TRUE SACRIFICE: MURDOCH TRURNS DOWN $6m BONUS

This blog provides a meditation on the Episcopal daily readings along with headline from world news

James 5:7-12,19-20

7 Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. 8You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. 9Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! 10As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11Indeed we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

12 Above all, my beloved, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your ‘Yes’ be yes and your ‘No’ be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

19 My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, 20you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Scholars have pointed to the absence of the name of Jesus from much of this letter and asked whether it comes originally from a pious messianic Jew. Certainly the strength of the Jewish faith is seen in it. (Verse 12 however is otherwise known as a saying of Jesus in the “sermon on the mount.”) This passage urges the virtues of patience, truthfulness and the rescue of heretics. The Lord will come soon, the writer promises, so live responsibly. Today we find any such certainty about the coming of the Lord embarrassing or threatening, and see it as the province of religious nutters. There’s no doubt that the seriously loopy are attracted to this doctrine but does that mean we should simply forget all the biblical passages which promise a speedy return of Jesus?  I think we need to translate them.  

Tunisian martyr on stamp

My own translation sees that the return of Jesus overturns the powers that rule the world. This happens again and again when people stand up for justice, restraining or toppling any sort of tyranny. These events are for me instances of the “return of Jesus”  The so-called Arab Spring is an event of this kind abounding with glimpses of Jesus’ saving and sacrificial justice. In the face of such events I am asked to make choices and to influence the choices my society also makes. If the living Jesus is present in these events he can as always be recognised or rejected. Very often he has been rejected by those who believe that violence will bring justice while those who have waited with patience and truthfulness will be more likely to recognise the Lord. Indeed they will recognise him in the hearts, minds, souls and bodies of all who work for justice, in every time and place. The Judge is standing at the door!

Mark 15:33-39

33 When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ 35When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, ‘Listen, he is calling for Elijah.’ 36And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, ‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.’ 37Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. 38And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, ‘Truly this man was God’s Son!’

Mark tells the story as if the event was itself part of the “last times”, the time in-and-out-of-history in which God will bring to an end the evil of the world and establish the new age of justice and goodness. He sees Jesus as fighting the great battle against evil, spending himself to the uttermost and giving his agonised testimony that God has left him to fight alone. No sufferer can say of Jesus’ suffering, “Ah, but God was with him.” God was not present other than “in” his Son: in the faith, courage and determination of Jesus. In the darkness Jesus wins a victory which is symbolised by the curtain over the holy of holies in the Temple. As Jesus’ body is torn apart so is the concealment of the Holy God. There He is now revealed in the broken body of his Son. The representative of worldly power announces its defeat, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”