The Chase

The Chase

The ten escapes of Jesus in the gospel of John teach me that Jesus is uncatchable. All my life I have tried and tried to grasp him. I have studied the Bible with intensity. I have read scholarly and devotional works about Jesus. I have explored Christian theology with extreme existential trembling. But I always came up short.

As a young person I ‘accepted’ him as my personal Savior. By his substitutionary death I was set free from my natural destiny to spend eternity in hell. He offered forgiveness, and I accepted it. But my guilt never stopped gnawing at me.

Later in life I thought of him as the Liberator (social and personal). I saw him as the continuation of the prophetic movement of the Hebrew Scriptures. He stood up for the down-trodden, the powerless, and the marginalized. He was the foundation of Liberation Theology in South America and of Feminist Theology in North America.

At other times in my life I went to him for counsel. He became my therapist and my Taoist guide. He helped me debate my irrational ideas and replace them with rational thoughts through the mediation of Albert Ellis, an atheist—as God had used the pagan ruler Cyrus to bring the exiles home.

I tried to arrest him with psychological theory, with various theological schools of thought, with Eastern spirituality, with pacifist theory, with human rights principles, with Evangelical certainty, with Roman Catholic dogma, and with the tight grip of the Calvinist handshake. Each time I thought I had arrested him and put him into the prison of my thought, he escaped. Every time I had hold of him, he vanished like a magician’s rabbit. My pursuit of the real Jesus was always a pursuit of certainty. But certainty is a bubble. And you know what happens to bubbles.

I called him Lord. He was the one who relativized governments and all the modern Pilates, Herods and Pharaohs. He was a card-carrying member of the ACLU. All liberal causes found their source in him. I saw that the Social Gospel of Walter Rauschenbusch had its source in his Lordship and his teaching of love of neighbor. The legacy of Isaiah and Amos and Micah was on his shoulders. Christ the Lord’s teachings were personal but not private. The gospel was social or it was not good news at all.

I figured out that the Incarnation of God in Jesus was a taking on of flesh that affirmed our humanity. Humanism of the Christian genus was the way to look at Jesus. He thirsted. No docetic Christ was he. His humanity was real so that we could really be human. He came and lived in solidarity with us. I championed The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis (as put on screen by Scorsese) as a bold portrayal of the real humanity of Christ.

Like those in centuries before me I looked at Jesus through the lens of my present culture and experience. I painted him with the hues of twentieth century concepts and ideas. Each time I was sure I had the real Jesus he slipped quietly away.

The Gospel of John is not too subtle about the disappearing Jesus. Ten times he is present, then suddenly absent. They could not catch him—except when and how he wanted to be caught. The truth in the Fourth Gospel is revealed as surrender. God gives himself up only when we give ourselves up. It is when we surrender the quest for certainty that we come to know that what is finally nailed down is not our anxiety about not knowing, but the truth of a holy mystery that can only be recognized when we hear the call of our own name and know who we are.

We cannot grasp Jesus. But we can hear him say, “Peace be with you.”

                                                                     

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10. John 20.17

Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father.

Mary Magdalene has come to the tomb to bring spices. But she finds the stone rolled away! She runs to Peter and ‘the other disciple’ and tells them what has happened. They run to the tomb. One believes and the other doesn’t. Then they go back where they came from.

But Mary Magdalene stays at the tomb. She is terribly upset. She sees some mystical figures in the tomb. Then she turns and sees Jesus. But she doesn’t recognize him. Is it because of her tears? Is it because the resurrected Jesus looks different? Is it because this is a mystical experience?

She talks to this ‘man’ until he finally says her name. “Mary.” All of a sudden she knows who this is. She has been named. She has been recognized. To paraphrase another Johannine saying, “She recognized him because he first recognized her.”

At this point the text says, “She turned and said to him…” This doesn’t make literal sense, since when the scene begins it says, “She turned around and saw Jesus.” The second ‘turning’ would put her back to him if this is a literal description. I think the phrase, “She turned and said to him,” in verse sixteen is meant to indicate a ‘conversion’ of some kind. Her recognition of him turns her life around. The mystical encounter with the Teacher (‘Rabbouni’) instructs her life about the ongoing teaching and truth of Jesus’ life.

Then Jesus gives these all-important instructions. You cannot hold on to me. All through the gospel of John Jesus has been hiding, escaping, withdrawing and disappearing. They were not able to catch him or grasp him. Now it becomes explicit that the real, divine Jesus cannot be grasped! If we claim to possess him, have him, intellectually understand him—we are fooling ourselves. The resurrected Jesus cannot be captured.

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Interlude

This is the last passage about the hidden Christ—the escapee Jesus—until chapter twenty. Chapters thirteen through sixteen contain a long discourse that Jesus gives his disciples. There is much talk in this section of his coming-and-going, especially his nearing departure. Part of the mysteriousness of Jesus in this gospel is ‘where Jesus came from,’ and ‘where he is going.’ Many questions arise about his source and his destination. He also speaks of his coming and going a number of times. I think this theme is part of the ‘ungraspableness’ of Jesus.

