Jesus at the Hard Rock Cafe

Photo by Paweł Sikora Sikorr

Larry Hurtado who is a favorite Bible scholar of mine and whom my wife, son, and I got to hear lecture recently, is probably the world's leading expert on how exactly Jesus' followers wrapped their minds around what for them psychologically was an utter impossibility: that this guy they knew was actually God. We can go into that sometime.

Another topic he is studying is just how unique in the world the early Christian movement was. He recently wrote a book called Destroyer of the gods:  Early Christian Distinctiveness in the Roman World, where he points out that a lot of what we take for granted about the whole idea of religion came from Jesus' movement, from Christians.  (*Unfortunately Professor Hurtado passed away in 2019).

A little while back he blogged on one example he came across...

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Passing by the Hard Rock Café in Edinburgh today, I noticed again their slogan: “Love all, serve all,” and noted that it reflects the (likely unconscious) influence of the NT upon western culture.  For the motto self-evidently owes to the sentiments first expressed in NT passages such as Matthew 5:43-48, with its distinctive injunction to “love your enemies” as well as your “neighbour”, and Matthew 20:26 (and Mark 10:43-44), with the striking demand that “whoever would be great among you must be servant of all.”

I suspect, however, that neither the founders (nor the Seminole Indians of Florida who now own the restaurant chain) are aware of this.  It just shows how the values and themes of the NT have now become part of the conceptual “ground water” of western culture.

My recent book, Destroyer of the gods:  Early Christian Distinctiveness in the Roman World (Baylor University Press, 2016) makes the points that early Christianity (in the first three centuries) had distinctive features, and that these once-distinctive features have now become cultural commonplaces for us.  I don’t refer to the Hard Rock Café or its slogan, but there’s lots of other (and, hopefully, more interesting) stuff that I hope will address our “cultural amnesia.

The Ramifications of Christmas

Stoning of St. Stephen, by Rembrandt

Even though his feast day is not technically connected with Christmas, it's interesting to me that the first day after it is the day Jesus' followers commemorate the execution of Stephen, the Christian Movement's first martyr. Today is the 'Feast of Stephen,' which usually only surfaces in our minds when we sing Good King Wenceslas.

Perhaps it's just a coincidence that Stephen is celebrated here, but it serves as a none-too-subtle reminder that the Messiah wasn't born yesterday to bring us bright baubles and candy canes; this is serious business.

Serious Business

Let's rehearse what happened here. The power-brokers back then were not terribly happy with Jesus' early followers. Stephen was one of the major exponents of what we stood for and, as the story goes, when his opponents couldn't out-debate him they simply accused him of "speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God." In short order Stephen was " seized... and brought... before the council," (Acts of the Apostles, chapter 6 verses 11 - 12, ).

In his defense Stephen delivered a long and rather blunt speech showing point by point that his people had an abysmal record of obeying God and now had capped it off by crucifying their own Messiah. His listeners did not take it well:

Upon hearing this, his audience could contain themselves no longer. They boiled in fury at Stephen; they clenched their jaws and ground their teeth. But Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit. Gazing upward into heaven, he saw something they couldn’t see: the glory of God, and Jesus standing at His right hand.

Stephen: Look, I see the heavens opening! I see the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God! 

At this, they covered their ears and started shouting. The whole crowd rushed at Stephen, converged on him, dragged him out of the city, and stoned him. They laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul, while they were pelting Stephen with rocks. 

Stephen (as rocks fell upon him): Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Then he knelt in prayer, shouting at the top of his lungs, 

Stephen: Lord, do not hold this evil against them! 

Those were his final words; then he fell asleep in death.

(Acts of the Apostles, chapter 7 verses 54 - 60, Voice )

One may fault Stephen for tactlessness but not for lack of courage. Jesus offered his people a revolutionary way to be rescued from Rome, rescued from sin, rescued from failing repeatedly to fulfill the mission God had created them for. Even at this late date, when they had utterly failed to recognize their Messiah and turned him over to the Romans for a hideous execution, Jesus' offer still stood. Israel could still fall in behind their King. Stephen saw his duty clear and decided his best shot at shaking up the august leaders of his people was to rub their noses in the truth of what they'd done.

It got him killed, with many more to come.

First of Many

The line of martyrs with Stephen at its head has by no means come to an end. On this Feast of Stephen googling "latest attacks on christians" immediately brings up a story in USA Today reporting that, "Christmas attacks by Muslim rebels in Christian villages in the southern Philippines left at least 14 people dead." The numbers of Christians in the middle east are rapidly decreasing as they do their best to escape barbaric treatment. But don't think (as so many tend to) that it's purely a problem with radical muslim extremists. Open Doors, a group that monitors Christian persecution, reports that the country most hostile to Jesus of Nazareth's followers is North Korea.

In the comfortable, hermetically sealed western world we inhabit it's easy to assume the days of Christians being martyred for their faith is long past, that it may have happened back in "barbaric" Roman times, but not today. It's particularly easy when we are warm and full from the traditional holiday buying binge.

The Feast of Stephen helps us remember right after Christmas that that's not quite the case.

Uninsulated

Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer

Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1883

Thoughts for a Sunday Afternoon


“If the world hates you, remember that they hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as it loves its own people. But I have chosen you to be different from those in the world. So you don’t belong to the world, and that is why the world hates you. 

"Remember the lesson I told you: Servants are not greater than their master. If people treated me badly, they will treat you badly too. And if they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours too. They will do to you whatever they did to me, because you belong to me. They don’t know the one who sent me." 

