Have you ever wondered why Jesus didn’t give us some sort of concrete proof for everything? Why did his entire mission and purpose end up on some scrappy old parchments? Jesus could have, at least, given some sort of irrefutable proof to silence all the skeptics, atheists and the lot. I’m sure that at any moment, he could’ve shut them up with some divine, dynamic, mind-altering, psychotropic knowledge; something undeniable and indubitable; to tilt things into God’s favor, to topple the odds and deaden all questions and theories. Which if I were Jesus I would’ve probably done and ashamed them all. As it is, for us, God is one so-called ‘concept’ that’s very easy to deny; we’re actually free to fly in the face of God.
I mean, if I were God, I would’ve had the skies thunder and lightning flash. I would’ve had earthquakes and hurricanes all around. With fire and rain, I would’ve had a big funky staircase drop down from the Heavens with Angels singing, dancing and escorting me down. I would’ve let ‘em all know that I was coming to Earth and when I get there, boy, I’m gonna kick some serious heinie!
And that's exactly what the Israelites were expecting. The people expected their Messiah to be a mighty military leader or a powerful earthly king that would sweep in with his impressive retinue and topple the Romans. Even though 400 years before, the prophet made it clear that he would be of humble origins. The people were largely consumed with their own idea of what the ‘Messiah’ ought to be like, and a Guy like Jesus surely didn’t fit the bill.
But wait, why didn’t he? Why didn’t he be that Superhero; that thundering Messiah that the people were expecting?
I was mind-blown when I read into the Jesus’ first official act as an adult, just when he began his ministry. Someone had actually asked Jesus to go all out in a spectacular, breathtaking display to achieve all his goals in a nifty dazzling shortcut method. I’m talking about Matthew 4:1-11 or Luke 4:1-13.
History goes as such: We find Jesus wandering outside in the arid and parched desert, ignoring his daily meals and preparing for something. The Bible says the poor Guy didn’t eat for forty days. And if you’re a science buff, you’d know that forty days is the max one can go without food whilst emaciation taking over and death settling in. And the Bible tells us why, it was all for a collision between two cosmic giants, a one on one, penultimate battle; where evil met up with the good. Satan’s dirty bottom was up and about and in the sandy desert plains of Palestine where Jesus was. He had tempted the Dude for the entire period of forty days and was on a final conflict with him face to face.
In a scene of ravages and desolate wildness, it was showdown time. Satan comes up to Jesus and poses him three tasks: Taking advantage of how hungry Jesus was, the crafty halfwit tells him, “Turn these stones into bread! Satisfy your hunger!” Jesus scrupled. Then satan takes the famished Paragon to a very high roof and says, “Since you are God’s Son, Jump! God will protect you!” testing God’s promise of physical safety. Satan flunked that one too. Finally, for the last test, the dark prince impelled Jesus, showing him all the kingdoms of the world; “They're yours - lock, stock, and barrel! Take it all! Just simply adore me…” And you can guess what Jesus replied to that! But you know what’s funny? Coming from the devil himself; there wasn’t a tinge of evil in any of these requests!
And you know what’s even more interesting? Even though Jesus demurred to satan’s requests; doesn’t he go on to multiply bread for a five thousand hungry throng? A far more impressive feat than just turning measly stone into bread! He would also go on to conquer death and rise again to become the King of Kings! Jesus unmasked satan in the blistering desert who actually offered all these things, what Jesus would eventually but ultimately go on to do, in a slick, eye-candied shortcut method with fireworks blazing the sky. But Jesus chose to dissent. “If you are God,” said satan “Dazzle me! Act like God should act!” Jesus replied, “Only God makes those decisions, therefore I do nothing at your command.” And God remained masked.
I mean, if I were God, I would’ve had the skies thunder and lightning flash. I would’ve had earthquakes and hurricanes all around. With fire and rain, I would’ve had a big funky staircase drop down from the Heavens with Angels singing, dancing and escorting me down. I would’ve let ‘em all know that I was coming to Earth and when I get there, boy, I’m gonna kick some serious heinie!
And that's exactly what the Israelites were expecting. The people expected their Messiah to be a mighty military leader or a powerful earthly king that would sweep in with his impressive retinue and topple the Romans. Even though 400 years before, the prophet made it clear that he would be of humble origins. The people were largely consumed with their own idea of what the ‘Messiah’ ought to be like, and a Guy like Jesus surely didn’t fit the bill.
But wait, why didn’t he? Why didn’t he be that Superhero; that thundering Messiah that the people were expecting?
I was mind-blown when I read into the Jesus’ first official act as an adult, just when he began his ministry. Someone had actually asked Jesus to go all out in a spectacular, breathtaking display to achieve all his goals in a nifty dazzling shortcut method. I’m talking about Matthew 4:1-11 or Luke 4:1-13.
