Why Did God Abandon Christ

Modern Jewish Religious Scholarship has an answer for the Christian claim that Jesus was the Messiah, and that is that a failed Messiah could not have been any Messiah at all. God would never allow a Valid Messiah to fail.

Hmmmmm. Considering all the support that Judaism and Zionism has been getting from Christians lately, particularly from the American Protestants who often act more extremely Zionist than even some of the worst Zionists, you would think that the Jews would develop a more tactful answer to such a crucial Christian question besides “there is absolutely no basis for your Religion”. But it does help explain why the Jews have been such a universally loved and adored people – why every Society that has ever had dealings with the Jews have come away with warm feelings and eternal gratitude. It is because the Jews have always been so consistently generous, accepting, and kind, especially concerning topics of comparative Religion.

But just because an argument is stark, mean-spirited and nasty does not mean that it should not be addressed. Maybe that even adds a priority. Why was Christ a failed Messiah? It all began with enough promise. In His infancy the Three Kings came from the Civilized East proclaiming that not only did Hebrew Prophecy predict His Coming, but likewise all of the World Religions were aware of His Coming and were wide open for His Acceptance. And Jesus became quite famous while still very young. He would have had decades to fulfill his destiny. But after only a few years, it was over. Jesus was knocked out by almost the very first flex of serious political opposition. It does appear that Christ was a bit too much of a light-weight to be a World Messiah and King of Kings. We could have expected a bit more Push and Gravity from a True Messiah. Or maybe a True Messiah could have harnessed his resources better – side-stepping early fights until he had the strength to win them.

So what happened? What went wrong?

Look at Mathew chapter 21, Mark 11, and Luke 19. We have the story of Jesus coming into Jerusalem and instigating a riot in the Holy Temple. Jesus objected to the vendors and money changers and we get the picture of Him knocking over tables and cracking a whip at middle-aged Jewish Businessmen who had been doing what they had always done, and were probably surprised and appalled at what must have appeared to them to be a crazy instance of mean-spirited lawlessness by some lunatic zealot.

In Mathew and Mark we also get the Story of Jesus blasting some poor fig tree with a curse. Jesus killed a tree. Now who goes about gratuitously killing trees? How does a tree go about deserving to die?

Okay, seriously, what happened? Did Jesus have some sort of a nervous breakdown? Apparently. How else can we explain it? What we do know is from that moment on Jesus no longer enjoyed the protection of God. There was no longer a protecting Army of Angels seeing to it that Jesus could not even stub a toe. Jesus was now entirely vulnerable.

Are the Jews correct about a Messiah necessarily having the endorsement God, no matter what? Yes, it is an argument with some apparent sense behind it, but then the Jews needs to wonder to themselves why they have NEVER had their Messiah. Until they have a True Messiah that has never failed, they should not talk about what constitutes a True Messiah. If we look at History, simply the way IT IS, and not as they think it SHOULD BE, then it seems that the Christian view is probably more correct – that God can send Messiahs, but that Messiahs can screw up. That seems to be what happens.

Jesus very well may have been a True Messiah that failed. David also might have been a True Messiah that had failed. Naked dancing in the street. Killing men over pretty girls. Yeah, David was a great Messiah… if he just only would have stuck to writing inspirational psalms and killing evil giants.

So, maybe Messiahs aren’t guaranteed any special sense for being wise or even very careful. And just being good is not always enough.

It reminds me of Joan of Arc, a veritable Messiah of France. Her Mission was to clear away Occupation Forces so she could get her King crowned. She succeeded brilliantly. History speaks of pitched Battles, blood and gore, but probably what had happened was that the British and Burgundian Forces largely withdrew ahead of the Maiden’s Advance, not wishing to face their Enemy at the height of their Enthusiasm but willing to back off and bide their time. They did not call it the “Hundred Years War” for nothing. But still, marshalling such Enthusiasm even for a limited Mission was a major historical feat. Even dealing with her own Armies was something of a miracle… getting so many Men to fall in line. But even after her God Given Mission was achieved, she kept fighting, and for reasons that were not really very clear. Pounding on walls of smoky little forts outside Paris. What on Earth for? So God withdrew the protection of His Angels and Joan was captured and suffered almost every indignity. She was burned to death. An English Cardinal was there… yes, the English were still to be Catholic for another 5 minutes in History before they would betray their Civilization… anyway, witnessing the Burning of Joan of Arc he said, “My God, we have burned a Saint! There will be nothing left for us now”. I guess the Cardinal had seen all the way into the Future, of England today, being a little Lap Dog for America.

Anyway, back to Messiahs. Apparently Messiahs have to pay very close attention to their Mission parameters. But even knowing exactly what their Mission parameters are must be a significant challenge. Jesus probably thought he was supposed to chase around businessmen, and Joan must have thought she had to carry on the Good Fight. Who knows what David was thinking… that Messiahs could do any damn thing they liked and God would just have to deal with it… apparently the Orthodox view of Judaism even back then.

But the Truth was that Jesus was probably supposed to act with Kindness, Patience and Due Process. Rule by Riot was not to be the first act of a Messianic Kingdom. Joan should have stopped and meditated on her next move. And David might have listened to his conscience. They all should have avoided making mistakes.

Maybe God can tolerate small errors. But Violence in the Temple was probably over the line. Joan attacking small garrisons just to flex her muscles was probably over the line. David being a drunken playboy, well…

It’s a shame that Messiah’s can’t have Coaches. Being a Player is complicated. One really should know better, but during the heat of the Game, well, the cool thinking of a Coach on the side-lines simply makes more sense.

“Jesus! We’ll worry about the Temple Business Plan Lay-out later. Right now our big problem is getting them the trust us.” If Jesus had only had a Coach shout in those instructions, maybe we would have had a Messiah and King of Kings, and the World would be Civilized Today. Maybe Americans would even have had Health Care by now.

Yes, maybe we should temper our prayers for a Second Coming of Christ, and remember to first pray for a Good Coach. With a Good Coach then maybe we could keep a Jesus or a Joan in play long enough to finally do some Good.