(Gospel of John chapter 15 verses 18 - 21, ERV)


We're moving steadily towards the birthday of the Christian Movement (a.k.a. "Pentecost"). Jesus of Nazareth predicted something very different from a comfortable church-going experience for his followers. That some of us are comfortable doesn't mean he was wrong, but that the place and time we happen to live in is an historical aberration that insulates us. There are plenty of Jesus' followers even today who are not insulated at all.

Today, his followers in ancient France give us a report of what it was like for them.

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The servants of Christ who live as aliens at Vienna and Lugdunum [Vienne and Lyons] in Gaul, to the brothers in Asia Minor and Phrygia. The adversary has fallen upon us with all his might...

In the presence of all the people, the governor had given the order that all of us with our households should be investigated. Prompted by Satan, fearful of the tortures which they saw God’s people suffer, and under pressure from the soldiers who talked them directly into it, pagan slaves in our service brought forth lies against us. These lies were the usual accusations of cannibalism, unnatural sexual unions, and similar ghastly things which we should never speak or think about or even believe that they have ever happened among human beings. When this became known among the pagans, they all flew into a truly bestial rage against us.

Through the slave girl, Blandina, Christ revealed that what is regarded as mean, insignificant, and unattractive by humans is accounted worthy of great glory in the sight of God because of the fact that love towards him proves itself with power and does not vaunt itself for the sake of making an impression. Her comfort, her relief, her refreshment, her painkilling remedy for everything she suffered was the cry, “I am a Christian, and nothing evil happens among us...”

Maturus, Sanctus, Blandina, and Attalus were taken to the wild beasts in the amphitheater, to give the pagan crowd which was gathered there a public spectacle of inhumanity. They ran the gauntlet of whips. They were already used to this. They let themselves be dragged around and mauled by the wild beasts. Everything the raving, yelling mob wanted, now from this side, now from that, they endured. They sat upon the iron chair which roasted their bodies so that the fumes rose up. Yet they heard nothing from Sanctus beyond the confession of faith he had repeated over and over again from the beginning. When they were still found alive in spite of the terrible and prolonged torture, they were finally killed...

The glorified Blandina had already learned to know the scourging, the wild beasts, and the red-hot griddle. Finally they tied her in a fishing net and threw her to a bull. For a long time the animal tossed her about, and so she was killed.

The bodies of those that had perished in prison they threw to the dogs, watching carefully night and day that none of us could be buried. The remains of those who had been torn to pieces by the wild beasts and those charred by the fire they put on public view just as they were. The heads and trunks of the others, carefully guarded by soldiers, they also left unburied for many days. Some of them were raging and gnashing their teeth, seeking to take even more vengeance on them. Others laughed and jeered at them and exalted their own idols, to whom they attributed the punishment of the martyrs. 

The more reasonable ones, those of whom one could believe that they knew pity to a certain extent, slandered them, crying, “Where is your god? How were they helped by the faith which they loved more than their own lives?”

For six days the bodies of the martyrs, mocked in every possible way, were exposed to the elements. Finally they were burned to ashes by these lawless men and swept into the Rhône, which flows nearby. Not a trace of them was to remain on earth. This they did thinking that they could defeat God and deprive them of their restoration. They said that they should not be allowed to have any hope of resurrection, for it was through their faith in this that they introduced a strange and new religion. “Now let us see whether they will rise again, whether their god can help them, and whether he can deliver them out of our hands.”

Letter from Vienne and Lyons to Phrygia (c. AD 177)
Quoted from Eusebius' Church History book 5 chapter 1 ff.

A Small Historical Point

Gamaliel

from a 14th century Jewish Haggadah

A bit of advice from the Apostle Paul's old teacher. Two thousand years on it seems that history has rendered its verdict if we go by Rabban Gamaliel's wise guidance.

Just a small point, and of course history does continue to grind on. We could all wake up to a world without the Christians tomorrow, right? Then again, Jesus of Nazareth didn't even consider that a possibility (Gospel of Matthew chapter 16 verse 18).

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One member of the council, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, stood up. He was a teacher of the law, and all the people respected him. He told the men to make the apostles leave the meeting for a few minutes. Then he said to them, “Men of Israel, be careful of what you are planning to do to these men.

Remember when Theudas appeared? He said he was an important man, and about 400 men joined him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were scattered and ran away. They were not able to do anything. Later, during the time of the census, a man named Judas came from Galilee. Many people joined his group, but he was also killed, and all his followers were scattered.

And so now I tell you, stay away from these men. Leave them alone. If their plan is something they thought up, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them. You might even be fighting against God himself!”

(Book of Acts chapter 5 verses 34 - 39, ERV)

What Kind of Messiah Did They Expect?

Coins minted by a Messiah

courtesy of Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. 

Jesus of Nazareth came as Israel's Messiah and did the Messiah's work, inaugurating the the new age of God's Kingdom promised by ancient prophets by being resurrected from the dead. That's what we were talking about on Monday.

I've never felt right making major assertions without giving something to support them. Especially on a site dedicated to explaining Christianity to interested parties, asking you to just trust me isn't terribly convincing.

So today is going to be a bit of a wonky day. Today I'd like to show you all the technical information that lies behind saying, as I did in the last post, that, "broadly speaking most people agreed [the Messiah] would: be a warrior, ride into Jerusalem, defeat the enemies of God (i.e., the Romans, naturally), purify the temple, and set up the Kingdom of God, which ushered in an age of unending bliss."

Just to warn you ahead of time, this may be incredibly boring. Then again, you might find it fascinating. I sure do...