This is Easter week 2025. Tomorrow, Christians will observe Friday, April 18, as the day Christ was crucified, and celebrate Sunday, His resurrection. Some scholars place His death on either a Wednesday or Thursday. The dates may differ but there is little disagreement over the event. A Jewish assembly, you might say a legislative body (the Sanhedrin), conspired to kill Him. That’s a pretty blunt way to state it, but why mince words? Some people make the mistake of thinking Roman troops captured Jesus in Gethsemane. Debatable, but not true. Roman authorities would never stoop to do the work of Jewish authorities. Christ presented no threat to Rome. He was, however, a real and present danger to the Jewish hierarchy — to a high priest named Caiaphas and his predecessor/father-in-law Annas. The Jew’s Temple guards arrested Him and took Him to Caiaphas’ house to be interrogated in the dead of night. Basically, the Jewish leaders wanted to dredge up evidence to justify putting Jesus to death. They looked for false witnesses. But there was no evidence. Like present day detectives without evidence, Caiaphas counted on securing a confession. Accusingly, Caiaphas asked, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of God?” Scripture says that Christ replied, “So you say.” But He allegedly followed with ” . . . . .from this time on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right side of the Almighty.” That testimony was all the evidence Caiaphas would need. Blasphemy! Blasphemy — punishable by death according to Mosaic law. Guilty as charged, “they spat in His face and beat Him.” By today’s standards, Christ would go unnoticed. Today, people who talk with God or claim to have healing powers are judged as crackpots. Christ committed only one crime that is still “punishable” in 2025. He challenged the authority of the ruling class of 30 AD. The rest of His indictment was window dressing: He hung out with the society’s riffraff. He worked on the Sabbath by healing people. So Jesus suffered crucifixion. Why? Why wasn’t He stoned in the Garden according to Jewish law? No one really knows. But Biblical scholars suggest that the High Priests didn’t want an unremarkable stoning. They wanted a public condemnation that would forever eliminate Jesus from the public consciousness and relegate Him to the ash heap of history, dishonored and forgotten, citing Deuteronomy 21:23. “Anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse.” You know the rest. Although it was none of Rome’s business, Pilate thought he was creative, asking the crowd to choose between Barabbas and Christ. You must question: Where was Christ’s crowd during His scourging and trial? Chances are they were afraid to be seen and persecuted by the ruling Rabbis. Chances are they were at home and not even aware of His trial. Whatever details are true, Christ was doomed to die at the hands of those who despised him. They happened to be the big shots. They hated to hear “I am the Christ, son of the Blessed.” But when He accused them of hypocrisy, when He said their  rules and rituals did not come from God, the die was cast.

This week, Christians will celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. At a time like this — at all times, really, you question what Christ might think of the state of Christianity. Of church governing bodies. Of church governance. Of church & state. Of worship rituals and rules. Of denominations. Of sin. Of the Pope. Of Israel. Of anti semitism. Scholars say you can find answers in both the Old and New Testaments. Perhaps, but the best theological minds have been at it for centuries and still disagree on key issues. You can only imagine how Jesus might grade Christianity, circa 2025. Something tells you the churches would get high marks for charitable outreach and biblical study. But He also might take issue with the corporate and political structure of religions. You can’t imagine a meeting between Him and His Holiness in the Vatican. Would Jesus opt for an Armani suit and would His Holiness dress down and lose the tiara and papal ring? Sacrilege aside, you think Jesus would cast aside the showy trappings of religious symbolism much as He cast out the money changers on the temple steps. Well, imagining doesn’t help.  Christ didn’t leave behind a diary. In scripture, you won’t find conversation; you find questions and Christ’s brief replies and parables.  Perhaps the question shouldn’t be, “What would Christ think today?” Perhaps it should be, “What would Christ do?”

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