentence, because it is in the fulfillment of the sentence’s requirements that one becomes reformed. When the convict is shown his guilt he or she can then “repay his debt” and then be accepted back into full citizenship. A judge is the face of government that intertwines itself in the lives of people in the most personal, intimate and individual way. Sometimes we follow the metaphor of Jesus being our lawyer and defending us or our sacrifice and taking our punishment that we forget that he is our judge…and there is a certain salvation in being judged. If we minimize Christianity into a “get me out of Hell contest” then we forget that Christ judges us daily by his example. It is also by that same example that he blesses us by daily fashioning us to be more like him. When he judges us he asks us daily if we forgave like him and loved like him. That is why the Christ Pantocrator features Jesus as a serious faced judge with the Gospel in one hand and the finger configuration of a blessing in the other hand. Christ daily blesses you by the transformative, life giving judgment of his Word.     

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

At the end of a story about Jesus being rejected by others and accepting others we find Christ doing some rejecting of his own. It appears to be three separate instances of Jesus rejecting or discouraging potential followers. In the first episode Jesus counters a recruit with a “are you sure?” response. A few take “the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” as an admission that he is in fact homeless. While this may be a possibility I think the greater meaning is that he has “no place to call home.” His can either mean that he leads a life on the road as an itinerant preacher or that his message is overwhelmingly rejected. It probably means a little of both. The second episode appears to feature Jesus disobeying many societal norms and rejecting family… or at least the practice of burying. However this is probably another case of a “hard saying” of Jesus that is intended to shock the listener into realizing the immediacy of the need of spreading the Gospel. The third episode seems to be another assault on the institution of family (take that James Dobson)! I don’t believe that Jesus was a San Francisco 60’s radical set upon the destruction of the family unit and all other vestiges of Western patriarchy (I said all of that to show that I am both smart and I watch a lot of Mad Men). Jesus’ response in this third scene actually serves as response to all three, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” I may have misjudged the demographic of my potential readers, but I don’t estimate them to be “Heehaw” watchers, so I will explain Jesus’ barnyard metaphor. When you are plowing a field it is important to focus your unwavering attention on a fixed point in the distance. This will help you create straight rows. In that affect it seems just like driving a car (I say this all without having any Agricultural experience outside a few of my Dad’s childhood stories from rural Baton Rouge, La. And some Larry the Cable Guy jokes). So if one was to look back while plowing a field they would potentially destroy all of their work. Likewise, the living in the kingdom of God takes commitment and focus. Sometimes that dedication to peace, forgiveness, sacrifice and loving God may seem radical to those around us. Sometimes it can find us alone.

One of the greater theological divisions in historic Protestantism (Calvinism versus Arminism) is centered around God rejecting some people and accepting (or saving others). Basically Calvinists hold to the idea of the elect. That God has predetermined those that he has chosen (or “elected”, like a President-elect) to be saved and in effect chosen those that will be damned. Arminist hold that a person chooses whether or not they are to be saved (this explains Free Will and why the deacons pull out that chair in the front of your church after the sermon). Currently here is a strain of Neo-Calvinism that is en vogue amongst Evangelicals and Fundamentalist, however if you were a Southern Baptist during the 80’s you may remember that a Calvinist was the least cool thing to be (Presbyterians always kept it real, though).  Now even though I wasted your time discussing Calvinism and Arminism (ain’t I a stinker), this misses the whole point. This passage of scripture isn’t about Jesus rejecting certain people as much as it is about Jesus rejecting certain behavior. Specifically it is Jesus rejecting the abandoning of his call/labor. It is about Jesus rejecting distractions.  Remember the Christ Pantocrator image is stern, focused and undistracted.

So what do a mural in Daphni Greece and a few verses about Jesus rejecting distractions have to do with each other? Everything! Jesus started off this narrative by having “steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.” He started off with single-minded determination. The same determination that he asks his would be disciples to have at the close of this narrative. The end that was meeting Jesus at Jerusalem was his own end: the cross. Yet he still resolutely determined to trek towards it because the end of his suffering on the cross would be our salvation. If we understand this as the background of his thoughts then we can understand his responses to those around him. It’s like training for a marathon in a donut shop (which I fully plan to do): you may be planning for greatness that only comes through sacrifice but you are surrounded by those who live for immediate fulfillment (again I must make the disclaimer that I have never run a marathon but I regularly make several runs on local donut shops). It is a matter of perspective. The Samaritans, Disciples and would be disciples only had the world around them and their experiences in it as tools to make decisions with. Christ had eternity in his perspective.  That is what makes Christ the perfect and righteous judge. It is what qualifies him to be the Pantocrator. Just like the image shows he is the “Sustainer of the World.” A world where in the end peace and will find justice in the case against their enemies hatred and unforgiveness. This will happen because he is simultaneously the “Lover of Mankind” and he sustains the world (and judges it) with his love.  Over the ages this has been an unpopular image of Jesus: the Jewish one, the pacifist one, the lonely one.  If you are familiar with the Beatitudes then you probably remember that though they may lose often in this life the meek, the peacemakers, and the persecuted are among those who will win in the end. They win because Jesus is the judge and a judge always determines the winner.