Luke 23: 1-5; 13-25
THE IN-BETWEENS
I remember getting flip-books as prizes in my breakfast cereal as a child. I loved them. I always felt some amazement at how convincing the motion was as you flipped through. I remember looking page to page to analyze the differences—what we call “frame rate” today—and felt amazed at how much distance there was between steps.
Edison’s kinetocscope worked the same way. Eight pictures per second create what our mind perceives as fluid movement because our brains fill in the gaps. We are hard-wired to see order, story, and narrative. We fill in the blanks. Likewise, from the time you first heard Bible stories and the story of Jesus, you have been filling in blanks. In between the lines—even between the words—you have been making connections that make the story meaningful and coherent to you.
An illustration in a childrens’ Bible, a painting on a Sunday school wall, the teachings of the church or family members—all add to the mortar between the bricks. For centuries, Christians have had their ways of filling in the blanks. Whether those things are true or not is yet to be discovered.
First time I went to Israel I was fairly terrified by what I knew was going to happen. I had been through the Bible many times in the forty years since I could read. I knew that every time I thought of say, Capernaum, a certain mental picture of the town was rebuilt in my mind. It was hard for me to pin down, but I can tell you that I had an image back there like the images you build in your head whenever you read a story. I was terrified because I knew that all my well-constructed ideas about every place—not only Capernaum, but the Sea of Galilee, Joppa, and Bethlehem, and the details of Jerusalem itself—were all about to be permanently revised! They were, of course, revised, but only in the best of ways. The backdrop of all my readings is now based on real, factual places.
If you’ve loved a book since childhood, you know that terror when they finally make it into a movie. Your favorite characters—however you pictured them—will be replaced by Hollywood actors. The scenes and sets may eclipse whatever you had imagined them to be. It’s very hard to go back to your own imagination once the vivid, big-screen images have been poured into your head.
Here’s the thing: you and I may have all kinds of information that we have stuffed in between the words. We have inherited lots of things from Christendom: from church and the way the story has been told to us in our various cultures.
We all have imagined things to fill in the blanks and they are certainly there. It doesn’t matter whether you are aware of what you imagine or not. What matters is that there is something there. When we do the hard work of discovering or examining the ways we have drawn-in between the lines we have a real chance of deeper learning.
I should say I have no respect for the kind of learning—indoctrination, really—that perpetuates well-worn imaginings as the truth about Scripture. We’re not going to tolerate that here. We’re going to to better. We’re going to let Scripture speak for itself and remain willing to have all the in-betweens and backgrounds modified as needed.
WORST IDOLATRIES
Question: Do you remember what the greatest problem for Israel was throughout the Old Testament? Yes, idolatry. Again and again, with unceasing addiction, the people kept sniffing after Asherah and Ba’al and others.
But we hear nothing of idolatry from the time of Malachi on! It seems Israel had finally managed to beat the idolatry thing completely. By the time of Jesus, the Jews were idolatry-free/clear/sober. They were righteous(at least in terms of idolatry) and they knew it.
The closest instance of idolatry in the New Testament is when the Herodians produce a coin with Caesar’s graven image upon it (and the proclamation of Caesar’s divinity). This was a kind of unintentional idolatry, but far less serious than the prior, overt practices.
Question: What is the worst imaginable idolatry? How bad can idolatry possibly get? I can offer seven levels from bad to worse.
- 1.Make a statue and worship it instead of God.
- 2.Worship another human being. (Creature instead of Creator)
- 3.Worship self instead of God.
(Hello, Hollywood!)
- 4.Worship the enemy(ies) of God instead of God.
(Satan-worshipers, etc.)
- 5.Make sacrifices to the enemy of God.
(the greater the creature, the more venal the act of idolatry)
- 6.Sacrifice to enemies of God and self.
(add self-hatred to the hatred of God)
- 7.Making a sacrifice to the enemies of God and self while feeling perfectly righteous about doing so.
(Remember this one as we go forward)
As consider the passion narrative, I hope to challenge your perspective a little. Specifically, we’ll see that the Jews had not actually abandoned idolatry. They may have thought they had it beat, but it returns with an unspeakable vengeance in the end.
PASSION NARRATIVE
Scribes, Sanhedrin, Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, Zealots—all had their own special interests and each their unique perspectives on what was happening with this Jesus.
