another palm sunday-holy week-easter has come and gone, and i must say i am relieved to have it past me. i find the celebration of easter especially troubling. because i reject the "jesus-died-for-me" sentiment of jesus' execution and the martial nature of the easter observance, this part of the christian calendar and of christian orthodoxy makes me want to renounce the religion altogether. yet i continue calling myself a christian because i try to follow the teachings of jesus as they are expressed in the sermon on the mount and at other points in the gospel records.
our minister, a man i admire greatly, has been preaching on the sermon on the mount for the past nine months, with interruptions for christmas and the easter cycle. i know that this so-called sermon probably wasn't preached on a mountain as it appears in matthew's gospel, but is rather a distillation of many of jesus' teachings over the course of his wandering ministry. yesterday he picked up the series again, talking about matthew 7:13-14 where jesus briefly describes the "narrow gate" and the "easy road that leads to destruction." he tied this to the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son from luke 15, emphasizing that the recovery of the sheep, the coin, and the son were causes for celebration. his discussion noted that the word translated as "destruction" in the passage from matthew was the same word used to describe the missing sheep, coin, and son, meaning lacking life or separated from what is most desirable.
later in the day i read a post in one of my favorite blogs (https://www.patheos.com/blogs/rationaldoubt). the post (https://www.patheos.com/blogs/rationaldoubt/2019/04/a-freethinker-climbs-the-cross) was written by chris highland and captured my feelings about the good friday-through-easter observance perfectly. while his rejection of the whole easter narrative led highland to reject his christian faith, i'm not ready to go that far. i still am a believer in the jesus that is partially revealed in the gospels, colored as they are by the overlay of emerging orthodoxy. highland's post also made me think about some of the unexplained events surrounding jesus' death, though he didn't raise these questions in his essay. why would the romans allow an executed rebel to be removed from the cross after his death rather than leaving his body there as a warning to others? was their collusion between the jewish authorities and the romans that caused jesus to be buried or did a powerful secret follower of jesus call in a favor so that jesus could receive a proper burial? was there a plot that enabled jesus' body to be spirited away so that there was a mystery about what happened to it that later evolved into the story of the resurrection?
i'm glad we can now move past the trappings of easter and return to trying to understand what jesus taught. i look forward to more sermons based on matthew's summary of jesus' most important teachings. i'll continue to challenge the orthodoxy that i belive obscures the real meaning of jesus' life.
may we seek truth and follow wherever it leads us. may we never believe that we have all the answers. may we be open to new insights and ideas. may we weigh what we are told against what is reasonable and provable. may we let our lives be guided by lovingkindness and compassion. shalom.
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