Recently there was a production of Jesus Christ Superstar that caused a great deal of controversy. Those who saw it as an attack on the faith were incensed. I saw many posts writing about this saying, “God will not be mocked.”
This is a paraphrase of Galatians 6:7-8: “Make no mistake: God is not mocked, for a person will reap only what he sows, because the one who sows for his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows for the spirit will reap eternal life from the spirit.” St. Paul makes clear that in the end, God will mete out His justice. Those who play fast and loose with their faith run the great risk of losing their salvation.
But St. Paul is referring here to the ultimate consequences. What we see in the Gospels is that in some sense the opposite is true:
God will be mocked.
In Matthew 20: 19, Jesus says that He will be handed over “to mock and scourge and crucify Him.”
Mark 15: 16-20 states, “The soldiers led him away inside the palace, that is, the praetorian, and assembled the whole cohort. They clothed him in purple and, weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him. They began to salute him with, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and kept striking his head with a reed and spitting upon him. They knelt before him in homage. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him out to crucify him.”
Later, in verses 29-32, Mark writes, ” Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself by coming down from the cross.’ Likewise the chief priests, with the scribes, mocked him among themselves and said, ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.’ Those who were crucified with him also kept abusing him.”
The entire purpose of the crown of thorns was to mock Jesus’ claim to be king. Jesus endured all of it, every humiliation that the world could throw at Him. He endured the mockery of the world.
Mockery is a powerful weapon to change people’s behavior. Think back to the simplier days of school and how afraid we were to be labeled different and to be mocked for our clothes, our appearance, our hobbies, our taste in music, and everything else. Direct confrontation can often cause someone to harden in their position. But if there is enough social pressure to mock an aspect of someone, then people are much more likely to change. I remember someone told me once that as a child they loved dinasaurs and they were obsessed with them. They had dinosaur toys, posters, books, bedsheets… the whole works. And then one day in middle school someone said to him with derision, “Dinosaurs are stupid.” And with that he gave up on the dinosaurs he loved.
You may be tempted to dismiss this as a childish submission to peer pressure. But this does not go away as we get older. How much pressure to adults feel at work or on social media to present themeselves in a way so as not to be mocked. They don’t want to be seen as out of step or as living a lesser lifestyle than their social circles. The power of mocking can reshape a person.
That is why it was used against our Lord. His adversaries could never overcome Him in open debate, so they had to be reduced to mockery. And in mocking Him, they hoped to shame those that followed Him. This is the same reason why people mock Christ today. People go out of their way to try and humiliate Jesus because they cannot stand the light of His truth. And in mocking Him they hope that those who are His followers or potential followers will be turned away so as not be lumped in with Him.
So how should we respond?
Before anything else, we should examine our own consciences. Have we mocked the Lord by our words and actions? Do we take God’s name in vain? Do we support entertainment that mocks the Lord? Or what about our irreverence? I heard someone once say that Roman soldiers mocked the Lord by genuflecting in front of Him without real reverence in their hearts. He asked, “How many times have I genuflected before that tabernacle without real reverence in my heart?” Examining our own behavior will help keep us from falling into the sin of judgment.
The first thing always to do is to pray. And our prayer should start as one of mercy. We should pray that the light of God’s love will dawn in their hearts. The story of St. Genesius tells us that this is possible. He was an actor who was mocking Christian baptisms, when he came upon an epiphany about God’s truth and became a martyr. We pray for the salvation of all. We pray that they will come to fall in love with the person they are mocking.
Should we respond to blasphemous mockery with outrage?
That is actually a more complicated question that must utilize prudence in each situation. Every blasphemy is an outrage. But sometimes the person who is mocking the Lord is doing so in order to get the attention and the outrage. Sometimes it is best to not give these scandalous actions the oxygen they need to grow. I remember a number of decades ago, ABC put on a show called “Nothing Sacred,” which mocked the Church and the priesthood. In my youthful zeal I called for boycotts and letters. I even tried to start a groundswell movement of outrage that did not go very far. But I remember Fr. Benedict Groeschel on EWTN who saw the show and said (I’m paraphrasing), “I saw the show and it’s a bomb. If you’re going to attack the Church, give me a Nietzsche, a Voltaire… someone with a little bit of class. But this show is so bad we don’t need to fight it.” It turns out he was correct and the show was quickly cancelled and forgotten. Notice too how Fr. Groschel used humor and mockery in an act of cultural jujitsu.
Keep in mind too that the enemies of the Lord seek to prompt the outrage so that they can point to Christians as thin-skinned people who are prone to outbursts of anger.
But that doesn’t mean that we should always be calm and silent. Sometimes the outrages against Christ and His Church are so outrageous that it is time to take a strong and vocal stand. It takes wisdom to discern which path to take.
And keep in mind that if they mocked the Lord, they are going to mock you. It is unavoidable if you are going to follow Him. No servant is treated better than the Master. I remember I was at a gathering with my then-fiance. Somehow the conversation turned to contraception. I said that as a faithful Catholic, my wife and I would not be partaking. The sneers and incredulity were shocking to me. It took me by surprise how cavalier people were with throwing away other people’s religious convictions. As a theology teacher, I have been subject to some truly horrible jeers and taunts. I’ve even had my car vandalized by students. It comes with the territory.
When that happens, I do my best to unite my humiliation with that of Christ. He had all the power to put to shame all those that mocked Him. But He endured so that He could show them the depths of His great mercy. He is patient so that all those who are now His enemies have the chance to become His friends. He will absorb their hate so that they have a chance to absorb His love.
And when I am mocked for my faith, I remember the words of Jesus at the Sermon on the Mount:
“Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.h Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)
W.L. Grayson
I am a devoutly Catholic theology teacher who loves a popular culture that often, quite frankly, hates me. I grew up absorbing every movie, TV show, comic book, science fiction novel, etc. I could find. As of today I’ve watched over 2100 movies and tv shows. They take up a huge part of my life. I don’t know that this is a good thing, but it has given me a common vocabulary to draw from in order to illustrate whatever theological point I make in class. I’ve used American Pie the song to explain the Book of Revelation (I’ll post on this some time later) and American Pie the movie to help explain Eucharist (don’t ask). The point is that the popular culture is popular for a reason. It is woven into the fabric of our lives and imaginations, for good or ill. In this blog I will attempt to bring together the things of heaven with the things of earth. Of course this goal may be too lofty for someone like me.
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