The great scandal of Christianity is the central figure, Jesus of Nazareth, and its claim that the God who created the universe chose to walk and work in and as a human being, in all his smallness. But, not just any human. This human lived and walked, from a broader world/cultural perspective, in a tiny, impoverished region – first century Judea. Still further, he did not seek religious or political centrality even within that region itself (Jerusalem), but spent most of his time walking on the fringes, the margins – in crossover regions of Jew & Gentile, around Galilee, Tyre, Sidon, and in, perhaps worst of all to some, the heretical region of Samaria. And, he was not among the rich or powerful even in those regions but among mostly individual lives who were poor, marginalized, Jews and non-Jews alike, and numerous ‘demon-possessed,’ diseased, and lonely to feed, to heal, to offer love and grace – in relative obscurity to the rest of the world. He focused almost entirely on individuals and did not seek out large crowds. When those crowds did follow him he either withdrew or responded with such challenging language that most walked away (e.g., John 6:15-71; Lk. 14:25-35). He did not march on Rome or Jerusalem but allowed both the political and religious powers to crush him in suffering and shame and powerlessness in the quintessential humiliating death of the time, crucifixion (really incomparable today: in public prominence; beaten – and in that day a beaten body was a shamed body; stripped naked for all to see; suffering verbal abuse throughout; lifted up on a hillside to suffer to death in front of any who chose to watch and or mock). And responding to that with, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” This was the path of the Messiah (King/Christ). This was the meaning of God’s Messiah. This was how, according to the message of the NT, the Creator of the universe chose to reveal his true identity – and Jesus calls his followers to choose the same path to the cross – as the means to bring healing and justice to the earth. It makes no sense. It offers no concrete visible power. It is far and away too slow for an impatient world. But, in conjunction with my belief in the resurrection, it’s the only thing that makes sense to me – in spite of my struggle to follow that path. 

This path of God in Jesus remains every bit as scandalous and incomprehensible a path for all today, including Christians both on the right and left.  

As with many Christian ideas it is a two-fold challenge. First, the challenge to intellectually acknowledge this as the way for those of faith. Many Christians simply reject it outright. But, from my study of the story of the Bible as a whole, from Jesus’ life in the gospels, and from principally Paul’s walk in following Jesus and calling Jesus’ followers to emulate him, I think this is at the very heart of the nature of Jesus, of his kingdom, and of those who walk in his steps. It is where love is most acutely manifested – the walk with individual people who are hurting, marginalized, and without power (“Do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” – Luke 14). Second, even if one comes to accept this intellectually, the draw of the world and of power and pride and “bigness” and “impatience” is strong and often hard to resist.