History goes as such: We find Jesus wandering outside in the arid and parched desert, ignoring his daily meals and preparing for something. The Bible says the poor Guy didn’t eat for forty days. And if you’re a science buff, you’d know that forty days is the max one can go without food whilst emaciation taking over and death settling in. And the Bible tells us why, it was all for a collision between two cosmic giants, a one on one, penultimate battle; where evil met up with the good. Satan’s dirty bottom was up and about and in the sandy desert plains of Palestine where Jesus was. He had tempted the Dude for the entire period of forty days and was on a final conflict with him face to face.
In a scene of ravages and desolate wildness, it was showdown time. Satan comes up to Jesus and poses him three tasks: Taking advantage of how hungry Jesus was, the crafty halfwit tells him, “Turn these stones into bread! Satisfy your hunger!” Jesus scrupled. Then satan takes the famished Paragon to a very high roof and says, “Since you are God’s Son, Jump! God will protect you!” testing God’s promise of physical safety. Satan flunked that one too. Finally, for the last test, the dark prince impelled Jesus, showing him all the kingdoms of the world; “They're yours - lock, stock, and barrel! Take it all! Just simply adore me…” And you can guess what Jesus replied to that! But you know what’s funny? Coming from the devil himself; there wasn’t a tinge of evil in any of these requests!
And you know what’s even more interesting? Even though Jesus demurred to satan’s requests; doesn’t he go on to multiply bread for a five thousand hungry throng? A far more impressive feat than just turning measly stone into bread! He would also go on to conquer death and rise again to become the King of Kings! Jesus unmasked satan in the blistering desert who actually offered all these things, what Jesus would eventually but ultimately go on to do, in a slick, eye-candied shortcut method with fireworks blazing the sky. But Jesus chose to dissent. “If you are God,” said satan “Dazzle me! Act like God should act!” Jesus replied, “Only God makes those decisions, therefore I do nothing at your command.” And God remained masked.
As the temptation story unfolds, you can actually see that there were no eye-witnesses to the incident, so in effect; this account had to come from Jesus himself. Looks like somewhere, for some reason, our beloved Hero had obliged to tell his disciples what had happened. After all, it was a stage of struggle and personal weakness. As Philip Yancey puts it, “I presume the Temptation was a genuine conflict, not a role Jesus acted out with a pre-arranged outcome. The same tempter who had found a fatal spot of vulnerability in Adam and Eve aimed his thrust against Jesus with deadly accuracy.”
Malcolm Muggeridge, a famous English author (as well as a soldier and a spy!), speculated in his book 'Jesus: The Man who lived'; “Jesus had but to give a nod of agreement and he could have constructed Christendom, not on four shaky gospels and a defeated man nailed on a Cross; but on the basis of sound socio-economic planning and principles! Every utopia could have been realized and every dream made to come true. What a benefactor, then, Jesus would have been! Acclaimed equally, in the London School of Economics and the Harvard Business School; a statue in Parliament Square, and an even bigger one on Capitol Hill and in the Red Square…! Instead, he turned the offer down on the ground that only God should be worshipped…”
And satan doesn’t stop there, nope! Being the persistent little pain-in-the-whatchamacallit he is, he brings up the topic later by instigating Peter, one of the 12 disciples (Matthew 16: 21-23); Here, Jesus was making clear to his disciples that he would suffer terrible atrocities at the hands of the religious leaders, and he would ultimately be killed. Peter had the audacity to say otherwise, “Heaven forbid, Sir! That’s not gonna happen to you!” In a flash of anger Jesus scolded him, “Get out of my way, Peter! Satan, get lost! You have no idea how God works…!" Looks like Peter’s innocent and instinctive tête-à-tête with Jesus had hit a sore nerve.
And that was not it; you’d think saying “No!” once to satan would do the trick. Uh-uh! Not to the guy who orchestrated the fall of man. Defeated, dejected, subdued and scarred; Jesus, nailed to the Cross would hear the very same beguiling temptation again, teasing him: “Some Messiah you are! Save yourself and us!” mocked a crucified criminal. The crowd took to the cheer, poking fun at him, “Aren’t you the Christ?! Show us your stuff! Come down from that Cross… We’ll believe you then…!” As if the thousands of miracles he performed in front of their eyes weren’t enough! Man, I would’ve rained fire on them! (Which tells a lot about myself... But let’s not go there…) :D
But Christ did no such thing. He knew that from the start: There wouldn’t be a miracle. There wouldn’t be a painless path. No dazzling shortcut method. For Jesus to save others, quite simply, he could not save himself. Satan was offering Jesus the chance to be that thundering Messiah we all think we need. Stop for a second, and think about the repercussions of such a Messiah. It’s not going to be all laughs and merrymaking, you know. Do you realize that Jesus would have to forfeit the freedom given to Humans if he did that? He would have to forcefully take control. Instead of giving us a choice to love him, we would be forced to love him. (Heh! My idea of raining fire on disbelievers is clearly a violation of freedom!) We would become nothing but worthless robots. And by far, God created Humans with a free will; not bloody robots! God had made himself weak for one single reason; to let Human beings choose freely for themselves what to do: To reject, ignore or accept him.
