Christian spirituality: Jesus’s answer to power
Jesus repudiates the Old Testament philosophy of an eye for an eye in retribution
In the lead-up to Easter, the Passion stories capture our imagination. Our pageants, processions and liturgies highlight suffering and pain as part of the story of redemption. One of the sub-themes of the Paschal journey is the relationship of Jesus to power. The image of a man riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, prostrate on the ground of Gethsemane, silent before Roman and Jewish authorities, and helplessly strung on a cross, make us shudder inside. What is happening to Jesus of Nazareth, hailed as king, then so quickly crucified as a criminal?
We live in a time where power and its abuse and misuse very much dominate our daily news. It is surreal to hear modern-day kings speak the language of the animal kingdom in their approach to power: might is right; we are bigger than you so we can come and take you, your land, your rights; like school bullies acting on the world stage.
When unbridled power is unshackled it raises the ugly head of oppression, authoritarianism, and dictatorship. Jesus knew this only too well, when he faced Pilate. He knew Pilate had absolute control over his life. We have many people living this way even today, in many countries of the world.
Hidden from plain sight, we have people who live like this on our tiny land: people controlled by abusive partners or dominant leaders at home, work, or places of worship; people for whom power means violence, deterrence, deportation, and the threat of financial insecurity; power exerted through the inculcation of fear. This is as real in the present moment as it was during the Roman occupation of Jesus’s land.
For the Christian, power is no longer only destructive or violent, but becomes also God’s final say of a new order heralded with joy in the coming morn of Easter
Similarly, the historical relationship of religion with power has been complex, chequered, and often tragic. From the times of Christian theocracies to the modern-day use of religion by world leaders as a crutch to further obscure political agendas that are anything but Christian in values and spirit, they all point out to the need to return to the model of Jesus and his relationship with power.
The little subplots in the Passion narratives that will dominate the next few weeks in our churches and streets are indicators of a different way of approaching power. Jesus remains silent before Pilate. He stops a disciple who drew his sword and cut off a soldier’s ear: “No more of this! (Luke 22, 49-51).
Jesus repudiates the Old Testament philosophy of an eye for an eye in retribution (Mt 5: 39). To quote yet another giant of non-violence, Mahatma Gandhi: an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind. It is no wonder that the most often quoted verse from the prophets during Holy Week speaks of the meekness of lambs: “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb taken to the slaughter.” (Isaiah 53: 7)
Is this the meekness of an idiot? The subjugation to power of a disenfranchised and helpless Roman subject? On the cross, Jesus “reconciled all things onto himself” (Colossians 1:20). Similarly, as we give homage to our beloved Archbishop Emeritus Paul Cremona, we are similarly reminded that power could be exercised with gentleness and humility, and not just with raw force. For the Christian, power is no longer only destructive or violent, but becomes also God’s final say of a new order heralded with joy in the coming morn of Easter.