[sunday meditations]

The whole context of the times in general, of the biblical backdrop, of the Maccabaean example, of the uprisings under Herod, of the sporadic anti-Roman violence under the procurators, and of the two subsequent wars which were mounted by (among others) strict and 'zealous' Jews, all indicate that violent revolution against Rome was a very live option at this time, and that it would be supported not only by those out for their own 'non-religious' ends but also by a solid and well-established religious tradition. If Israel's god was going to become King, there were many who were eager to be the kingmakers, by whatever means might prove necessary.

    - N.T. Wright, The New Testament & the People of God (pg 303)

When we approach the gospels, it's so easy to see Jesus as a gentle, wandering preacher in a serene, peaceful land. This couldn't be farther from the truth. Israel's cultural climate in Jesus' day was marked by violence. The Jewish people saw themselves as still being in exile despite living in their own land, since the Romans were their overlords. The Jewish people longed for "the kingdom of God", which isn't to be understood as the end of the Space-Time Universe and the beginning of a heavenly paradise but the very earthly rule of God on earth. When Jesus talks about the "kingdom of God" or the "kingdom of heaven," he isn't referencing "heaven" as we modernistic dualists understand it; rather, he's talking about a very concrete idea. As Wright puts it on page 302, "[The kingdom of God], historically and theologically considered, is a slogan whose basic meaning is the hope that Israel's god is going to rule Israel (and the whole world), and that Caesar, or Herod, or anyone else of their ilk, is not. It means that Torah will be fulfilled at last, that the Temple will be rebuilt and the Land cleansed... [It] means that Israel's god will rule her in the way he intends, through properly appointed persons and means... [It] clearly implies a new world order in which Israel is vindicated, and then ruled over, by her god--and, by implication, in which the rest of the world is ruled in some way or other, whether for blessing or judgment, through Israel." It was a common Jewish belief that this "kingdom of God" would come at the hand of a great leader and king who would rule over the whole world, bringing Israel to her rightful place and destroying all rival empires. This "Anointed One" (or Messiah) would put things to rights.

The Jewish people weren't too keen on sitting on their asses and waiting for this to happen. They took up sword and spear and sought to usher in this kingdom of God. Time and again revolutions were born and died; those who died in rebellion against the overlords were viewed as martyrs, inspiring others to follow in their footsteps. The Palestine of Jesus' day was soaked in revolutionary sentiments. James and John may have been zealots (those who believed they were to use violence to usher in God's kingdom); they were known as the "Sons of Thunder," and they were eager to use bloodshed to advance Jesus' cause. Though modernist readings of the gospels tend to underplay, ignore, or be ignorant of this fact, the violent nature of the times is evident in the texts themselves. A key facet of Jesus' cryptic prophecies is that those who live by the sword shall die by the sword; those who are keen on violence will suffer violence; and the great city of Jerusalem would be destroyed by the Romans in lieu of the violent revolution of its inhabitants. Most strikingly, I think, Jesus says that those who ignore him, who don't choose the Way of Peace, will be thrown into Gehenna, the smoldering garbage dump outside the city walls.

The word Gehenna is translated "hell" in most English translations, but it wouldn't have conjured up images of some underworld lair for those whom Jesus addressed. Gehenna wasn't an eschatological location but a geographical one. Gehenna was filled with gnashing teeth, worms and rot, a fire that couldn't be quenched and burned Night and Day. It was where the city's garbage was dumped, and where Roman soldiers threw the corpses of executed revolutionaries. I think the vast majority of texts where Jesus is talking about "hell" aren't about our conceptions of hell at all! One of the best ways to describe Gehenna came from Ashley: "It's kinda like the elephant graveyard in The Lion King. It's an actual place, outside the Pride Lands, and it's someplace you don't want to be."

This interpretation of Gehenna (as well as the necessary reexamination of prominent biblical texts, such as the Olivet Discourses in the Synoptics) doesn't sit well with a lot of people. I think a lot of that apprehension is due to the fact that we approach Jesus as some clandestine figure speaking timeless truths and moral absolutes. But if Jesus was indeed a prophet, and if he was indeed God-in-human-flesh, why should we assume that He would come to His people and not address some of the biggest concerns of the day? In an atmosphere ripe with violence and rebellious sentiments, we should be shocked if God didn't have a thing or two to say about it.