Phantasmagoria Two

Much is made in the study of the Bible about the "recapitulation of themes"--as though it might only be understood about recurring narrated themes that they are presented so in order to help us understand.  One might be reminded of the "spirit of Elijah" and how it is described in the Old Testament as a precursor of the end of the age.  Then John the Baptist comes along (bearing scant external resemblance to the Elijah prophecy) and Jesus says that John is an embodiment of the spirit of the prophet.  In truth, one might only conclude that the substance of John's message is enough to validate his connection to Elijah.  The "spirit of Elijah" is a spirit of self-denying expectation of the messiah.  The recapitulation of the prophecy of the spirit of Elijah is a description of a recurring (waxing and waning) devotion of the people.  The appearance of the spirit of Elijah is something that is always happening.

Similarly, the theme of Jesus suffering temptation is not shown at first in the desert and then at last in Gethsemane in order merely to seal a theme in the minds of readers.  It is said of the Temptations that they are concluded with Satan going away and waiting to assail Jesus again at some opportune moment.  That statement cannot be taken literally, since the humanity of Jesus would be a farce if Jesus were not subject--as are we all--with temptation at every turn.  The temptation of Jesus never ended.

This is one of the reasons that I will refer to the Crucifixion as a "phantasmagoria."  This has nothing to do with idea that the Crucifixion is "ahistorical" (that is, that it cannot be shown to have happened) but rather that it is "atemporal" (that is, that any notion of its attachment to time--or even to space--is immaterial.)  Jesus--as a human being subject to temptation as all of us--was constantly in the desert with the devil.  Jesus--as a human being always carrying the cross that he assigns to all of us--was constantly being crucified.

So also with the notion that the life--particularly the Passion--of Jesus is a recapitulation of the early Genesis themes.  To link Eden with Gethsemane can provide abundant fodder for sermons, but the truth of humanity under judgment is not understood as bracketed by the two gardens.  Rather, it is understood as constant interaction of human with (and within) the conditions of Genesis, as Jesus so often reminds us.

Another Genesis reference will provide the best illustration.  God says to Cain, "if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door."  The only intelligible interpretation of the passage is to the effect that straying from the proper path will lead to a burgeoning of innumerable other improper paths.  It is not to be missed that Cain in punished with the prospect of spending all his days as a rootless and ill-sustained wanderer (and it is the prospect, not the outcome, that is the punishment, for God does not prevent Cain from founding a city.)  For Cain, as for all immersed in sin, time and place are torments and continual concerns.  That is why worldly and corrupt religion looks to recurring themes as benchmarks of eager anticipation.  This or that theme is going to crop up to take away the sting of some regret or of some self-judgment.

The righteous, however, are unburdened by time and space, and are predisposed to discern the themes of God always and everywhere.  At least--time and space mean nothing to Jesus, and only by remembering this can we understand his ministry.