Didn’t Jesus realize what people want more than anything else is to worship what is established beyond any dispute? But by rejecting satan’s temptations to override human freedom, Jesus had made himself far too easy to reject. Instead of taking possession of man’s freedom, he increased it! He desired man’s free love; that we should follow him freely. He would not force himself on those who weren’t willing. And in the process, he had surrendered his greatest advantage: The power to compel belief.
But is Human freedom worth it all? How many lives could have been saved if God had just kicked Hitler’s bottom? How about Saddam Hussein? Well, Jesus did seem to think it was worth a lot. He showed immense respect for human freedom, his disciples died for it; he died for it. He never forced belief, never twisting a person’s arm and saying, “Dude! Believe in Me, or I’ll smite you!” He could’ve stopped Judas from betraying him. He could’ve controlled satan, or for that matter even destroyed him. But no, he chose a different path. In the simplest, least manipulative invitation ever, Jesus says to us, “Take up your cross and follow me.”
Despite all this, the Church in all its ridiculous history seemed to think otherwise; forcing people to believe, with its wars and crusades. Even today, many followers of Jesus give into the same temptation that Jesus resisted in the desert: bullying people and imposing belief down their throats. Remember, it’s not a game. The number of souls you win isn't the score. Respect freedom just as Jesus did. But at the same time, instead of foisting: Witness! If God touched you, changed you and saved you; tell ‘em about that. After all, it’s not you who’s saving, it’s God.
Getting back into topic, let’s take all this down to a tad bit personal: Me, myself and I. My faith suffers from too much freedom, too many temptations, too many options to disbelieve. I mean, the tones of my dubious, rational mind are ever so familiar, “Did he really do that? Nah! Not possible… Is it? Science says otherwise! Doesn’t it? Err… I don’t know!” At times, I want him to overcome my doubts with certainty, to give FINAL proofs for his existence. I want quick answers to my prayers, healing for my sickness, protection for my loved ones. I want the sky to break open; I want him to sweep down and save the victims: victims of hunger, war and rape. I want a God without redundancy, without ambiguity; One whom I can point to my friends and say, “There! Now do you believe?”
“When I think these thoughts, I recognize in myself a thin, hollow echo of the challenge that satan hurled at Jesus in the desert, two thousand years ago. God resists those temptations just as Jesus resisted them on earth, settling instead for a slower, gentler way.” writes Yancey fittingly. He let evil work its will while it lived. He contents himself with the slow un-encouraging ways.
God could easily heal us as if he was flicking off a light switch, but he doesn’t. God can easily turn your nightmare into victory, but he doesn’t. If he did, how could you later help someone who's in your shoes? We are made stronger by our battles; even the ones that most people will never face. And I just sit in awe and simply wonder at the beauty of it all. God’s terrible insistence on not interfering in our works makes him even more awesome! He gave us power to live as if he didn’t exist! I believe that God insists on such restraint because no matter what jaw-dropping, spectacular and mind-blowing miracle he performs; it just wouldn't bring about the response of love that he desires from us. Only love can summon a response of love. Take a look at the Israelites, back when Moses was in charge: In front of their eyes he parted the Red Sea, split it into two; like slicing a cake. He rescued the dim-witted Israelites from the Egyptians with God’s help. And what happens a few days later? “We need a new God! C’mon, let’s make one out of gold! Ha ha!” You’d think God would’ve chosen better, smarter people for being ‘His Chosen Ones’. But he didn’t. He loved his people very much, despite their stupidity.
So why does God content himself with the slower, gentle way of doing things? Well, that’s just how love is. ‘Only love can summon a response of love.’ Love has its own power, the only power ultimately capable of conquering human heart. And guess what? He loves us very much, despite our rejection, denial or ignorance of him; willy-nilly. Because if he didn’t, he would’ve done that dazzling, thundering Superhero thingy and rained fire on us all. Period.
Didn’t Jesus realize what people want more than anything else is to worship what is established beyond any dispute? But by rejecting satan’s temptations to override human freedom, Jesus had made himself far too easy to reject. Instead of taking possession of man’s freedom, he increased it! He desired man’s free love; that we should follow him freely. He would not force himself on those who weren’t willing. And in the process, he had surrendered his greatest advantage: The power to compel belief.
