In the fourth chapter of his book, Simply Jesus, our Biblical scholar, N.T. Wright, retains his running metaphor of a ‘perfect storm,’ but this time it is placed in the first century AD, around the year AD 30, and instead of the Massachusetts coastline, the storm converges on the Jewish capital city, Jerusalem! This is where the “social, cultural, political, and religious earthquakes” take place, and it is here that we come to understand the one called Jesus of Nazareth, as the greatest perfect storm of human history begins to take shape.
It almost seems as though telling the story, Simply Jesus, is an impossible task in such a context. If we find it difficult today to understand our time, the perfect storm or our own day, with its conservatives and liberals, its social, cultural, political, and religious unrest, how could we ever hope to simplify the times of Jesus enough to tell his story like it should be told? Nevertheless, this is the task that we’ve placed before ourselves, and we’ll attempt to complete it, as well as we are able.
What comes to mind at this point are the words of the Judas figure in the rock opera “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Judas comes on the scene and, looking toward Jesus, who seems to be about a hundred yards away, he says:
“Every time I look at you, I don’t understand, why you let the things you did get so out of hand. You’d have managed better, if you had it planned. Now why’d you choose such a backward time and such a strange land? If you’d come today, you could have reached the whole nation. Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication. Don’t you get me wrong… Only want to know. I only want to know!”
Yes, we only want to know, but how is it possible to understand or simplify Jesus’ position in such a multifaceted social, cultural, political, and religious climate? In the excerpt above, Judas certainly doesn’t understand, but he asks some very good questions. From a skeptics’ perspective Jesus failed in his mission! Why did he let the things he said get so out of control? Jesus could have done it better, if he had a plan, couldn’t he? And, why was Jerusalem in AD 30 the place that Jesus chose? Wouldn’t our own modern day have been a better choice, where we have the tools to reach the whole world in a matter of moments. Why then, and not now? Certainly, Christians would have to believe that Jesus had a plan, and, surely, he didn’t fail, but why wouldn’t his success have been better, if he had come today, instead of 2000 years ago?
Nevertheless, I believe that’s the point, isn’t it? We are so impressed with ourselves, what we’ve accomplished, and all that. Science has made such great strides in recent years. We’ve gone to the moon and back again. We’ve sent satellites to many of the planets in our solar system, and we gone beyond them. Nevertheless, the Lord isn’t impressed! In his estimation all we are, our culture, our power, our education, our politics is nothing more than a drop in a bucket (Isaiah 40:15). He chose the first century AD and the strange land of the Jews not because it was the best time and place to begin a movement, but because it wasn’t. He’s Almighty, remember. He could do that and succeed!
To put it simply, it is the weakness of God that has overcome the power of mankind (1Corinthians 1:25; cp. 2Corinthians 13:4). God in the flesh of a human being is as weak as we’ll ever see God (John 1:1, 14). It may appear that Jesus let the things he said get out of hand, but God planned it that way, and he is Almighty God. Isn’t he? At least this is how he is presented in his word. Moreover, it is Jesus, God in the flesh, who is that part of the perfect storm, which we haven’t mentioned yet, but we shall, soon.
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