The Divine Universe

People have been making images of God ever since mystics in prehistoric times took clay or rocks in their hands or used sticks and their fingers to paint on the walls of caves. Gods are associated with power and control so, a few thousand years ago, when people had formed communities and nations with kings to rule them, it was natural that they should imagine their gods as super-kings.

Some three thousand years ago, a group of Semitic tribes recognised a God whose name was never to be spoken and was of obscure meaning anyway. They represented the name by four consonants, YHWH, that together are not pronounceable. In speech they simply called their God Adoni (Lord) and he was seen as the ultimate ruler of the tribes of Israel even after they had secular kings. Adoni had a dwelling place beyond the sight of humankind, yet he was actively involved in human affairs.

After many generations of secular kings, most of whom were very unsatisfactory, Isaiah and other prophets began to imagine a perfect ruler, a man of supreme wisdom and power, anointed by the Lord himself. He would be born of the royal line of David, the Lord’s favourite king. He was referred to as Messiah or, in Greek, Christ – the Anointed One.

A little over two thousand years ago, groaning under the oppressive yoke of Imperial Rome, this vision stirred the hearts of the Jewish people into flame. They eagerly expected the Messiah to arrive at any moment. A number of men emerged who believed they were indeed he, and they gathered enthusiastic disciples around them, sometimes thousands strong. One of these charismatic leaders was Jesus of Nazareth. He didn’t gather a huge following in his lifetime but, of all the contemporary Messiah candidates, he is the only one, two thousand years later, who still has a following and a cult, a religion associated with his name. And it is not just a handful of Jews but many millions, even billions of people in every part of the world. Called “Christians”, they believe still that Jesus was the true “Son of God”, as the Messiah or Christ was sometimes called. During the centuries since, Christians have created a complex and sophisticated theology of YHWH and Jesus.

Jesus is referred in Christian liturgy and hymnary as “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” but, reading the narrative portraits of Jesus that were written during the seven or eight decades after his death, we find someone quite unlike any kind of king or ruler ever known or even imagined in historical tradition.

He was conceived out of wedlock for a start, and his enemies taunted him with this to the end of his life. He was often diffident in his relationship with other people, as though seeking their leadership and guidance, needing their help. He demonstrated impressive power as a healer and exorcist, but claimed it was the faith of others that accomplished these messianic signs. He was a brilliant and forceful prophetic teacher, but this made him dangerous enemies in the corridors of power. He never took aggressive action against his persecutors however, ending his life as the victim of a scandalously unjust and illegal trial and horrifically cruel execution at the hands of the Roman military.

After such an inauspicious beginning and tragic end, it is remarkable that Jesus had any followers left at all. In fact, at his execution, only his mother and three disciples remained faithful. But, a few days after his death, one of those disciples, Mary Magdalene, saw Jesus alive again in a tangible body. But not quite a normal human one: he ate and drank with his disciples, but he appeared and disappeared mysteriously, entering through locked doors. Other disciples began to have similar experiences. Such strange occurrences continued for about six weeks, until a substantial number of people became quite convinced that Jesus was still alive in a weird but very real way.

That number is now billions worldwide. They do not see Jesus simply as a heroic martyr for a noble cause; and it is impossible to regard him as a conquering and dominating king in the normal sense, but Christians see him as embodying what true sovereignty, true leadership, informed by the wisdom of God, really means. They see him as the king in God’s realm, the King of Heaven, then in Judea, now in our own time and everywhere forever.

One has to admit, however, if one is honest, that Jesus is not the kind of ruler most of us would really want. Such unconditional love, such limitless forgiveness, tolerance, generosity, absolute non-violence! Common sense suggests that his kingdom could be chaotic, exposed to wanton exploitation and terrifying lawlessness, not to mention invasion from foreign military powers and unwanted refugees. It is surprising, perhaps, that so many people claim that the rule of Jesus Christ is what they really want. But no democratically elected government, nominally Christian or whatever, shows much political will to realise it. They wouldn’t see a year out if they did. So are Christians mad or merely deluded, subversive or merely eccentric, hypocritical or merely confused? Or is this something sensible people can take seriously?