If
Jesus came today, who would "crucify" him? What would be
the charge against him? Where would you be? (Serendipity Bible
10th anniversary edition, page 1386).
The
people that would crucify Jesus today are the same people who
crucified him 2000 years ago. They are people chronically
characterized by anger and fear. These are the two lethal ingredients
for any great injustice. We certainly see in our media today
commentators full of anger and fear. They whip it up daily. Certainly
they would crucify him figuratively if not in fact. They no doubt
would leave it to some of their listeners to do the deed. As for the
charges that would be leveled against Jesus, who knows what they
would be? We know that those who were besides themselves with anger
and fear 2000 years ago exercised hated against Jesus because he
healed the sick, ministered to the poor, and (worst of all) pointed
out that the downtrodden were worthy people – in some ways even
more worthy than those self-righteously ensconced in the safe haven
of the status quo.
Now
where would I be? That question gives serious pause for I'm safely
ensconced in the status quo—in many ways fat, happy, and broadly
content with my self-assigned worthiness. I habitually have a very
good opinion of myself. What if Jesus should criticize me either
directly or by nailing me in one or two of his parables. Would I find
myself in the crowd crying crucify him? My comfort meter is very
fragile and highly vulnerable to criticism—especially criticism in
areas where I feel quite self-sufficient.
