Xmas special: If He walked among us...

The Christmas message is that God hates theocracy

[Image: Stained glass window in the German Church in Gamla Stan, Stockholm. Retrieved from dreamstime.com]

The story of Jesus has always puzzled me. Until Christmas, two years ago. Until an insight hit me while reflecting upon the Iran protests. But more on that later.

---

While you're here: Paid annual subscribership is £25/31 USD until 25th December only. A 60% DISCOUNT!

This gives you access to all paywalled articles such as this one and a chance to support this pro-truth publication. But putting the annual figure at such a low price, it allows all people, regardless of income, a chance to contribute to the Guerre and Shalom community. If you are relatively wealthy, I would encourage you to opt for “Founder Member” status. If you come from a country were the incomes are extremely low by Western standards, email me by replying to this email and we can come to an arrangement. Many thanks.

---

The goat - or lamb - of God

As every schoolchild knows, a Galilean Jewish carpenter allowed himself to be put to death in excruciating pain only to be resurrected from the dead days later. But why? What is the meaning of these actions? What was achieved?

Now I am aware of the official answer of dogma. That Jesus died in order to save us from our sins. As a Jew, who understands the Biblical context, this makes sense. Weaned on the verses of the Torah, I am conscious of the story of the “scapegoat”. The original (e)scaped goat of Leviticus (16:8-10) upon whom the sins of the community were metaphorically placed before being sent out into the wilderness. This ritual casting out of sin and shame and guilt, which formed the basis of the original Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) service, was co-opted into the Christian narrative; Jesus was the innocent goat - or lamb -  of God whose sacrifice represents the permanent banishment of our wrongdoing. Jesus was a scapegoat in human form.

Similarly, I am aware of the concept of sacrifice as laid out in Genesis and throughout the Hebrew Bible. Biblical era believers showed their devotion to God by sacrificing that which was most dear to them, be it their first fruits brought to the Temple in Jerusalem or the best of their flock. 

The example par excellence is the near-sacrifice of Isaac. Abraham had prayed for the birth of a son throughout his whole life. And God had promised him a son through his barren wife Sara. But the son didn’t come. All that arrived was old age and the agony of childlessness.

Yet God had promised. And God (and Sara!) delivered. But - in the greatest plot twist in literature - that same God asked Abraham to sacrifice that which was most dear to him; that which he had waited for his whole life; his son; the son he dearly loved.  He asked as if speaking to a friend; with the Hebrew word “Ana” (please). One can but imagine the agony of that moment. Yet Abraham - and Isaac the son - complied serenely. He saddled his ox and headed onward to Mount Moriah, in our days the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.  Ultimately God stopped Abraham from committing the unthinkable, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that Abraham was prepared to give up that which he loved most. To sacrifice everything for love of God.

The crafters of the Christian message - Jews all - were fully aware of this symbolism. A father giving up his most cherished son; an innocent. A father prepared to sacrifice everything for love. A son prepared for the greatest of agonies in calm and serenity. Yet a father who never fully went through with the sacrifice; for just as Abraham withdraw the knife as Heaven’s call, so did the Father resurrect his Son. The Son never died.

The original Christianity was an offshoot of Judaism. The intended symbolism of the Christian story is as clear to me as the original disciples. Jews understand the narrative because Jews are connected to Genesis and Leviticus; and some are even aware of the miracles of Elisha - in the book of Kings - which all mysteriously preceded and parallel the miracles of Jesus. We understand because we were the intended audience.

The protests in Iran and theocracy

[Pro-hijab rally in the capital Tehran on September 23, 2022. (AFP). Retrieved from ToI]

Yet clear as these messages are to me - and to the Jewish people - they are little known or understood by most modern day Christians whose religion is long divorced from Jewish thought. For a Christian to repeat dogmas such as “Jesus died for our sins” or to speak of a father sacrificing his son is to repeat mantras without meaning or context. They are not a meaningful modern Christian message for Christmas. So how else may we understand the Christmas story? What was the significance of God coming to Earth (allegorical as it is)? And why is it so important in an era of Middle Eastern theocracy? To these questions I now turn.

Christmas, two years ago, I deeply considered the nature of theocracy and the meaning of protests in Iran. I thought to myself: Iran is a theocratic society. A society that claims to be following the dictates of God. A society that is prepared to use the most inhumane of means to enforce the “Divine will”. 

Well what would happen if God himself came to Earth and told the Iranian authorities that their interpretation and/or their methods were immoral? What would they do?