In the fullness of (another) time

“The fullness of time.” Sound familiar? It’s a Biblical phrase, referring to the fact that God allowed so many centuries between the fall of Adam & Eve and the birth of Jesus Christ, who came to save us from the effects of that first sin. Why Roman-occupied Judea, and why what we now call first century CE (Christian Era)? Only God Knows! I was always fond of the line from Judas’ closing song in Jesus Christ Superstar, where he asks “why’d you choose such a backward time and such a strange land?”

Small confession: I still pull up the Superstar soundtrack and listen to it every year during Lent. Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice could make great musicals, even if their theology was weak.

We’re approaching Holy Week, and that may mean little to you, or a lot, or it may seem a little stale (even to believers). What happened “in the fullness of time” was extraordinary and extraordinarily strange. But it can become background noise to the Easter Bunny, Spring Break, and other accoutrements which crowd out the message. I wanted to share a little thought experiment that might help put the events in a differnt light.

Imagine for a moment it never happened. No Jesus Christ, no Passion, crucifixion, and resurrection. Rome remains Rome, Pantheon and all. Eventually it falls and the rest of European history happens, with Enlightenment humanism and Deism playing the role Christianity actually did. So for the purposes of our thought experiment, the world is much as it is today, just without Christianity.

Now imagine God chooses the present times for “the fullness of time.” What might that look like? Somewhere off the beaten path in the greatest power of the planet, there’s a story developing: certainly not in Manhattan, but perhaps just outside Manhattan, Kansas. News of a local phenom arrives on social media. He’s a Jew, a former union card-holding carpenter, but he laid down his tools and started preaching and teaching and developed a small following. Next there’s a claim he turned water-into-wine at a friend’s wedding, and that merits eyeballs and internet scrutiny.

His name, Yeshua Bar Yosef, is familiar. Some Instagram sleuth points out Yeshua already had his fifteen minutes of fame: yes, you might remember him as the American adolescent who disappeared on a Jewish Youth Summer trip to Israel. He was found days later deep in conversation with some rabbis at the Haredi Shul, unharmed and apparently unaware of the international concern his disappearance had raised. Now he’s back in the spotlight.

TikTok has video of the wedding in Cana, Texas, but it’s a drunken mess. No one is sure if they really ran out of wine, or when, or how they got more. Yeshua isn’t giving interviews, but clearly he has a message that resonates with others. Fat checkers point out he still lives with his mother, Mary, although the man he called dad (but who wasn’t listed on his birth certificate) has died.

Yeshua has a preternatural ability to charm those he meets, and to irritate the powers that be. It seems like everybody takes sides, especially in a divided America, but the divisions aren’t along traditional political lines. Groups claim him, only to be confounded when he doesn’t conform to their ideas.

When he storms through the Wynn/Encore casino in Las Vegas one Sunday, overturning the roulette tables and chasing out the inveterate gamblers, family values types are cheered but libertarians are aghast. His refusal to show up for the arraignment brings praise from Antifa and the Sovereign Nation: strange bedfellows indeed! Yet he still pays his taxes and tells his followers to obey the law. Social liberals are with him until he tells them God made them “male and female”; social conservatives balk when he tells them they should love their brothers, and everyone in need is “their brother.” Almost no one in America likes it when he says marriage is permanent, and divorce another form of adultery. Of course the government has no idea what to make of him, so the FBI has an open case file and plans to infiltrate “The Way.”

Now things really get weird.

Near Magdalena, New Mexico, Yeshua joins a prayer group outside the Planned Parenthood center. But some of the crowd leaves, after he tells them to put down their bullhorns and just talk with the women. He meets one local woman named Mary, who has an appointment to abort her six-month along fetus because it has been diagnosed with anencephaly. Yeshua prays with her, lays his hands on her abdomen, and convinces her to have faith. She leaves without the abortion, and later has a sonogram showing a totally normal child, which she will bear. Skeptics point out doctors make mistakes, and that’s all that’s happening here.

But then there’s the drug addicts. Neglected and ignored by society despite being in their midst, they are outcasts, and they are drawn to Yeshua, and he to them. Numerous addicts, even those addicted to opioids and heroin, seem to walk away from an encounter with Yeshua free from addiction. Likewise with sex workers, gamblers, internet porn addicts, and the mentally ill. Some claim miracles, others say it just goes to show the power of true friendship.

As his fame spreads, the government becomes more concerned. An FBI informant prompts Yeshua to denounce the government as corrupt and to deny paying it taxes. He asks for a dollar and says “whose image is this?” “George Washington’s” the informant responds. “Then give to Washington that which is his” Yeshua scolds.

Progressives want him to denounce capitalism, private property, and embrace government programs to fight poverty. He tells them “doesn’t the farmer reap what he sows? First, take what God has given you and share with the poor.” Neo-conservatives want him to affirm America’s status as a chosen people and the right to amass wealth as sign of special favor; he demurs, saying “God loves all His children, and those who have more, have been given more, to do more, not to keep more.”

Yeshua gets run out of the synagogue in his hometown after suggesting He is the answer to what they have been seeking. The nerve of the man, as if YHWH would send a savior to Kansas! More tension builds as he suggests there is something beyond America which demands a person’s primary allegiance, a message which resonates around the world but crosses a red-line for the America First crowd. The healings continue, as do several near-scrapes with local authorities and mobs.

Large crowds gather to hear him speak, and he tells them stories of love and kindness which stand traditional logic on its head. Don’t hate your political opponents, love them! Help anyone in need beyond just what they need! Don’t worry about tomorrow, just focus on doing God’s Will today! Pollsters find a dramatic change in attitude among those attending his rallies: less conflict, less anxiety, greater charity. But those protesting around the events grow ever angrier and violent.

And then, a good friend of Yeshua’s dies from a drug overdose in Bethany, New York. Yeshua eventually shows up (four days later), attends the open casket showing, and raises his buddy Lazaro from the dead. Of course it was all staged (according to some), but others question “how?” since Narcan can’t do its magic days later. But what else is there to explain it?

Yeshua announces that he plans to march to The Mall in Washington, DC, and his followers swell to a huge crowd which lines the road, welcoming him. Just as many counter-protesters are marshaling, too. The DC government denies him a permit, and threatens to mass arrest his followers if he ignores their decree. He calls their bluff and the immense crowd marches peacefully to the Lincoln Memorial, where he gives a moving sermon about the poor, the peacemakers and those who hunger for justice “having their fill.” As he blesses some baskets of food to share with the crowd, a murmur goes up as they realize the food he provides is seemingly without end.

At the summit of all this emotion, police move in to arrest him, while a gang of counter-protesters storms into the event. All hell breaks loose, and gunfire erupts. People are trampled and a melee of violence ensues while his followers try to flee. Yeshua is seen extending his arms as if to welcome the assault as police and thugs reach for him, and then beat him to death: all live-streamed for the world to see.

No one is sure who exactly did what; the video is as indistinct as it is horrific. Days later, there are reports that Yeshua’s body has disappeared from the morgue where he was held pending the investigation. And now some of his followers are claiming he has been raised from the dead!

Extraordinary, no? What would you believe?