The Other Six Days

Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. – Luke 24:15-16

In healthy relationships, there is a gradual increase of mutual knowledge and trust, a growing awareness of the other’s wishes, feelings and motivations in an atmosphere of caring and empathy. Do our prayers reflect these?

The Journey to Emmaus, Gustave Dore

A non-relational approach to prayer might go like this: We pray, and God either does or does not grant our request. Even a request that we desperately desire may be rejected, without explanation. Maybe this is because if it does not conform to God’s plan which we are not privileged to know.This approach to prayer has neither open two-way communication nor a gradual increase of understanding.

This is sad, given God’s desire to relate to humankind. God walked with Adam in the garden. God conversed with Abraham (Genesis 18:22-33) and Moses (Exodus 3-4). God literally lived among his people – in the tabernacle in the wilderness (Exodus 29:45) and in the person of Jesus Christ (John 1:14).

How can we make prayer more of a conversation? For a more substantive answer, I refer you to Ignatius Loyola, whose writings on conversational prayer have influenced thousands.

For a short answer, I suggest taking the revolutionary step and stop talking. Sit in silence, clear your mind of all thoughts and expectations of what prayer should be like, and listen.

“‘What is truth?’ retorted Pilate.” – John 18:38

Christians, beware of using the Passion story as your only source for history.

In Passion plays and movies, Pilate is often portrayed as weak, vacillating and intimidated by a bloodthirsty mob. He agonizes over the situation, and eventually washes his hands of any responsibility for Jesus’ death to avoid a riot. But there’s more to Pilate.

1. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, when Pilate brought images of Caesar on Roman shields and standards into Jerusalem, protesters gathered. He threatened to ”cut them in pieces, and gave intimation to the soldiers to draw their swords.” The Jewish protestors refused to budge, and Pilate eventually relented.

Christ Before Pilate, by Tintoretto 

2. Josephus records that Pilate built an aqueduct using temple treasury money. When protestors gathered, he had soldiers dress like common men, “gave the signal from his tribunal, and many of the Jews were so sadly beaten, that many of them perished by the stripes they received.”

3. Philo, a Jewish philosopher, described Pilate’s “…corruption, his cruelty, and his continual murders of people untried and uncondemned.”

4. Luke mentions the “Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices” (13:1).

5. According to John, a detachment (speira) of soldiers accompanied Judas and temple officials at Jesus’ arrest. The Greek word speira is a cohort of 600 Roman soldiers, who would have been under Pilate’s command.

With these points in mind, I read the Pilate in the Passion story differently. He agonizes over the Jesus situation, sees Jesus as a threat but uses him as leverage. When he sentences Jesus to death, he is asserting his power over the Jews, not relinquishing it. He takes a beaten, bloody insurrectionist, dresses him up like a king and presents him to the Jewish aristocracy. The conversation goes like this in John 18:

Pilate: “Shall I crucify your king?”

Chief Priests: “We have no king but Caesar.”

That was precisely Pilate’s point.

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” – Matthew 6:33

As I prepare Lenten sermons, I’m reminded of  a book I read a few years ago: Consumed, by Benjamin Barber. 

Long gone are the days when the US economy was built around selling goods like timber, wool and wheat that served actual needs. Marketing professionals now search for new ways to reinvent and recreate goods in order to sell more stuff. Today’s consumerist economy is sustained by creating desires, convincing us to purchase anything from the latest smart phone to a bazillion different kinds of mustard.

I’m especially struck by Barber’s recollection of a time when he purchased bottled water. Bottled water, in a country where clean water flows straight from the tap, is a prime example of a manufactured need. “Over a billion people are without drinking water. ”Why don’t we find out ways to get the water they need to them, instead of new ways of getting water to us?”

While at the Rock Retreat in Ocean City, I  attended a breakout session led by Brian Cress, Director of Youth Mobilization at International Justice Mission. IJM is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local officials to ensure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators and to promote functioning public justice systems. 

They take literally Christ’s call “to proclaim good news to the poor” and “to proclaim freedom for the prisoners.” It was truly an eye opening experience. Have a look at their website. 

I’ve just finished reading Selling Out the Church: The Dangers of Church Marketing, and I think it provides a helpful warning to churches who want to grow. Philip Kenneson and James Street say that church marketing does more than change a church’s style, but their substance as well. Because church marketing defines the purpose of the church in terms of attracting the surrounding community, the market oriented church focuses on effectiveness and customer satisfaction, rather than what the vision for what the church ought to be: “a sign, a foretaste, and a herald of God’s present but still emerging kingdom.” 

To be true to its nature and purpose, churches should stop thinking attractional (“Come and check us out”) and start thinking missional. In a post-Christian culture where many have no understanding of the basic Christian message and do not identify with the traditional Christian subculture, churches are forced to step out of their buildings, and take the Gospel into their diverse communities. Some of Jesus’ most revealing interactions are not with the temple authorities, but with the Gentiles, the poor and the outcast. The Kingdom of God typically lies outside existing religious structures.

While this TV miniseries is grounded in the Bible, some of it is pure speculation. Consider A.D.’s mostly fictional portrayal of Pilate, who orders that ten Jews be crucified for each day the zealot Boaz remains at large. How plausible is this?

The Message of Pilate’s Wife, by James Tissot

Philo, a 1st-century Jewish philosopher, tells us that Pilate once received a severe reprimand from Emperor Tiberius for installing Roman shields in the temple (see previous post), thus inciting rebellion and violating Rome’s policy of peaceful subjugation. Executing ten Jews per day (and forcing Caiaphas to eat cremated remains) would certainly provoke more anti-Roman hostility, not to mention the displeasure of the emperor.

However, both Philo and Josephus (a 1st-century Jewish historian), describe Pilate as a vindictive man with a furious temper, and Luke writes about the “Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices” (13:1). Pilate’s harsh retaliation to an attempted assassination is possible, although ten daily crucifixions seems to be excessive artistic license.

Still, this brutal description of Pilate better reflects the historical Pilate, and makes for better drama. That’s the Pilate you will see in episode 5.