Imagine you are a relatively successful fisherman. You are running the family business, maybe a couple boats and a few servants. You just got married and things are beginning to pan out nicely. A renowned Rabbi with an unusual reputation approaches you at work one day and extends an offer for you to follow him as his protégé. The only problem is his expectation for you to up and leave behind the life, business, and future that you have created for yourself. Even though this Rabbi doesn’t have any other disciples yet, you feel compelled to take the offer. You think to yourself, “Shoot, I’m young and I’ve always wanted the honor of studying under a Rabbi.”
At first your not sure if you made the right decision; everyday seems to be random yet purposeful. You’re eating and sleeping arrangements seem unpredictable yet eerily deliberate. Weeks, maybe a month goes by and you along with a few other equally unqualified disciples find yourselves at the biggest event in Canaan, a wedding banquet. A few days of celebration pass and things begin to wind down; the food and alcohol are disappearing, when suddenly you witness your new charismatic Rabbi perform a straight up miracle. He just turned 180 gallons of water into the best wine you have ever put in your mouth! Why?
You and your cronies leave the party a little soon, (at least you think so) and after a few days you find yourself following your new Rabbi on a journey to Jerusalem. You think to yourself, “Yes, this feels right. We have been spending an awful lot of time with people, socializing and such, I can’t wait to see my Rabbi in action in the temple courts; how he conducts himself… this is what I want to learn.”
You arrive during holiday season and the city is packed. Next thing you know, your Rabbi is fuming. He starts frantically looking around all over the place until he finds a few cords, after which he proceeds to braid and fashion a giant whip! It takes him awhile to make this whip, so you just stand there paralyzed. You are used to following and imitating everything your Rabbi does! Protocol is telling you to replicate what he is doing or at least help him! What are you supposed to do? Do you make a whip too? Should you buy a weapon from the market place? Maybe just a big stick…
What he does next scares the hell out of you.
Your Rabbi takes a stand.
You ask yourself, “What did I sign up for?”
Taking a stand, and a powerfully anti-establishment one at that! What a concept for our seeker-sensitive, don’t upset anyone church enviornment. Good thoughtprovoking post!
I think its neat that Jesus knew how to make a whip. I think I learned that in boy scouts.
Justice, I would love to hear your thoughts on the thing(s) that Jesus took a stand against on that day and how that translates to our current religious culture.
I love your mind
Benji,
Have you ever had someone talk trash about your dad or hurt his feelings? Did it make you absolutely furious? Righteously angry even? Thats what I am thinking, part of me thinks Jesus took it personally.
As far as our current religious structure, I think we as followers of Christ need to strive to model his posture when it comes to taking a stand. I can’t think of a time when Jesus stood AGAINST anyone. Can you? Tell me Benji, how do we standing against injustice- the kind that breaks our hearts and makes us angry enough to whip people- without standing against people?
Or am I wrong…
Remember me? I thought I’d visit this blog again.
I would quickly run from this so called ‘Rabbi’. He clearly isn’t a Rabbi. He’s a religious nut that is WAY outside the mainstream. There were MANY nuts trying to establish their own cults during this time. This nut’s death cult just happened to stick because Constantine forced an empire convert to it.
I’d keep my life, my job, and my family. I’ll tell this ‘holy’ nut that I could see through his sick perverted death cult and want no part of it.
Whip making?
CHRISTIANITY IS SADOMASOCHISM. Would you deny that a beautiful naked man, gorgeous abs and body exposed, being tortured to death isn’t sadomasochistic imagery? Denial is a sad thing.
godsJustice!
I am glad your back! Do you have a site of your own? when you said,
“Would you deny that a beautiful naked man, gorgeous abs and body exposed, being tortured to death isn’t sadomasochistic imagery?”
I agree, and yes it is often creepy! It is the most creepy when it is a life sized statue! thats the worst… or when it is made into a movie, also hard to watch.
You said, “I’ll tell this ‘holy’ nut that I could see through his sick perverted death cult and want no part of it.”
I imagine following Jesus was a pretty radical adventure and a lot of people probably felt the same way as you described. But how would you respond if you saw a Rabbi who esteemed others and regarded them as more important than religion? Who didn’t worry about protecting Himself or His reputation and talked to women in public and constantly ran from the crowds and the attention. Or what if you saw the Rabbi raise someone from the dead or give sight to the neighborhood blind begger? Would that change anything?
I understand this is a hypothetical situation for you because I imagine that you don’t believe the Bible to be truth, but work with me if you will.
Your kind response and tone is appreciated. (Mine wasn’t so polite.)
“Who didn’t worry about protecting Himself or His reputation and talked to women in public and constantly ran from the crowds and the attention.”
His goal was to be a martyr. His conduct clearly showed this (at least from the accounts we have of this character called Jesus). There is little evidence that this character existed at all, other than the VERY untrustworthy religious writ about him. Have you studied textual criticism? Please read Bart Ehrman’s – Misquoting Jesus. An EXCELLENT intro!
If I saw someone raise someone from the dead or make a blind man see, I’d skeptically investigate. There is only the natural world. There is no super-natural (other-than-natural) realm. This makes miracles impossible as, by definition, they are occurrences that are outside what can naturally happen. I’m saying ONLY natural reality can happen. I am a MONIST (one-ism) not a DUALIST (two-ism).
In reference to Christianity being sadomasochistic and ‘creepy’ (as you put it), do you think it grotesque that people wear objects of torture around their necks? (crosses I mean)
I forget the quote, but someone said that if Jesus was executed today, people would be wearing little electric chairs on their necklaces. HA!
This whole crucifixion thing gets me thinking about a core tenant of your religion; Animal sacrifice and atonement to the gods. In the early days, the wrathful god wanted animal sacrifices. There was human sacrifice requested as well (Jacob & Isaac).
The religion then came up with the brilliant idea, “Let’s do one last human sacrifice and claim that God no longer wants these silly sacrifices!” This evolution of Jewish/Christian dogma greatly decreased the loss of life due to sacrifice.
But have you ever thought about it that way? That Jesus is simply an animal sacrifice like all the old religions? Here’s a big question I want you to meditate on for a few minutes…
Why did God have to send himself to be killed in order to appease himself?
Couldn’t he just forgive us? What does killing an innocent man have to do with ANYTHING!? Once he killed himself, did God say, “OK… NOW I forgive my creation that I made, but before I had myself killed I wouldn’t do it.” The whole thing is beyond absurd.