Jesus can be seen from many different perspectives

My thinking is still being challenged by my experiences at my 60-year class reunion at Wheaton College. The typical sons and daughters of Wheaton are serious about God, and speak of God and the activities of God with ease. “For Christ and His Kingdom” is more than an empty slogan. It is what life is about.

I arrived on campus and went directly to the hall where registrations were being handled. The very first person who greeted me was a gentleman whom I will call Bill. I recognized him by his name tag.

His whole life has been involved with the college as a student, an athlete, a teacher and a coach. Being of the same vintage, he recognized me and I recognized him, even though we had not seen one another for more than 60 years.

Bill was excited to share with me his recent study of the prophet Ezekiel. He eagerly quoted a brief passage from the Old Testament book of Ezekiel. He then added “We are clearly in the last days before the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to establish his kingdom on Earth. I fully expect to be here when He returns.”

I nimbly sidestepped the apocalyptic conversation and talked with Bill about other things. Bill is a great guy, who loves God and has served God very well in this life. We have a significant disagreement about the interpretation of the Bible’s apocalyptic literature.

I grew up with such talk and have heard these same assertions hundreds of times. The Bible references do not change: Daniel and Ezekiel from the Old Testament, and Revelation from the New Testament. My conclusions were set by the time I graduated from seminary.

Judaism and Christianity are both apocalyptic, and Jesus must be understood as an apocalyptic figure. However, from my perspective, my fundamentalist and literalist Christian friends do not know how to read and interpret apocalyptic literature.

The Bible uses many literary forms to communicate its messages. The sensitive reader recognizes poetry, mythology, historical narrative, personal letters, parables, aphorisms, folk tales, legends, storytelling and apocalypse.

In this list of literary devises, apocalypse is special. I see it as verbal cartooning. It is highly symbolic and designed both to reveal and to hide.

As an art form, it is related to today’s cartoon section of the daily paper or possibly, better yet, to the editorial page that carries political cartoons. It is an exercise in exaggerations.

The informed reader has no difficulty recognizing the characters in the cartoon, and the message is serious and easily understood. Apocalypse is especially good at handling the often absurd discrepancies that we find in life.

Apocalypse has a favorite subject, the intervening God. This intervening God, when the time is right, does not hesitate to step into the affairs of his creation.

The children of Abraham embraced a God and called him Yahweh or Jehovah and spent enormous energy and time trying to define, understand, obey, serve and worship this great, powerful and holy God. Most of all, God was just. He had high expectations for his people. The law as given to his people by Moses was a supreme directive.

All of the apocalyptic literature found in the Bible is about this God, who hears the cries of pain from his people and intervenes. God sees injustice and intervenes.

In the Bible apocalyptic writings, the times, places and circumstances are quite different. But the story line is always the same. God has great patience, but when injustice is overwhelming, this great creative God will hear the cries of his creation and will intervene.

Understanding this intervening God gives me another perspective from which to see Jesus from Nazareth. Jesus can be seen from many different perspectives. These different ways of seeing Jesus need not be seen as conflicting. Heresy need not be seen as wrong. Heresy may well simply be differing opinions.

I can see Jesus as the great intervention of history. He was not invited, but was sent by the great creator God. He poked his nose into all kinds of situations.

He disturbed the rich and organized the poor. He challenged those who controlled the temple. He rejected the divinity of\ the Caesars and created havoc in the central place of Jewish worship. He was charged for being an insurrectionist and was killed for being a troublemaker.

Jesus was an apocalyptic figure because he intervened wherever he found injustice. Jesus saw injustice on every hand and became God’s intervention.

What does this perspective do for Christian ethics? I get no resistance when I call for Christian people to be people of love and peace. On the other hand, the good church folk, who are some of my very best friends, become quite ill-at-ease with the call to be interventionists in the world’s injustices.

When I advocated for women, I was told to be patient. When I spoke up for racial justice, I was told I did not understand. When I was insistent on acceptance of gay people in our churches, I was told that I was wrong. I was shunned and disfellowshipped. When I call for open borders, I am told to be practical.

Jesus was an apocalyptic interventionist. We who call him “Lord” should be nothing less. My friend Bill has the right message, but he has the cast of characters and the roles to be played all screwed up.

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.

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