The death of Jesus occurs in chapter nineteen. In John’s gospel the death of Jesus on the cross is the high point of his revelation. Jesus is ‘lifted up’ – that is, he is enthroned on the cross. There he says in John, “It is finished.” Not just ‘over with.’ But accomplished. The goal in John’s gospel is the self-giving of Jesus that issues in his Messianic Rule on his crucifix throne.

Ironically, this is the only place in John’s gospel where they finally ‘catch’ Jesus. They literally ‘nail him down.’ But in the Fourth Gospel it is not he literal words and actions that have significance; it is the mystical/spiritual/metaphorical words and actions that count. The literal capturing of Jesus turns out to be no captivity at all; rather, it is the final revelation of freedom. Self-giving love sets one free for an authenticity and depth of meaning that cannot be experienced any other way.

Now we come to chapter twenty, the resurrection of Jesus.

(continued in next post)

 

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6. John 8.59

So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

This attempt to stone Jesus to death comes after some banter and name calling between Jesus and some of his Jewish brothers. Jesus says they are of the devil; they say that Jesus is demon possessed. Jesus claims to have known Abraham; they counter this ridiculous statement by saying, “You’re not even fifty years old.” To which Jesus says, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” It’s not for the bad grammar that they become angry enough to murder him; it’s his implied claim to be divine, even to the point of using the Divine Name—I AM. But, somehow, Jesus hides from them and escapes from the temple precincts.

7. John 10.39

Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands.

Earlier in this chapter Jesus makes this statement: “I and the Father are one.” This statement sparks indignation by the Jewish opposition. They pick up stones to kill him (verse 31). But before they can throw one stone Jesus engages them in more dialogue. They accuse him of claiming to be equal with God. Jesus turns the tables on them by quoting their Scriptures which say that they are all gods (Psalm 82.6). Jesus reiterates his claim for himself, saying, “The Father is in me, and I am in the Father.” Now they try to arrest him. But he escapes.

8. John 11.54

Jesus therefore no longer walked about openly among the Jews, but went from there to a town called Ephraim in the region near the wilderness; and he remained there with the disciples.

Chapter eleven is a turning point in John. Jesus brings Lazarus back from the dead. The Pharisees are informed of this miraculous feat. The great Jewish Council is convened to discuss this development and how they will respond. The high priest Caiaphas makes his infamous statement: “It is better for one man to die for the people rather than the whole nation be destroyed.” This section ends by saying, “From that day on they plotted to kill him.” So, Jesus withdraws from public ministry and leaves Jerusalem.

9. John 12.36

 While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.” After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them.

In chapter twelve Jesus begins to speak more clearly about his pending death and its meaning. The crowds question him about his talk of death. They question his designation as ‘Son of Man’ – an apocalyptic title. They remind Jesus that the Messiah is not supposed to die. Jesus returns to his imagery of himself as the Light of the world. He contrasts living in spiritual light and spiritual darkness and urges them to trust him. Then he goes away—into the shadows as it were.

(continued in next post)

 

Disappearing Jesus

DISAPPEARING JESUS

In John’s gospel Jesus keeps disappearing. He does so whenever he is in danger of being ‘caught.’ Here is the way John clearly shows us this truth—ten times in his story.

1. John 5.13

Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there.

The danger here is oblique. After healing a man on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders are stirred up because the holy day observance has been broken. Jesus told the man to take up his mat and go. And he did. But carrying a mat on the Sabbath is unlawful. The healed man is asked who the healer is, but the man doesn’t know his name; and Jesus has disappeared, remaining unnamed for the moment. Verse 16 says that the leaders ‘started making a lot of trouble for Jesus’ (CEV) because of this.

2. John 6.15

When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Jesus has fed the 5000. Although not campaigning for office, the people are so impressed with his ability to provide for their needs, that they want to declare him King. Not wanting his Messiahship to be defined by a materialistic measure, Jesus takes off toward an isolated place.

3. John 7.10

But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but as it were in secret.

Jesus has left Judea because the leaders want to kill him (7.1). Now, at the time of the Festival of Booths, Jesus urges his brothers to go to Judea without him. After they have left, Jesus decides that he will go too, but he will go in secret. The authorities were looking for him during the Festival (7.11); arguments about him were breaking out about his identity. Jesus purposefully stays out of sight until he is ready to show up on his own terms. He will not be manipulated.

4. John 7.34

 You will search for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.

While the Festival was still going on, temple police were sent to arrest Jesus. When the police arrive Jesus tells them that they will not be able to lay a hand on him because no matter how hard they search, they will not find him. And no arrest takes place.

5. John 7.44

Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

This scene is still during the Festival of Booths. After Jesus speaks publicly about his offer of the Holy Spirit some people proclaim him Messiah. But others thought he was just a trouble-maker and an imposter. They want him arrested. But Jesus is not arrested. No one even grabs hold of him. It appears that the desire to arrest Jesus is itself somehow mysteriously arrested.

(continued in next post)