A dragonfly in its still mode; a Tree pie gathering its stick for its nest and ready to fly away and a Sunbird while gathering the nectar from the flowers caught a grass hopper..... Just a few captivating sights in our garden yesterday!
It was following these silent sights in the garden I turned to the Bible text today about the week following Jesus visiting the Jerusalem temple.
I noticed three turning points while reading the narrative from the gospel of Matthew w26: 1-19
1. The plot to kill Jesus
'Then the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in the court of the high priest, named Caiaphas and they plotted to seize by stealth and kill Him' (v 3-4).
The pharisees and the scribes were indignant towards Jesus earlier while he Healed the blind and the lame in the temple and restored the temple to be the house of prayer. Now the civil authorities of the Jerusalem city too got infuriated by Jesus stopping a practice during the passover festival which benefitted all alike through the merchandise. When civil authorities felt the strain of loss of their income and control over the affairs of the temple, the decision was a cruel thought to kill Jesus.
Think of the lot of some reformers in civil society!
When Pandita Ramabai established a place in Kedgaon, Pune for widows and girls and women sent out from their homes, to come to stay, there was uproar! It got even more intense when She went on to establish schools for girls in the community its to uplift them form the alienation they suffered as women. The civil society would stop people from offering place or building to start schools for girls. It happened as recent as 175 years ago.
What the chief priests of the temple at Jerusalem did and the civil society at the time of Pandita Ramabai, were similar in purpose. !
The King Herod had killed all boys below two years for not having found Jesus to eliminate him as a child, as he along with Mary and Joseph had gone to Egypt (Matt3:16-18). Jesus as a boy narrowly escaped death, according to the divine plan. Now in the fullness of time Jesus was volunteering to be available to be 'caught and killed' as nothing else would bring God's love in a manner that would turn people Godward!
I have been intrigued by a thought that Moses (Exod.1:22, and 2: 1-14) and Jesus had a similar near death experience during infancy. Moses behaved in one way in later in life and Jesus of Nazareth in another way.
Moses was separated from his home and parental care from three months, except for a short time when his mother provided the 'foster care'. When he was living in Pharaoh's palace it was his daughter who cared for him, almost bordering to a single parent child rearing. Was this dysfunctional state of lack of personal identity and stable attachment in the family, that led Moses to a kill an Egyptian, instead of attempting to negotiate the dispute between an Egyptian and Israelite? He even tried to stop a dispute between two Israelites forcefully! This made him to escape to the land of Midian to avoid being caught for the murder. Did he not live with post traumatic stress!
Jesus was born in a manger away from his home. Soon after the birth, Joseph and Mary had to flee to Egypt with Jesus. Jesus returned much after the threat to his life was receding.
Moses and Jesus grew up bearing the stress of fear about their lives. Moses behaved delinquently but Jesus admirably, during their youthful years.
What was the difference? We read in Luke 2.52: 'And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and men' This was a text referring to Jesus when He was twelve years of age, after His temple visit with His parents, where He stayed back to be with the teachers of the law. Those who heard Him 'were amazed at His understanding and His answers' (Luke2:46, 47).
The difference between Moses and Jesus in the growing up years was the difference in the way both were initiated into the growing years.
Jesus was initiated into childhood, by His mother, who 'treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart' after what the angel told her at the time of the announcement of the birth of Jesus.
John Eldredge in his book, Fathered by God 'maps out the path of manhood-not more rules, not another list of principles, not formulas, but a sure path men have followed ....' . ' In life's trials and triumphs, God is initiating boys and men through the stages of manhood from the beloved son to cowboy to warrior to lover to king to sage' (From back cover page).
That initiation into stages of life, when overseen by parents, boys can grow up 'to return to be the beloved that they were meant to be'.
It was this what made Jesus grew up healed, restored and integrated from the trauma of childhood to minister gracefully and mindfully from the time he was anointed for His public ministry. His parents initiated Him into His formation to speak the sermon on the Mount and live it in His life. His teachings of loving enemies, forgiving others, seeing the log in our eye before noticing the speck in the eye of the other person, and be a neighbour to others by speaking the parable of the Good Samaritan arose from the reconciled state of His inner being after having grown up under the shadow of fear for His life! His home and parenting gift into His life offered Him this transforming experience of moving away from 'an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth' !
