S is for Showers

The gospels themselves, to help us appreciate that Jesus had to play the game in order to win it, bring to our attention the real possibility that he might not have played it out. They tell us in many ways that right down to the bitter end Jesus could have quit the game and hit the showers. In John's report Jesus says, "I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord." (John 10: 17, 18) In Mark's report, Jesus prays to have the cup removed, but acts in obedience to his Father's will. (Mark 14:32-42) In Matthew's report Jesus says in Gethsemane, "Do you think I cannot ask my Father and he will send me more than twelve armies of angels?" (Matthew 26:53) And in Luke's telling, the very mockery of the leaders and the unrepentant felon, "let him save himself," (Luke 23:35) is meant ironically to indicate the truth, that he could do so if only he wished. So, when the film "The Last Temptation of Christ" asks what if Christ had, at the end, come down from the cross, it is only exploring what the canonical gospels themselves insist upon as a real possibility.

"The Entry into Jerusalem" by Ketut Lasia

The problem for us is that we are liable to take all this as obvious just because it has already happened. We may think of it as being inevitable (like immature ballplayers anticipating a win). My mother reminds me that in 1943 it was far from obvious that the Allies would win the war in Europe; in fact it looked like the Nazis would. Today we read about that war in comfort and confidence, knowing the ending. But we must not think that those who fought, sacrificed, prayed, struggled, led, followed, gave their lives, and worked--that they did so in comfort and confidence. No, for them the ending was up for grabs, the game was still in the middle innings. It did not just seem so; it was so: if they had not fought, sacrificed, etc., they would not have won. They had to play the game. Nor should we think, because we know the outcome now, that those who worked and fought did not have to, as though the war would have come out the same, anyway.

Similarly, today we know and celebrate with full devotion that Jesus played the game, to the last bitter out. We even know and hymn that God made good on his promise to raise Jesus from among all the dead. For us the danger is past and the game is won--by Christ, for us. Hallelujah! But when Jesus was in the fight that last day, he had not yet experienced how it was to turn out. True, he had his Father's promise (as do we all!). But it is not as though things had to turn out as promised, no matter whether Jesus stuck it out or not (same for us, by the way). He had to play the game, submit to the suffering; die the death awaiting the promised resurrection. If he had not, as Paul says, we would still be in our sins and our believing would be wasted. But Jesus did play the game--and won it, by God! So God's prophets' promises of complete pardon come true. The Almighty has proven himself as true to his promises exactly as his Christ was true to him. And so our faith in his promises is true: not because of some general mercifulness of God's, but because Jesus Christ played the game.