No B.S Friday: What unlocked the potential for peace in the human mind?
I spent a lot of time at Sunday school when I was a kid looking at the image of Christ – all scrawny and beautiful – nailed to a cross.
It’s a potent image.
There’s a great scene in the TV show Vikings where the Vikings are ransacking a monastery, and they come across a wood carving of Christ on the cross for the first time. They stare at it for a while. It confuses them. And then they smash it to pieces with an axe.
Yeah. Vikings!
In that moment I could really get how strange the Christ figure would have been to them. They were a spiritual people as well, but the Gods they worshiped were heroes too – great warriors and conquerors. Thor was so mighty, Hollywood had to come to Australia to find someone tough enough to play him.
So who was this scrawny dude, miserably nailed to a cross? And why did the Saxons worship him?
I think it’s easy to forget just what an unusual age we’re living in. These are exceptionally peaceful times – on any measure.
Sure there are still wars and crime and murders on all sorts of horrible things, but these are at an all time low.
If you’re an adult male, the chances that you’ll die in your sleep of old age, and not some violent death at the hands of one of your enemies, is the best it’s ever been.
In medieval England, you could go to the theatre and watch a cat, tied to a stake, set on fire.
Not a dramatization of a burning cat. An actual cat, set on actual fire.
It was part of the programming. 7.00 -7.30, puppetry show for the kids. 7.30 – 8.00, kitty torture.
Today, it’s unthinkable. But it wasn’t really that long ago that we used to find amusement in acts of shameless cruelty – that we used to think that cruel was funny.
But at some point we became “peace-loving.”
We stopped glorifying war and violence. It took millennia to achieve, but now if our leaders want to take us to war, they have to do it at least in the name of peace – ridding the world of weapons of mass destruction, and bombing them into freedom etc.
That’s a new thing. In past times they could have done it simply because war is awesome and conquering others was glorious.
We have come a long way.
And the image of Christ on the cross has a lot to do with it, I reckon.
Because for the first time in history, we had a lightning rod for the best aspects of humanity, and the necessary ingredients for peace.
It was not a figure that glorified power and strength and kicking holes in the sky. It was a figure that showed us the power of self-sacrifice and commitment.
Even though he was being nailed to a cross, he never turned his back on the sacrifice he was called to make.
This is a powerful idea. Selflessness in the face of hardship.
And it’s the foundation of compromise, charity, playing nicely…
… and peace.
And so this is what I’ll be remembering this Easter. We live in an amazing, peaceful age. But that peace is always and ever built on a commitment to something bigger than ourselves.
Have a peaceful and joyous Easter everyone.
JG.
Andrew lawson says
Thank you for your observation about how Jesus changed history for the better as have his believ ers even if they are constantly blamed for every wrong in country today.
Aaron Wallbank says
Thank you Jon. Power of the cross, not power of the bombs.
Ruth says
In Shanghai now they are all locked down. A prosperous city. Their pets are being disposed of. Cages of cats as their owners can’t feed them as they’ve been relocated under the guise of a zero covid policy. I guess those pets are being disposed of. Then we have Ukraine. After 30 years the Wall came down, Russia asked for one thing. No NATO on the border. Just a neutral zone. Never have I seen a war which could be so easily ended. The Bible says there is a time to make war and a time to make peace. China is now in the Solomon Islands, where the battle of Guadalcanal was fought. There will be conflicts everywhere. It is a time to exercise judgement. Choose carefully. I think Russia is just defending herself. The CCP is a systemic enemy though. All that is being achieved is an alliance between them. That is a mistake. Russia could have been a friend. I am not a believer, but that doesn’t mean I don’t respect Christian values. Easter is a time to remember those values.
Chris Gregory says
This is one of the first times I have seen something on media which mentions the real reason for easter. It was never about chocolate eggs, bunnies etc, but the whole easter season is the most important parts of history for all mankind. Iff you are not a believer yet, It’s time to wake up and face facts. God is God is God and He is the Creator and sustainer of all life, whether you believe it or not. And God has the final say. Jesus Christ is and was a real person in history. There is more actual proof of Him than there is of the 2nd World War! That’s also fact. And when we read the scriptures, which is also the most accurate recording of history, we see not only the staggering prophecies that He was coming, and that He would be killed on a cross and on the 3rd day rise again, hundreds of years before it actually happened. So lets remember the real truth of Easter, of Good Friday when He willingly went to the cross to bring salvation for everyone who accepts Him, and then rose from the dead on the 3rd day, – no other religious leader ever has done that and you can see their graves. With Jesus there is no grave, no dead body etc because he rose and is still alive. That is easter!! That is the most important event in history. And all you need to do is repent of your sinful life, and accept the fact that Jesus is who He says He is and accept His free gift of eternal life. That will guarantee you eternity with Him, instead of eternity in hell. That’s fact. We have just had ANZAC day and the whole country stops, bows their heads and acknowledges those who gave their lives for our freedoms. How much more should we stop at Easter, bow our heads and acknowledge the one who gave us total freedom.