The Cross of Racism
Theologian James Cone (1938–2018) draws a parallel between Jesus’ crucifixion and the lynching of Black Americans:
Theologically speaking, Jesus was the “first lynchee,” who foreshadowed all the lynched black bodies on American soil. He was crucified by the same principalities and powers that lynched black people in America. Because God was present with Jesus on the cross and thereby refused to let Satan and death have the last word about his meaning, God was also present at every lynching in the United States. God saw what whites did to innocent and helpless blacks and claimed their suffering as God’s own. God transformed lynched black bodies into the recrucified body of Christ. Every time a white mob lynched a black person, they lynched Jesus. The lynching tree is the cross in America. When American Christians realize that they can meet Jesus only in the crucified bodies in our midst, they will encounter the real scandal of the cross.
God must therefore know in a special way what poor blacks are suffering in America because God’s son was lynched in Jerusalem.… The lynching tree is a metaphor for white America’s crucifixion of black people. It is the window that best reveals the religious meaning of the cross in our land. In this sense, black people are Christ figures, not because they wanted to suffer but because they had no choice. Just as Jesus had no choice in his journey to Calvary, so black people had no choice about being lynched. The evil forces of the Roman state and of white supremacy in America willed it. [1]
Jennifer Garcia Bashaw charts a path forward for Christians to stop racial scapegoating:
The final step we must take to abolish the scapegoating of Black Americans is to raise up the voices of the victims, to hear their experiences and learn from their resiliency. We need to listen to Black historians and Bible scholars, Black theologians and ethicists, Black social advocates and pastors, Black artists and poets. They will be the lights that lead the church from ignorance to understanding; they will show us how to live into the inclusive and liberating kingdom of God rather than the empire of domination and power…. We have a long way to go before our community resembles the beloved community of Christ. Those of us who have participated in, allowed, or ignored racism must walk the painful road of confession and atonement before we can mend the rift in the body of Christ that we caused….
God’s power does not enslave, or lynch, or choke, or disenfranchise. It preserves life, lifting up the needs and voices of the oppressed and giving them dignity. This is what Jesus did in his life and death and what God’s spirit does in the resurrection and through the message of the Gospels. We who are followers of Jesus must stop our scapegoating and the racism that powers it if we are to walk on that resurrection road behind him. [2]
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| Finding Jesus in Rejection |
| .There are far easier ways to execute a person than crucifixion. The Romans preferred this method for its theatrics, not its efficiency. This public display of imperial power was a warning to any who would defy Rome, but the show of cruelty began long before the rebel was nailed to a cross. First, the condemned was forced to carry his execution device through the streets where the crowds could heap insults and shame upon him.Crucifixion was practiced throughout the Roman Empire, but in Jerusalem, it symbolized an even greater humiliation. Based on a passage from the Old Testament, the Jews believed that anyone hung on a tree was cursed by God, utterly forsaken, and rejected by him (Deuteronomy 21:23). The Roman cross was understood to symbolize a tree. Therefore, according to the Jews, a crucified person was not only being punished by the pagan Romans but they were also being utterly rejected and cursed by God. To Jewish sensibilities at the time, there was no lower form of punishment or shameful thing in all the world than to be crucified.As Jesus carried his cross through the streets, the crowds would not have seen a prophet of God being unjustly punished by the Romans. They would have seen Jesus as a worthless man being cursed by God himself—undeserving of their mercy or sympathy. Even if they could not identify what Jesus had done to deserve death, the fact that he was condemned to hang on “a tree” meant he’d done something to provoke God’s wrath and rejection. Carrying a cross, therefore, was more than a physical ordeal for Jesus. It was also a social one. Whatever goodwill or affection toward him had remained among the people would have disappeared the moment he took up his cross. It appeared that God had cursed Jesus—and so the people would too.This shameful, social dimension to crucifixion adds another layer of meaning to Jesus’ words to his followers. He said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” To be people of the cross is more than a willingness to identify with Jesus’ physical sacrifice, and it is more than surrendering our desires and goals. It also means being willing to endure social rejection and shame—to be unpopular, unacceptable, and even despised. If our greatest desire is to be admired, we have yet to encounter Jesus’ cross or take up our own. DAILY SCRIPTURE LUKE 9:22-24 JOHN 19:14-22 WEEKLY PRAYERKarl Barth (1886–1968)O Lord God, our Father. You are the light that can never be put out; and now you give us a light that shall drive away all darkness. You are love without coldness, and you have given us such warmth in our hearts that we can love all when we meet. You are the life that defies death, and you have opened for us the way that leads to eternal life. None of us is a great Christian; we are all humble and ordinary. But your grace is enough for us. Arouse in us that small degree of joy and thankfulness of which we are capable, to the timid faith which we can muster, to the cautious obedience which we cannot refuse, and thus to the wholeness of life which you have prepared for all of us through the death and resurrection of your Son. Do not allow any of us to remain apathetic or indifferent to the wondrous glory of Easter, but let the light of our risen Lord reach every corner of our dull hearts. Amen. |
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