Scribes (lawyers) and Pharisees saw him as less than a true believer, less than a truly good Jew. He healed on the Sabbath, overlooked popular observances, picked his own disciples, and failed to respect their strict adherences to the Law.
Sadducees—the Temple establishment—saw him as another wannabe renegade leader. He had not come up through the proper channels and showed no respect for those who had. He was popular figure—a con-artist with idiot followers—who could potentially make life very difficult for the nation. The temple authorities didn’t want any rabble rousers disrupting the fine balance of powers between Israel and Rome. They knew how precarious the relationship was and how it could be turned against them at a moment’s notice.
Herodians were likely the ones who held the idolatrous coin. They were rich and poised to continue ruling, so their sole interest was preserving control.
The Zealots were part of a long line of Jews who expected a messiah to liberate Israel from under the oppressive thumb of Rome. More than a dozen attempts had been made, and after each attempt, Jews were crucified by the hundreds—perhaps thousands—along the roads into Jerusalem as a clear message to those within and without that Rome would not tolerate rebellion.
Zealots were believers. They believed that when Messiah arrived, the Jews who stormed the Roman fortresses would not be acting alone, but would be assisted by God and his angels. God would fight for and with them, just as with David. The real Messiah would win despite all odds.
After fourteen failed messiahs, Jesus was the newest hope for the realization of the Zealot’s revolutionary activism.
THE HORROR
We all know that Jesus ends up crucified but there are terrible and terribly-disturbing elements which make this happen. I would call it the very worst idolatry imaginable.
After Jesus’ arrest and imprisonment beneath the house of Caiaphas, the Chief Priest, choices are made that seem beyond all reason. They could have said, “Well there—we’ll just keep Jesus down in the dungeon until Passover is finished and the crowds all go home. Problem solved!” Why didn’t they do this?
Jesus is delivered to Pilate—the Gentile dog and the iron fist of Rome to Jerusalem and Judea—someone all the Jews despised. This was a horrible betrayal between Jews. Normally, the Jewish leaders would have fought for the release of any Jew held in a Roman prison, and here they offer one willingly.
Pilate seems puzzled—even amused. Furthermore, he finds the charges brought against Jesus are uncorroborated, unsubstantiated. He sees no reason for Jesus to be punished under Roman law, so he refuses to rule on the case and sends Jesus to Herod (whom he dislikes) to dispense justice.
Herod, a kind of aristocrat, by which I mean a spoiled rotten rich kid, is amused by Jesus. He certainly knew the story of how his father had John the Baptist beheaded. He, on behalf of the Jewish nation, sends Jesus back to Pilate. That’s twice the Jewish leaders betray one of their own to the Romans.
Pilate again seems amused with Jesus and with the Jews. He knows they hate him, but now they want a favor from him. The Jews want Pilate to be the bad guy and execute justice on one of their own. The problem again is that Pilate operates on principle and reason and not emotion. He will not prosecute and tells the chief priests and rulers of the people that Jesus is innocent of their charges.
With further prodding, Pilate agrees to have him punished to satisfy their anger, but will not put him to death as they want. Here we have Rome—the great Satan—protecting Jesus from the wrath of his own people. He offers them Barabbas—an insurrectionist and murderer—in a kind of Devil’s bargain, for surely they would pick anyone over Barabbas. But the story gets weirder.
Offered Jesus: the good, the gentle, the righteous, or Barabbas: the mean, the crooked, and the cruel, the mob cries for Barabbas. “Give us Barabbas!” they yell. We can only imagine the look on Pilate’s face—one of utter shock and amazement. Thinking, perhaps, What in the world could possess these people to hate this Jesus so much?
And here we see the ugly beast raise its head, for if we, like Pilate, look at the situation rationally, by pure reason, we can see how many possible solutions still remain available for dealing with Jesus:
1. As we said, the high priests could keep Jesus in the dungeon beneath the house of Caiaphas for the weekend, then let him go and see if he raises a problem next year at Passover.
2. Pilate could imprison him in the place of Barabbas. Barabbas goes free and Jesus takes his place in the Roman jail until things cool down.
3. The Sanhedrin could present legislation—a gag order on Jesus’s teaching and preaching. Furthermore, they could have prohibited Jewish people from following him or listening to him at all.
So why didn’t Pilate just send Jesus down into Barabbas’ now vacant cell? Because of the mob. The mob cried out for blood, and no, they didn’t ask for his mere imprisonment in a Roman cell, or his head in a swift execution as with John the Baptist. They called for his crucifixion, which is beyond bizarre.
