It is hard not to be morbid when talking about the death of Jesus. Crucifixion was a very...messy thing. After being stretched out on a rough piece of wood and having your wrists and ankles impaled by thick nails you were raised up in the hot middle eastern sun and left to slowly suffocate over the course of two or three days. Yet...we sing praise songs about it. Yes, Jesus died for us, and he is awesome for it. But is talking about the flow of Jesus' blood covering us really appropriate for us nowadays?
There is a hymn that I find especially...irksome...you probably know it, it is called "Nothing But the Blood". The chorus goes like this:
"Oh! Precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow
No other fount I know
Nothing but the blood of Jesus"
There is something about thinking of Jesus' blood flowing from him like a fountain that...is bothersome. Now, I understand the symbolism of Jesus' blood. He died for us and his death and resurrection ensures our salvation. But the symbolic use of Jesus' blood as a "cleansing" thing is one that goes back to 1st century Hebraic tradition. I guess it just carried on.
When speaking about Jesus' death on the cross isn't it possible to think of...more "up to date" language? I'm not talking about a "seeker-sensitive" or reality denying language. Like, I don't think we should shy away from the seriousness of the crucifixion event and say "no, it really wasn't all that bad" because, well, it probably was pretty terrible. But surely there must be more appropriate language about Christ's death that does both justice to the event and makes it easier to understand in our "queasy...but not really that queasy" culture. I don't know what it is, but as soon as you figure it out...let me know!
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1 comment:
You post-modernist, you.
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