The Puzzle of Christianity. Peter Vardy
28:19–20)
As we saw in the last chapter, just before He died Jesus shared a meal with His twelve closest friends. This has become known as the Last Supper. At this meal Jesus took bread and broke it and shared the pieces amongst His disciples; however, He also said words that were to have a decisive impact on future Christian practice: ‘This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me’ (Luke 22:19). Then He took wine and when He had given thanks He again shared this with His disciples, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you’ (Luke 22:20). These words form the basis for what Christians variously call the Eucharist, the Mass, or the Lord’s Supper. Different Christians have varying understanding of how these words of Jesus are to be interpreted. Catholic Christians take the words literally and have long argued that, at the Mass, when the priest consecrates the bread and wine, there is a ‘change of substance’ and it becomes the body and blood of Christ, although the believer continues to experience it as bread and wine. This gives rise to the Catholic practice of the consecrated bread or wafer being adored by the believer, and of the priest consecrating the bread and wine (which only a priest can do) and then this being distributed to the faithful by a lay person. Catholics call bread that has been consecrated and kept in this way ‘the reserved sacrament’ and it is kept close to the altar in a tabernacle with a candle burning beside it. Other Christians, such as Anglicans, maintain that Jesus is ‘really present’ at the Eucharist but they do not specify in what way (see here). Many Protestant Christians see the bread and wine as symbolically representing Jesus’ presence (some Protestants use fruit juice instead of wine because of the alcoholic nature of wine). There are, therefore, differences in understanding. Nevertheless, almost all Christians are united in the importance of taking seriously Jesus’ words at the Last Supper.
Jesus had twelve close friends or disciples who accompanied Him throughout His ministry. Three of these were particularly close to Him – Peter, James and John. James and John were brothers whilst Peter was a former fisherman, an impetuous man who would often speak first and think later. Jesus prophesied that the kingdom of heaven was coming and that He, His disciples and all who followed Him would share in this kingdom. Gradually the disciples came to realise that this was not an earthly kingdom but a heavenly one and, naturally enough, the question arose as to who would be the leaders and closest to Jesus in His new kingdom. The mother of James and John came to Jesus and asked if her sons could sit one on His left and one on His right when He came into His new kingdom (Matthew 20:20–23). In asking this, she showed a lack of understanding as to the nature of the coming kingdom. Unlike earthly kingdoms, the new heavenly kingdom would be one of love and service where those who sought to be first would be least important and those who were humble and thought nothing of themselves would be first. It was an inversion of all the values underlying worldly power and achievement. Jesus pointed out that the path to the new kingdom lay through service to others, suffering and death – hardly an attractive prospect. He also made clear that Christians would necessarily suffer in this world, just as He would have to suffer. Jesus, therefore, inverted all the normal ideas of power often associated with God. For Jesus, God’s power was shown most clearly in compassion, suffering and love. It was the power of weakness, not of might. This was emphasised in the picture of Jesus dying on the cross: dying like a common criminal, alone, despised and rejected by human beings. Yet, Christians hold, this is God in God’s self dying on the cross. God becomes human and suffers as a human and does so out of love.
Peter was impulsive but had a genuinely good heart. He felt himself totally committed to Jesus and would have done anything for Him. However, the Gospels are realistic. When Jesus was about to face arrest and His coming death, and Peter vehemently declared his love and undying loyalty, Jesus gently told him that, before the cock crowed to indicate that the night was over, Peter would deny Him three times. After Jesus’ arrest Peter followed Jesus to the High Priest’s house where He was taken, but Peter was recognised and was accused of being one of Jesus’ disciples. Peter denied it in the strongest terms (John 18:15–27). This happened twice more and, after the third denial, the cock crew. Peter felt bitterly ashamed and angry with himself. This close friend of Jesus was weak and fully capable of failure, yet this was the man whom Jesus chose to lead the Church that would carry on His work after His death. This is part of a theme running through both the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures: that God chooses those who are outsiders and who are despised in worldly terms, not the powerful and successful.
One of the controversial passages in the Gospels specifically concerns Peter. Peter was formerly called Simon and is renamed Peter by Jesus. The Greek word petros means ‘stone’ or ‘rock’ and Jesus uses a play on words to say, ‘you are Peter, and on this rock [petros] I will build my church’ (Matthew 16:18). Peter is given the keys of the kingdom of heaven and is told that the forces of evil will not prevail against the Church. Catholics hold that all authority is given by Jesus to the Church thus founded and that Peter and his successors are placed at its head: ‘whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven’ (Matthew 16:19). This is central to the Catholic understanding that Peter was the first leader of the Christian Church – the first Pope – and that successors to Peter would have authority over the Church on earth and in heaven. Still today the papal seal has the symbol of crossed keys, indicating that the keys of the kingdom belong to the Pope and Catholic priests can release or forgive people for sins committed on earth. Protestants tend to play this passage down or even consider that it may have been inserted before the Gospels were produced in their final form and are, therefore, less willing to give authority to the Church. This is an issue to which we will need to return.
Figure 4: The papal crest of Pope Francis, showing the crossed keys of St Peter which appear on every papal crest. The letters ‘IHS’ are the first three letters of the Greek word for ‘Christ’. The motto below the crest reads ‘miserando atque eligendo’ (‘by showing mercy and by choosing’).
Jesus’ death was not, however, simply the death of another innocent human life. It is also seen as a sacrifice. The idea of a sacrifice is not one that is widely accepted in the modern world. A sacrifice occurs when a person gives up something of value which they treasure for a higher cause. Sometimes a person is held to have sacrificed their life in a battle by allowing themselves to be killed to save the lives of comrades. In all religions, sacrifice has been an important idea, ranging from the willingness of an individual to sacrifice their own self-interest to help others, to the sacrifice of something they value in order to achieve self-discipline. Jesus, Christians hold, sacrificed His own life out of love to bring people back to God: to eliminate the cumulative centuries of sin and disobedience and to allow a new start.
The real power of God, Christians hold, is shown on the cross in Jesus dying, alone and abandoned, out of love for all human beings. So Jesus lays down His life, willingly and by His own choice, for His friends. What is more, He specifically says that His friends are all those who listen to what He taught and take His words seriously: who try to love God and love their neighbours with all their heart and mind and soul (John 15:10–15). Christians, therefore, see Jesus laying down His own life and suffering an agonising and terrible death in order to bring people to God, to redeem them from the cumulative effects of sin. It is for this reason that Christians refer to Jesus as their Saviour, the one who saves them from the effects of sin and disobedience and brings them home to God their Father. Jesus is not just the Saviour of all Christians. Jesus died for His friends and, in so doing, atoned for their sins. The punishment that is justly due to all human beings who have failed and who have sinned is cancelled because of Jesus’ acts of suffering. Jesus, when He dies, pays the price of sin for all believers. The fairness of the universe is maintained.