BEYOND BIZARRE
For the high priests and leaders to present Jesus—in fact, any Jew—to the Romans for crucifixion is to invite the humiliation and hatred of all Jews expressed by prior crucifixions! Crucifixion was Rome’s way of saying, “We really hate you Jews.” It would be like a Jewish court in Germany turning one of their own over to the Nazis of Auchwitz. It would be like the Civil Rights activists turning Martin Luther King, Jr. over to the Ku Klux Klan and demanding that they make him a slave.
The Jews were putting Jesus up onto a Roman altar and shoving the dagger into Pilate’s hand. Do you see it? Do you see what happens when the mob mentality takes over? Do you see here the worst act of idolatry in all of history taking place in the name of righteousness?
The Jewish people, who outwardly hated idolatry, are making a sacrifice to the false god of Caesar. Worse, it is a human sacrifice—even a divine/human— and worst of all, it is the Messiah they’ve been promised. He is more than a king; he is the very Son of God, God in the flesh.
They take him, bind him, and present him to Pilate demanding that he be abused and put him to death so that the anger of the Roman god will be appeased. This is the greatest—by which I mean the worst and most venal—act of idolatry conceivable. Nevermind their 400 plus years without simple idolatry. They more than make up for it here. It is as though it was all pent up, gathering power and darkness, only to be unleashed in the greatest devilry of all history. They sold out and threw Jesus under the bus of Rome.
Jesus went to the cross because of the mob mentality which channeled something more than the hopes of the people for peace and prosperity. No, they tapped into something much deeper. They tapped into the heart of Hell which feeds the flames of the mob mentality.
MOB AND MOB RULE
The mob continues to Golgotha, abusing one of their own all the way. Here is the ultimate example of self-hatred: Jesus, called King of the Jews, is spat upon by Jews, and mocked even while he is on the cross.
I don’t think this was a usual practice. I suspect most Jews felt crucifixion was humiliation enough. I suspect most Jews hated crucifixion because it had been perpetrated in such vileness against so many of their kinsmen.
Imagine Pilate watching from a distance. Standing on the porch of his palace, he can see spot just beyond the city walls where they’ve put Jesus up. He has, of course, washed his hands of this decision, but as he and his wife sip wine and watch the crowds below, he must have shaken his head. I imagine him saying, “This makes no sense whatsoever!”
Roman soldiers nearby, whose business it is to keep the Jews feeling inferior, must have had a laugh watching the mob abuse one of their own, even as he bleeds on a cross. I imagine them saying, “Well, I guess we got em right where we want them. If they abuse each other that just makes our job all that much easier.”
I also imagine that same quote being used by the devils of Hell about us and our world today: “Well, if they abuse each other that just makes our job all that much easier.” For we still have mobs with us today.
There are legitimate public demonstrations and protests, but whenever and wherever the ugliness of violence is justified, the mob has turned a corner and become something truly vile.
You and I may love grasshoppers, those friendly jumpers we find in our yards, but when they reach a particular population density, they change. They become more aggressive and begin “herding up.” They become a mob and physically undergo transformation into locusts, the source of so many plagues.
Rats can be lovely and perfectly peaceable, but when their population density reaches a certain threshold, they too are transformed into something ugly and vile. They become crazily aggressive and violent, prone to eat even each other.
There is a critical density that transforms decent human beings into crazy-mad activists. When enough people stand together and believe their cause is just, mob behavior can take over. One person acting out violently can lead to a chain reaction of mindless violence. That’s mob behavior in any era.
If you study any revolution—be it Mao’s China, the Bolshevik Revolution or Castro’s Cuba—you’ll see that once the mob is unleashed, and once they’ve killed their enemies, they started killing each other. All who struggle for power are potential victims of hysteria. It doesn’t matter what side you are on.
Mob behavior seeks the irrational. It abandons reason for passion, which is terribly dangerous once the feeling is fear or hatred. Mobs are famous for dumbing reality down to oversimplified ideas. And be assured, with history as with every popular movement, the weaker the idea, the louder it must be shouted.
No Christian should have any part in any such mob except as a peacemaker—one who tries to keep the group calm, peaceable, and rational.
Similarly, I think it beyond all reason and virtue to rationalize or defend mob violence on any grounds. Many Christians pride themselves in their activism, but there is a point at which such passion should not be trusted.
As we read in James 3:16-18:
16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.†