The Six-fingered Man
The most famous swordfight I know about is Inigo Montoya and the six-fingered man in “The Princess Bride.” Remember how in the Baz Luhrmann remake of “Romeo and Juliet” the swords were guns? I always thought that was a cool twist. Swords don’t make much sense any more. Last Christmas a friend of mine gave a sword away as a white elephant gift. That’s enough ADD discussion of swords. This blog is not about swords. It is about being guarded.
The most famous guards I know are the Secret Service. Next would be the big-bodied guards for celebrities. Then there are the guards at Buckingham Palace. What is it that a guard does? They put a layer of protection between the public and something important.
Relationships are hard. We spend the first part of any relationship working on how guarded we are supposed to be. The “love of my life” in high school broke up with me when I was a junior and that really messed with me on trying to enter any sort of dating relationship for a while. I don’t think I did that well for a few years – too guarded. While that’s one example that many could relate to, I think we do this with all of our relationships – it’s human nature. We bring our past experiences into every new relationship we have. This is true in all types of relationships: work, romance, friendship, teammate, counseling, sibling, parent, mentor, etc. We guard ourselves.
We do this because trust in someone else is dictated by our past experiences. We want to be treated fairly and if we haven’t been in the past (even if it’s just our perception), we put up our body guards. It’s a survival technique. There was never any hope for Inigo Montoya and the six-fingered man to get along or to trust each other.
The problem I am confronted with is that Jesus doesn’t seem to be guarded. I have heard it said that Jesus is the most human experience one could ever live. I think I believe that – I am just trying to grasp that. I am so impressed by the idea that he would challenge all of the customs of the day in the name of freedom for all who were not free.
He turns over the tables in the temple under the idea that the God is no longer something you have to pay to communicate with. He is always telling people to “fear not” in a time when people were generally terrified of the gods. He repeatedly tells the Pharisees and Sadducees (the religious heads) that they will enter the kingdom after the orphans or the poor. He brings the child close, spends time with the outcast, gives his attention to women, loves his oppressors and feeds the multitudes.
There aren’t a lot of stories of Jesus that involve swords, but there is one that fits here. When the time comes for him to be handed over to the ones who would kill him, Peter takes to guarding him. Peter draws a sword and hacks into the side of a guy’s head causing his ear to fall to the ground. Jesus picks the ear up and heals this man called Malcus. He shows that in God’s Kingdom being guarded is not a correct idea – this is obviously a tough deal for the disciples. He tells Peter to put his sword away, that the cup that God would have him drink must be accepted – and goes away quietly and unguarded even unto death. It sends Peter into a tail spin. Pilate is confused. The crowd is angry.
Jesus is compassionate.
What if we lived our lives in an unguarded way? It’s a dangerous proposition. As Easter approaches we tend to only recognize the death and resurrection. But this week leading up to Good Friday is about Jesus fully letting his guard down. The scriptures say that he goes quietly unto death with his sword sheathed. That is a not a natural response – it is supernatural.
Random Fact learned during the writing of this post:
Every human has one thing in common – we spent about half an hour as a single cell
Items that informed this post:
Book: “Lament For a Son” by Nicholas Wolterstorff
Book: “Why Christianity Must Change or Die” by John Shelby Spong
Music: “Death in His Grave” by John Mark McMillan
Music: “How He Loves: The Story” by John Mark McMillan
The idea of being as unguarded as Jesus is way beyond my grasp, but perhaps it becomes a kin to what we need. When I was younger and rejected, I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that she wasn’t the “love of my life” and that it was more my need to protect my already unstable ego. Perhaps when someone rises to the levels of the Masters, they realize that little on the earthly plain falls in their realm of need. I stay pretty conscious about letting life happen as it may… until the bigger stuff hits, then I am reminded of reality and how far I have to go.
Until then I suppose we all rise and fall and rise again.
good post, professor schmanes