Sunday, November 25, 2018
Between Mary and Pilate
Back in mid-September, I went to NYC for a prayer school with Brian Zahnd. Soon thereafter, a bunch of beautiful things started happening. One of them was that I started to see a bunch of connections in and between things that I hadn't seen or noticed before. It was as though my imagination was enlarged by the presence of God in prayer. So, one morning, I saw worlds open up between two lines of the Apostles Creed that had previously been hidden to me. I record that opening here....
Christ and Pilate ("What is truth?"), by Nikolai Ge, 1890
juxtaposed against
The Sorrowful Mother (Mater Dolorosa), by James Tissot (1836-1902), 1886-1894.
Regarding The Apostles Creed, I've often heard it noted that a lot is left out between "born of the Virgin Mary" and "suffered under Pontius Pilate." In prayer this morning, it hit me like a ton of lights that this juxtaposition, taken in and of itself as it stands, says so much about who Jesus is and the life to which we are called.
For clarity, I'm not just referring to the supernatural conception of Jesus. It was not a juxtaposition between the supernatural birth and the "natural" death of Jesus that I was given to see in prayer this morning. I wasn't asked to affirm the culture wars and re-live the Scopes Trial.
Rather, I was given to see that the figures of Mary and Pilate embody and indicate two different paths and ends of our lives. Further - and more directly relevant to the background question of why it seems that the Creed leaves so much out - he who was born and suffered, in between said birth and suffering, REVEALED the difference that is so apparent in this juxtaposition between The Sorrowful Mother and Palestine's representative of Caesar. In between his birth and death, Jesus demonstrates to us the path led by the hand of God while, at the same time, thus enabling and empowering us to see - in a way that would have otherwise been impossible - the nature and end of the way offered to us by the power of Rome (or America).
Compare Pilate's at once utterly arrogant but also cynical, confused, and desperate line of questioning...
The figures of Mary and Pilate embody and indicate two different paths and ends of our lives. So, the juxtaposition between "born of the Virgin Mary" and "suffered under Pontius Pilate" doesn't really leave anything out at all. Instead, it affirms and articulates precisely what Jesus and Mary both proclaim:
"...for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
Of course, this revealing of the nature of the path and ends of our lives makes no sense if, a few lines later, the same creed doesn't rightly say:
"On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
And is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again..."
Otherwise, Pilate would not represent the end of our arrogance, cynicism, confusion, and desperation. He would just be precisely who we are meant to be - the height of status, glory, and riches to which we can and should reach, grasp, and claw. Our Beyoncé or Oprah, Trump or Steve Jobs.
Christ and Pilate ("What is truth?"), by Nikolai Ge, 1890
juxtaposed against
The Sorrowful Mother (Mater Dolorosa), by James Tissot (1836-1902), 1886-1894.
Regarding The Apostles Creed, I've often heard it noted that a lot is left out between "born of the Virgin Mary" and "suffered under Pontius Pilate." In prayer this morning, it hit me like a ton of lights that this juxtaposition, taken in and of itself as it stands, says so much about who Jesus is and the life to which we are called.
For clarity, I'm not just referring to the supernatural conception of Jesus. It was not a juxtaposition between the supernatural birth and the "natural" death of Jesus that I was given to see in prayer this morning. I wasn't asked to affirm the culture wars and re-live the Scopes Trial.
Rather, I was given to see that the figures of Mary and Pilate embody and indicate two different paths and ends of our lives. Further - and more directly relevant to the background question of why it seems that the Creed leaves so much out - he who was born and suffered, in between said birth and suffering, REVEALED the difference that is so apparent in this juxtaposition between The Sorrowful Mother and Palestine's representative of Caesar. In between his birth and death, Jesus demonstrates to us the path led by the hand of God while, at the same time, thus enabling and empowering us to see - in a way that would have otherwise been impossible - the nature and end of the way offered to us by the power of Rome (or America).
Compare Pilate's at once utterly arrogant but also cynical, confused, and desperate line of questioning...
33 Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” 35 Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” 37 Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate retorted, “What is truth?”...to Mary's proclamation....
(from John 18)
And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant."
(from Luke 1)
The figures of Mary and Pilate embody and indicate two different paths and ends of our lives. So, the juxtaposition between "born of the Virgin Mary" and "suffered under Pontius Pilate" doesn't really leave anything out at all. Instead, it affirms and articulates precisely what Jesus and Mary both proclaim:
"...for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
Of course, this revealing of the nature of the path and ends of our lives makes no sense if, a few lines later, the same creed doesn't rightly say:
"On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
And is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again..."
Otherwise, Pilate would not represent the end of our arrogance, cynicism, confusion, and desperation. He would just be precisely who we are meant to be - the height of status, glory, and riches to which we can and should reach, grasp, and claw. Our Beyoncé or Oprah, Trump or Steve Jobs.
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