MUSINGS ON EASTER

     If I were in a sad mood, depressed, and chose to cut my wrist, then what to do?  I can sit and watch the blood flow out.  Or I can use my good hand to grab my mobile phone and call an ambulance.  Which way?  I do not have all day, for I will get weaker, and then unable..  What should I do?  What do I do?

     Then, there is Jesus on the cross.  He certainly did not hammer the nails into his feet or hands/wrists.  On the other hand, his preachings were so outrageous, so blasphemous to the orthodox Jewish community of that era, that they demanded the Roman authorities put him on trial.  When the Roman adjudicator sought to make inquiries, he seemed confused as to the charges.  What was this all about?  What is truth?  The conventional Jews had given him an earful, and more.  Now he asked the accused, Jesus, for his side of the story.  Jesus remains silent.  Enough, Pilate will let the verdict go to the jury, in this case to the people assembled before him.  Is Jesus guilty of high blasphemy, disturbing the peace, and other crimes.  The people judges - not merely guilty, but to be executed through crucifixion.

      Jesus is to be crucified along with 2 regular criminals.  For irony, the Romans label him, INRI, Iesus of Nazareth  King of the Iudea.  Not only must Jesus endure the terrific pain of the nails in his body, but the very weight of his body enhances the pain.  In addition to the physical pain, taunts come from the crowd - If you really are a son of god, come down from the cross!  If you are god's chosen, turn the nails into flowers and step down from the cross.  The response of Jesus, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do."

    So Jesus remained on the cross, suffering.  Till death.  Why?  According to his followers, Jesus had performed miracles.  He turned water into wine.  When there was not enough food to feed a multitude of his followers, he delivered enough fish through another miracle.  And after Lazarus had died, Jesus raised the dead man.  If he could waken the dead, surely he could turn nails into roses.  Or, if he was a fakir all along, a clever magician at best, well of course he could not perform a miracle on the cross.

     But if he has the power to stop the execution, and does not use the power, is Jesus not a suicide?

     On the other hand, if he does not have the power to stop it, perhaps he was simply a regular man, like the rest of us; but also a teacherpreacher who infuriated his "betters" and paid a heavy price for that.  Perhaps, his teachings were worth the gamble of spreading them, while making many others angry.  Perhaps.  So Jesus would not be a suicide, but a religious teacher who paid for his unyielding pushing of his views.  Jesus paid in death, like Socrates had before him.

        Hugh Murray

For a somewhat related post to Easter, see my SOME ODD THOUGHTS post of 12 May 2024, though that is far less serious and more off beat.  Hugh