But is Human freedom worth it all? How many lives could have been saved if God had just kicked Hitler’s bottom? How about Saddam Hussein? Well, Jesus did seem to think it was worth a lot. He showed immense respect for human freedom, his disciples died for it; he died for it. He never forced belief, never twisting a person’s arm and saying, “Dude! Believe in Me, or I’ll smite you!” He could’ve stopped Judas from betraying him. He could’ve controlled satan, or for that matter even destroyed him. But no, he chose a different path. In the simplest, least manipulative invitation ever, Jesus says to us, “Take up your cross and follow me.”
Despite all this, the Church in all its ridiculous history seemed to think otherwise; forcing people to believe, with its wars and crusades. Even today, many followers of Jesus give into the same temptation that Jesus resisted in the desert: bullying people and imposing belief down their throats. Remember, it’s not a game. The number of souls you win isn't the score. Respect freedom just as Jesus did. But at the same time, instead of foisting: Witness! If God touched you, changed you and saved you; tell ‘em about that. After all, it’s not you who’s saving, it’s God.
Getting back into topic, let’s take all this down to a tad bit personal: Me, myself and I. My faith suffers from too much freedom, too many temptations, too many options to disbelieve. I mean, the tones of my dubious, rational mind are ever so familiar, “Did he really do that? Nah! Not possible… Is it? Science says otherwise! Doesn’t it? Err… I don’t know!” At times, I want him to overcome my doubts with certainty, to give FINAL proofs for his existence. I want quick answers to my prayers, healing for my sickness, protection for my loved ones. I want the sky to break open; I want him to sweep down and save the victims: victims of hunger, war and rape. I want a God without redundancy, without ambiguity; One whom I can point to my friends and say, “There! Now do you believe?”
“When I think these thoughts, I recognize in myself a thin, hollow echo of the challenge that satan hurled at Jesus in the desert, two thousand years ago. God resists those temptations just as Jesus resisted them on earth, settling instead for a slower, gentler way.” writes Yancey fittingly. He let evil work its will while it lived. He contents himself with the slow un-encouraging ways.
God could easily heal us as if he was flicking off a light switch, but he doesn’t. God can easily turn your nightmare into victory, but he doesn’t. If he did, how could you later help someone who's in your shoes? We are made stronger by our battles; even the ones that most people will never face. And I just sit in awe and simply wonder at the beauty of it all. God’s terrible insistence on not interfering in our works makes him even more awesome! He gave us power to live as if he didn’t exist! I believe that God insists on such restraint because no matter what jaw-dropping, spectacular and mind-blowing miracle he performs; it just wouldn't bring about the response of love that he desires from us. Only love can summon a response of love. Take a look at the Israelites, back when Moses was in charge: In front of their eyes he parted the Red Sea, split it into two; like slicing a cake. He rescued the dim-witted Israelites from the Egyptians with God’s help. And what happens a few days later? “We need a new God! C’mon, let’s make one out of gold! Ha ha!” You’d think God would’ve chosen better, smarter people for being ‘His Chosen Ones’. But he didn’t. He loved his people very much, despite their stupidity.
So why does God content himself with the slower, gentle way of doing things? Well, that’s just how love is. ‘Only love can summon a response of love.’ Love has its own power, the only power ultimately capable of conquering human heart. And guess what? He loves us very much, despite our rejection, denial or ignorance of him; willy-nilly. Because if he didn’t, he would’ve done that dazzling, thundering Superhero thingy and rained fire on us all. Period.
References:
The Bible [MSG, NIV, Living]
The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey
Notes:
I stopped capitalizing the 'h' in he, him, his and himself when referring to God or Christ. Not due to lack of respect, but because I'm just trying to fit into the norms of proper English grammar. Besides the newer translations of the Bible no longer do that, neither does Yancey. Also, please do note that satan is capitalized only in the beginning of sentences and not anywhere else. 'Cos I don't like him very much. So there...
You probably will notice various mood-swings in the write-up, if you're capable of reading into the writer, that is. Well, that's shared between Yancey and I, if I may be pompous enough to say. Majority of the content is inspired by his, I just tried to retrofit. And you can thank K-Love for keeping all my emotions intact (at least trying to anyway...). Positive, encouraging...
You probably will notice various mood-swings in the write-up, if you're capable of reading into the writer, that is. Well, that's shared between Yancey and I, if I may be pompous enough to say. Majority of the content is inspired by his, I just tried to retrofit. And you can thank K-Love for keeping all my emotions intact (at least trying to anyway...). Positive, encouraging...
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