Moses needed years of initiation in the land of Midian and another season of renewal after the encounter with the burning bush, before he could become God's chosen person to lead people from Egypt to the promised land. He was bereft of the usual initiation through parenting into the different stages of life, till God made a difference in his formation and transformation following the experience at the burning bush.
The coming of Jesus to Jerusalem during the passover was a sign of His willingness to yield His life into the hands of those, waiting to kill Him. Jesus grew up loving and forgiving and was ready to lead people into a God experience.
A pilgrim Journey would encounter intense opposition as that journey is to seek after truth and to bear witness to the truth. It is the truth that shall set us free to be fully human and fully alive!
2 The only temporary Restrain
The only restrain that the chief priests had about killing Jesus was: 'Not during the festival lest a riot occur among people' (v 5). The inner moral consciousness of justice, righteousness and fairness had vanished and the carnality of evil had occupied the minds of those who were to be custodians of order and structure in the society!
But they refrained to act for fear of the people!
Look at this contradiction! The civil and religious leaders, who are bestowed with moral and righteous decision making became plotters to eliminate a person who had approval from the multitude! The keepers of the truth became plotters against the truth.
Do we not see this as a usual occurrence in civil society? The president of the United States of America imposed tariffs to benefit the economy of the Unites States with no consideration to the economy of other countries. He initiated a trade war with no substantial justification beyond a unilateral gain! The fear of consequences dawned on the president few days after the announcement of the tariff that he ordered it to be kept in abeyance for ninety days!
When personal morality and integrity loose to govern individual lives, there is at least a temporary restrain that can come from the external circumstances.
It is for this reason the Quaker movement, a Christian movement that emerged in the17th century in England led by Mr George Fox received world wide attention especially during difficult times like the world wars. The quakers believed in the 'inner light' by practicing silence and prayer in order to bring peace, conciliation and brotherhood among people. They practised passive resistance by advocating simple life style, equality for all and social justice. They met to worship God transcending all the denominational barriers to feel connected with God and with each other!
How important it is to upbuild our communities to be the voice of reason, justice, truth and a tower of strength against social injustice!
Father Stan Swamy was such a person who advocated justice for tribal people, for which he got incarcerated by the civil authorities. He was imprisoned! He stood up for the rights of the Adivasis over their land. He was accused of membership in the communist party of India (Maoist), who is a banned party in India. He remained in prison since arrested in October 2020. His request for bail was denied in spite of his failing health with Parkinsonism. He was denied a straw and sipper by the prison authorities even when he was unwell to feed himself, according to a report. He died for standing up for the rights of the tribal community!
The community can be a restrain to the civil authorities and the political order from going wild and being short sighted!
3. The testimony of people
In Mathew 21: 11, we read, 'And the multitudes were saying , this is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee' .
The people captivated the truth about Jesus when they saw Jesus coming to Jerusalem on a colt, accompanied by many singing 'Hosanna'!
This truth was subsumed in the ritual and festivity of the passover that the chief priests, scribes and pharisees saw Jesus as an intruder, interrupter and imposter!
The testimony of people would be truthful enough to believe because they were those who saw Him, heard Him, witnessed the miracles and watched the healing of many and knew of him and His family from Nazareth .
I remember hearing from friends living in Switzerland about the frequent referendum the government organises on matters where decisions are needed. Although the political government is entitled to make decisions on policies and issues, the practice is to get a wider opinion from people. It is a custom for the leadership to seek for the truth as perceived by many on important matters.
The testimony of people matters.
But it did not matter for the civil authority or priests, pharisees and scribes of that time, when they planned to kill Jesus!
The civil authority betrayed natural justice and propriety and plotted to kill Jesus.
While talking about the freedom movement of India the current prime Minister of the UK seems to have said, 'we yielded to the voice of people in India and granted independence'!
I wonder why the two sister churches, Orthodox and Jacobite cannot have a referendum about how to settle their dispute about ownership of property, rather than have public protests and bring disgrace to the cause of the Prince of peace!
The priests, pharisees and scribes erred and had biased opinions about Jesus! The people had the right opinion about Jesus of Nazareth.
Is it that the leadership of these two sister churches are biased but the congregations have a truthful opinion to settle the disputes, if only we can consult them!
Let the truth about Jesus of Nazareth dwell within us!
He was the one "Who did not hold on to His right to be equal with God, but gave it up and became a bond servant...."!
That is the lasting message of the Holy Week!
M.C.Mathew (text and photo)
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