Ernst Kasemann wrote a powerful book about Jesus - Jesus Means Freedom - in which he attacks our efforts to 'domesticate' Jesus, or turn him into an icon or 'make him bourgeois after our own image'. He recalls the apocryphal saying of Jesus 'He who is near me is near the fire' - the fire of judgment, an uncomfortable experience. The Sermon on the Mount does not consist of 'beautiful ideas' but is a terrifying examination of conscience...
So what's unique about Jesus? All of these, according to Kasemann: his complete refusal to acknowledge barriers raised by race or skin-colour; his demand for the most scrupulous honesty in word and intent; his rejection of every form of retaliation; his refusal to approve of our worship of God unless we try to be reconciled to anyone we've wronged; his requirement of unconditional love of our neighbours and of forgiveness that outstrips every limit; his insistence that inhumanity to a fellow-human is a deep offence against God...
To which we can add Jesus' searching words about wealth and its power to undermine integrity and harden gentleness of spirit. How often do moderns and their sermons on money try to explain away what Jesus said on this touchy subject! (I've been reading and listening to Thomas Friedman recently: because the whole world wants goodies, we're wrecking the planet).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
1 comment:
Yea, come unto Christ -- come and see!
wetestifyofchrist.blogspot.com
Post a Comment