Justice

I desire mercy, not sacrifice

Matt. 9:13

Last Friday evening I visited my local church for the Good Friday service. It was billed as a remembering of the Stations of the Cross through the eyes of a Roman soldier with a multimedia presentation using video clips from The Passion of the Christ mixed with music from Handel's Messiah. As my formative years where in the Assembly of God denomination I was not raised with a familiarity of Anglo-Catholic Easter traditions and whilst I prefer the free flowing openness of non-denominational services, there are times when tradition and liturgy are welcome. The service of the Stations of the Cross is to help the church goer make a spiritual pilgrimage of prayer, through focussed meditations on the major scenes of Christ's sufferings and death, through a series of fourteen pictures or sculptures. These depict particular biblical scenes, which include; Jesus being condemned to death, Jesus being given his cross, Jesus falling the first time, Jesus meeting His Mother, Simon of Cyrene carrying the cross, Veronica wiping the face of Jesus etc.

Those familiar with The Passion of the Christ may recall its controversy; particularly the gratuitous violence before the crucifixion scene. Some praised its authenticity and faithfulness to scripture whilst others saw poetic licence with biblical script and an ethnic bias. Issues for me included a Christ unreflective of his ethnic origins, the manifestation of evil as a de-masculinised and intersex figure and Simon of Cyrene portrayed without his African heritage. The film did however reinforce the powerful role of women who were present most of the time throughout the last days of Christ’s life, death and resurrection. They had not run away like the disciples, but followed on the road to Calvary and waited by the cross. In Matthew 27:55 we read - Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs

I have grown accustomed to the perennial silence regarding the duplicity of Rome in Christ’s murder. The routine torture and killing of hundreds if not thousands, through crucifixion tends not to be viewed as a common means of capital punishment at that time, in all its barbarity. Nor, more importantly, the significance of the overwhelming sense of injustice committed against Jesus Christ as portrayed in the gospel narratives. Human culpability tends to be glossed over for a more spiritualised interpretation of a God sacrificing his son. Emphasis is placed on Christ dying for our sins and not because of our sins – humanity’s bad attitude.

Yet I came away from that service, with my own passion, with my own desire to care for our needs through a more culturally diverse system of remembering. To provide a viewpoint from that of Simon of Cyrene to complement the traditional view of the arrest, trial and death of Christ through a centurion’s eyes. I want to create my own portfolio of multi media presentations to illustrate that the Stations of the Cross can demonstrate that the universal message of the life and death of Jesus Christ, does transcends one ethnicity and culture. There are plenty of multi cultural resources available, that relate to the re-telling of Holy Week. Again whilst I am not familiar with the Seder tradition of Maundy Thursday, this ritual feast to relive the enslavement of the Israelites and to celebrate release from the Egyptians through the Exodus, has obvious parallels with the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. Its re-enactment with friends in an upper room around a table of traditional Jamaican food and drink is deeply reverential. The use of “sacred” reggae music, video clips from black versions of The Passion and the use of recordings from the audio Bible recorded by African Americans are excellent resources. Its all there – Simon’s view of the Stations of the Cross. All it needs is enactment – through our embodiment. Perhaps it was no coincidence that the Ethiopian eunuch on the desert road to Gaza was struggling with this particular piece of scripture.

Like a sheep He was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is dumb, so He opens not His mouth.

In His humiliation He was taken away by distressing and oppressive judgment and justice was denied Him [caused to cease]. Who candescribe or relate in full the wickedness of His contemporaries (generation)? For His life is taken from the earth and a bloody death inflicted upon Him. Acts 8:32-33 Amplified Version

There is no indication of how Phillip interpreted these two verses only that he proceeded to tell the Ethiopian of the Good News - the Gospel of Christ. However, the second verse clearly indicates that an unjust, brutal and bloody death is never acceptable by any standards of justice.

May the Holy Spirit of continue to bear witness to the constant caring of your needs.

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