I ended last week’s article with this question... is Jesus Christ relevant to a world in which so many cultures coexist in close proximity, a world weary of conflict between peoples and nations of disparate cultures? To really grasp the fundamentals to answer that question we need to examine Jesus in his cultural setting.
Who was Jesus? Let me try and provide an unbiased answer to that important question First, Jesus was at the most obvious and visible level a Jewish rabbi and prophet. He spoke in parables (as did the rabbis) and interpreted the Jewish Torah, the first five books of the Bible. He taught disciples and debated Jewish authorities, including other rabbis.
Although Jesus was a rabbi, he was no ordinary one. Jesus was in almost every respect a religious and cultural revolutionary. He taught that although God had revealed himself uniquely to the Jews (John 4:22). Jewishness alone was no guarantee of favor with God (Matthew 8:10-12). He taught that the temple would be destroyed (Matthew 24; Mark 13) and that worship of God would be centered in the heart, not in Jerusalem (John 4:21-24). He taught that a kind Samaritan or a repentant tax-collector was better than a pious but proud or heartless Pharisee (Luke 10:29-37; 18:9-14). He invited women to be his disciples (Luke 10:38-42). He granted healing to Gentiles (Matthew 15:21-28) and ate in the homes of outcasts Luke 19:1-10).
Jesus was remarkable in everything he said and did. He taught like no man ever had or has since — an evaluation that has been voiced by Christians and non-Christians alike who have read the Gospel accounts. Jesus spoke with absolute authority — “but I say to you” — yet few find his words or manner to be arrogant. He spoke to the sick and the sinner with compassion yet without sentimentality. He spoke in terms that challenged the factions of Judaism of his day that might be loosely described as the “fundamentalists” and “liberals” of that culture. His own perspective and worldview was theologically unique and his teaching defied simple categorization. You cannot compare him, in terms of what he said or did, to any other person, then or now.
Jesus was not “all talk” or a man who said much but his words proved to be hollow and shallow. He performed miracles of healing, restoring health and even life to children and adults, men and women, Jews and Romans. Even most critical scholars of a skeptical bent today acknowledge that Jesus at least performed some works of healing, however they might try to explain them. Rather than parading the healed before the public as faith healers do today, Jesus usually healed people in relative privacy and discouraged people from looking to him merely for miracles. His miracles were profound signs of God’s power, love and mercy that were remembered by his disciples as proof, not merely that he was a wonder worker, but that he was God’s empowered and beloved Son. (John 1:1-14)
Surprisingly, despite the tremendous inspiration of his teaching and the impressive power of his miraculous works of healing, Jesus is remembered as much for the way he died as for the way he lived. All four of the Gospels focus on Jesus’ death, with his teachings and miracles serving more as preludes leading up to the main point of his life. Jesus’ death itself was unusual: he died on a Roman cross, convicted of treason by claiming to be the King of the Jews. Crucifixion was viewed universally in the ancient world with such revulsion that the Christians would never have made Jesus’ crucifixion part of their faith if it had not really happened, and if they had not understood its transcendent significance. The New Testament implicates everyone in the death of Jesus — Jewish religious leaders, Roman political authorities, even one of Jesus’ own followers. Thus, to use the Crucifixion as a pretext for anti-Semitism contradicts the New Testament, which implicates all groups of people and whose authors were, with only one exception (Luke), Jewish. Indeed, by implicating all groups of people in Jesus’ death, the Gospels present his death as redemptive for all humanity.
The story of Jesus does not end with his death, however. The unanimous witness of all of the New Testament writers and of the church from its earliest days was that Jesus had risen from the dead. Since the traditional Jewish expectation was that all people would be resurrected at the end of history, the notion of an individual being raised from the dead in the midst of the historical process would hardly have occurred to the disciples, even as a myth. That the story was not a myth is made plain by the fact that all four Gospels report that the first ones to see Jesus alive from the dead were women. Being female and the first to witness his resurrection was an honor that Jewish men of the first century were not likely to bestow on women even in a fictional story. Nonetheless, this is how it really happened. By appearing first to women, Jesus affirmed their worth, their dignity and once again challenged traditional first-century cultural prejudices.
Of course, Jesus made several appearances to men as well, appearances that are reported in independent sources in Scripture — to individuals (Peter, James), to the eleven men disciples, and to even larger groups. Jesus’ resurrection, a documentable historical fact, established the truth of his claim to be the Son of God and the meaning of his death on the cross was a redemptive work of God. Who else among the leaders of the world’s religions can make such claims? Who among the founders of the worlds religions was ever resurrected from the dead with eye witnesses as proof? No one has ever matched Jesus the Christ, in achievement and purpose. No one.
He is significant then to all of humanity, unlike any other founder of a belief system. What then is the relationship between Christ and Culture? Does Christ transform culture? Does Christ stand against all culture? Does Christ reveal himself through culture? Does Christ have multicultural significance in the world today?
In an increasingly multicultural world, we must understand Christ and human cultures: How does Christ relate to the diverse cultural traditions and expressions in our world? And how do these diverse cultural traditions relate to one another in the context of Jesus Christ?
The relationship between Christ and humanities plurality of cultures is probably best understood from at least three perspectives. First, Christ is the Reconciler of cultures — he is the one who can bring people of different cultures together. Second, Christ is the Redeemer of cultures — he brings wholeness and hope to people of all cultures. Third, Christ is the Ruler of cultures — he is the one who establishes the standards by which all cultures are ultimately to be judged.
I will elaborate on each of these three perspectives... NEXT time.
