Perhaps?

I keep hearing lately, from all sorts of people, concerning Jesus, “We don’t really KNOW if, how and what happened two thousand years ago. I just want to know what the truth is.” I often wonder if they truly mean that or if that’s just a “polite” way to dismiss the pesky Christian.

As a result of all kinds of theories aimed to destroy the credibility of either the Church or the Scriptures, most of these resentful inquirers are not shy to dig into fictional novels, downright forged documents and whatever other conspiracy theory some enlightened guru on a bad acid trip has dreamed up, anything to just prove us all wrong. They call themselves spiritual but not religious, like that explains anything, and usually you recognise them by their smirk whenever they have the misfortune to encounter a primitive creature like the Christian. When they’re in a generous mood they regard Christians as deluded by an obvious fable and when enraged the Christians are viewed as accomplices in some ancient conspiracy to keep them all bound to some outdated morality. They’re willing to admit to some form of gnostic/ esoteric existence of a being that they magnanimously condescend to call “god” but if you push to understand what precisely they mean by “god”, you soon realise their definitions are not some self-standing propositions but just negations of whatever propositions Christianity puts forward.

Then the dreaded encounter. Behold the Christian! Ridiculous in his servile posture, grovelling before some cosmic tyrant and trying to convince you of all people that said tyrant loves you because some book told him so. Silly little amoeba on the scale of spiritual enlightenment, doesn’t he realise he speaks to a god? Who is he trying to teach truth to? After all you meditate daily, you’ve read all the great masters, even had outer body experiences. You decide to teach the silly Christian a lesson. You start with emperor Constantine, make frequent stops to all the awful popes in history, make sure to mention the Crusades and all the wars. Mention the council of Nicaea enough to make his eyes glaze over, mention the gnostic texts then for good measure bring up the Anunnaki, the tablets of Thoth, Zecharia Sitchin and Alan Watts. The Christian looks at you with all the comprehension of a monkey before an iPhone and you feel vindicated that all this religious nonsense can be dismantled in a matter of minutes with just a string of “facts”.

Here's a thought: maybe, just MAYBE, the Christian is not rendered speechless by the “overwhelming complex theories” that form the new thought/new age/ resurrected paganism. Maybe he’s not thrown back because you’ve just shifted his whole worldview BUT he’s gathering all his strength to still answer you in a loving way. Or MAYBE, the Christian is taken aback because he just remembers a time when he was wise like you, way back when he knew everything and the God of the Scriptures was just a ridiculous thought made up by even more ridiculous creatures. Maybe it takes him a little to remember that he has chosen the foolishness of God instead of this world’s wisdom. “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Corinthians 1:25) Maybe if the Christian is silent, it’s not that he can’t refute your brilliant arguments. Maybe it’s because he just sees you as just another Pilate, among a sea of millions other Pilates, before whom the Truth is dragged in rags, beaten, pitiful and shaking.

There you are! A ruler in your own right. By hard work, through tough meditation you’ve accessed all your chakras, and you’ve realised you’re one with the infinite. It took you long to get to where you are. You’re your own man and nobody tells you what and how to think. You have all the power, and the silly superstitions of the plebs don’t faze you one bit. You know they’re all programmed robots, but not you! You’ve been enlightened! You know exactly what’s what. You don’t mingle with the robots. You’re free! You’re a god! Then the plebs demand that you examine this Jesus. Everything about it is unappealing to you, from their pious clothes to their even more pious voices, but you give in to their demands. And He’s presented before you. And you don’t expect much to begin with because all this business is clearly beneath you. You expect humble, but what shows up in front of you is downright pathetic. Bruised, beaten, clothes torn. Pitiful. Fine, you’ll play along, “Are you the King of the Jews?” (John 18:33) Maybe if you say it with the sarcasm it deserves, He’ll realise just how ridiculous you find that claim. “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36) Oh He talks! Maybe He’ll see reason if you taunt Him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:37) – What does that even mean? Is this double talk? What truth? So, you ask Him, “What is truth?” but you don’t wait for Him to answer. You’re a reasonable person and today it just so happens that you’re in a generous mood, “I find no guilt in him.” You decide to dismiss Him for a fool but just to be safe, have Him flogged. Put a crown of thorns on Him to let everyone know exactly what you think of His kingdom. Then parade him in a borrowed purple robe and make sure they all know how open minded you are and restate again that YOU do not find Him guilty. Point at Him. Yell loudly so everyone can hear you, “Ecce homo (Behold the man)” But they want you to either kill Him or bow the knee. Maybe if you repeat that you don’t find Him guilty, they’ll leave you alone. The more charges you hear against Him the scarier it gets. “Where are You from?” No answer. Maybe threaten Him. “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” (John 19:10) “Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore, he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” (John 19:11) Even as He knows you’re about to kill Him He tries to lessen your guilt and you despise Him for it. So, you do what you must. You crucify Him and be done with it.

My King, Jesus the Messiah, has been tried and sentenced many times throughout two thousand years. There have been many Pilates, great and small, geniuses and simpletons alike, rich and poor, of every kind, of every colour, of every age. He’s been killed in many hearts and consciences. You won’t be the first, nor the last. But for every Pilate, there are hundreds more that become fools in the eyes of this world to have the wisdom of God. And you can dismiss them like you did their Lord. Call them fools. Call them all hypocrites when you see them struggle, but like their Lord, they’ll still be standing long after all these recycled gnostic heresies pass away together with those that promote them.

This is not me charging you for having a different view. This is a challenge. I dare you to examine carefully the claims of Christianity. And by that I do not mean watch a TikTok video because you have the attention span of a five-year-old. I mean, truly examine. And if by an honest search you find it lacking, then fair enough. But stop building strawmen against Christianity with things it doesn’t even claim. There, that’s all I had to say, God bless you all!

“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)

by Cristina Pop