Particularly Bitter

Coming across this "news" story today, was a powerful juxtaposition with what I am experiencing in MY world. My, how the "other" world struggles to find means of escaping having to deal with God in the flesh. It matters not that there is absolutely NO evidence for what this man claims...as long as it contradicts the Christian tradition then it is viable to the world.

I suppose it makes all the sense in the world that if you wanted to read a Biography of Jesus that you'd turn to a maker of such profound movies as "Starship Troopers" (You know the one where he turned an outstanding and profound sci-fi book into a steaming pile of mindless pre-teen special effects extravaganza.) and "Robo-Cop."

As a Dutchman, Mr. Verhoeven knew which target was easiest and safest to hit (cf Theo Van Gogh). But, really, our Lord is no stranger to such attack. We who are experiencing Holy Week right now know how Jesus submitted to the insults, the buffeting and the spitting. Neither a Dutch filmmaker nor the "Jesus Seminar" can insult our Lord (or His Mother)...His passion is voluntary and expressed the reality of a Love than cannot be understood in the midst of such desperate speculation.

Comments

Liz in Seattle said…
From this point in Holy Week, it strikes me as nothing but empty, desperate, and tragic.

I feel like patting his hand and saying, "There, there, poor dear."

(sigh)

A blessed Holy Week to all of you, with our love.
Anonymous said…
Did you see this? http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/24/world/europe/24church.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=russian+orthodox&st=nyt&oref=slogin

Best,
Mike
Anonymous said…
Well, they can't really avoid dealing with God in the flesh for long, unless they're not ever going to die.

Listening to people such as Verhoeven squirm on the hook of Reality is like listening to an alcoholic in denial. (This is a situation I can tell you a thing or two about, since I'm a recovering alcoholic myself.) We are all born into a situation not of our making, having been conceived in iniquity, and the Hell of it is that we are all therefore victims of a disease (namely, death and all that it entails at every level of our being) that tells us we are not sick. Verhoeven doesn't know this, at least not yet. In other words, he either hasn't been diagnosed, or he has been, but rejects the diagnosis. If he doesn't know about his disease, or (what is more likely) mistakes his diseased worldview for normality, how would he recognize either the need for or the presence of the cure, which is God Incarnate?

Every knee WILL bow, and every tongue WILL confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. THIS IS A GIVEN (Philippians 2:9-11). The only existential question is whether one will be DRIVEN to one's knees by the sheer power of His presence, or whether one willingly submits to Him in faith and love. There are no other possible outcomes.

Gary Patrick

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