His Eminence Aloysius Cardinal Ambrozic
Archbishop Emeritus of Toronto
Biography :: Letters, Homilies, Statements :: Articles

"If Jesus Were Alive Today..."
March 1993

I am always surprised, and almost envious at times, at such an introduction to a statement: people who utter it are quite certain to have Jesus "figured", equally as certain that he is agreeing with whatever they propose or proclaim and that he is as thoroughly displeased as they are with whatever they happen to be unhappy about.

Yet I am sorely tempted to doubt their assurance. During his earthly life Jesus managed to upset everyone he came in contact with. He told the Sadducees that their understanding of God was very inadequate and their theology superficial (Mk 12:18-27); the high priests did not appreciate his questioning of the way they conducted the temple worship (Mk 11:15-19). Jesus showed no "proper respect" for Herod, describing him as a fox (Lk 13:31-33). The Pharisees could not but be shocked by what they considered a lackadaisical treatment of the Law on his part. He proclaimed God's Kingdom, something that the Zealots strove to bring about; but he was quite indifferent to the presence of the Romans in the promised land, a presence totally unacceptable to them. The crowds, enthusiastic at times, felt cheated again and again of the most cherished dreams they pinned on Jesus. His own disciples, sincerely devoted, found him unwilling to be used by them, or to promote their personal or group ambitions. We might suspect that Jesus would have been a disappointment even to the prophets of Israel: what would Isaiah have made of such a non-kingly "Shoot from the stump of Jesse"? Jesus must have been like Lazarus in Robert Browning's "Epistle", who is upset about all the "wrong" things, failing to fit the grooves people and societies make for themselves. Refusing to be owned by anyone, Jesus insists that everyone accept his agenda, which is God's.

We may justly suspect that Jesus is as awkward today as he was then. Again and again we witness individuals or groups doing their best to tame Jesus, to have him on their side and wave their flag as his own. Repeatedly, we see attempts, oh so scientific and objective, to create a "historical Jesus" of one sort or another, squeezed into the straitjacket of one or another current ideology or enthusiasm. But the true Jesus refuses to conform: the never-ending business of manufacturing new images of historical Jesus is propelled not only by the constantly changing biases of exegetes but also by their often unadmitted inability to do justice to the Jesus whom we find in the Gospels.

Jesus, is as "out of step" today as he was during his life on earth. A word of caution, however: the fact that Jesus is upsetting, does not justify the notion that everyone who happens to disturb others, even in the name of Jesus, is necessarily on his side; such a person may simply be indulging his adolescent lack of common sense or his unwillingness to understand, and work with, others.

Yet the phrase "If Jesus were alive today" is quite wrong. Jesus is fully alive: alive in himself, because he rose from the dead and is seated at the right hand of the Father, and alive in this world, speaking as he does to and through his Church. "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me" (Lk 10:16). It is because she is obedient to Jesus that the Church is thought to be out of step and is continually being exhorted to get "with it", whatever "it" happens to be in the minds of those doing the haranguing. She can hardly complain, of course, for her Master was quite explicit: "A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also" (Jn 15:20).