This week marks the 50th anniversary of the death of eleven Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972 by a group of Palestinian gorillas called, Black September.
I was 13 years old. I’ll never forget watching the Olympics with my dad and siblings. Then the terror.
The news was blurry at first, a group of Israeli athletes were being held hostage by a group of Palestinians. I knew where Israel was on the map, but I had no idea who Palestinians were, let alone the conflict between the two.
Maybe you remember like I do the hooded man walking out on the balcony of the Olympic village. I felt what can only be described as terror. He looked like evil personified. It was my first encounter with what today we would call a terrorist act. The standoff ended in tragedy. All eleven Israeli hostages were killed and five of the eight Palestinians. The world was outraged. The Israeli government launched a retaliatory action called Operation Wrath of God which gave Mossad the charge to track down and kill anybody connected to the killings.
This week also marks the Twenty-first anniversary of the 911 terrorist attacks. The planes flying into the buildings, the people jumping from the towers, the towers collapsing, the great loss of innocent lives is etched in our collective memory. I remember feeling as though I could hear the screams as the towers crashed down. We called it a terrorist attack because that’s what it was, it struck terror in the depths of all of our hearts. The United States Government launched a war on terror to track down and kill anybody connected to the attack.
Black September, and 911, they make me think of Jesus.
This morning I read the account of the betrayal and death of Jesus. Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus tells the disciples to not fall asleep so they won’t be tempted. They fall dead asleep. It’s a small but significant betrayal. Judas leads a group of people with swords and clubs to betray Jesus with a kiss. Another significant betrayal. Peter denies Jesus three times. Again, one of Jesus’s own betrays him. He’s taken before Pilot. The crowd of Pharisees, Sadducees and the common people call for the death of Jesus. He’s betrayed by people he’s known and taught for years. He’s taken to the hill of Golgotha and is laid on the cross to be crucified. He screams out “God my God, why have you abandoned me.” He feels betrayed by God.
Yet, as the nails are driven into his hands he prays, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they’re doing.”
Jesus doesn’t plot a revenge against the disciples, Judas, the Jewish Religious Elite, Pilot, or the soldiers who killed him. He simply bows his head and endures. Even though he suffers tremendous terror, he practices what the scriptures teach, “Return no person evil for evil.”
I find a lesson from Jesus. Is it right, ethical, and faithful to return violence with violence? While I don’t believe we should allow the bullies of the world to run roughshod over people, as a person of faith Jesus makes me question my gut instincts.
My job as a pastor is to teach and guide people in the way of Jesus. I point to how Jesus lived and say we need to imitate him. I ask how would Jesus respond to Black September? How would Jesus have responded to 911? If his crucifixion is any indication, he wouldn’t’ have drawn a sword, waged a war of revenge, or brought down a heavenly army, he would have prayed for God to forgive them for they know not what they do.
I’ll never forget the Sunday after 911 when emotions were running high and hot. I had many people come out of worship and express outrage and anger. I had one member though I’ll always remember. He came out and said, “What if in the name of Jesus we did nothing in response.” I’ll never forget him or what he said. It has stayed with me as one of the more spiritually insightful things I’ve ever heard.
Jesus would have made a terrible President, Head of State, member or congress, or military leader. The world we live in is complex and full of violent bullies. We are living in the presence of one of them, Vladimir Putin. I often wonder how Jesus would have responded to Hitler and the Jewish Holocaust. Is there a point when even he would have taken up arms? It makes me wonder.
This week as we ponder the terror from fifty years ago, or twenty-one years ago, to the terror that strikes your life, I hold up Jesus, who I claim to follow and I always ask, “What would Jesus do?” It’s an answer we all will probably not like, but if we strive to be faithful, we must do.
Steve
Listen for my Podcast, Cowboy Jesus on Podbean and Spotify. Watch my midweek shoutout’s on FB, and check my website www.senttosoarcoaching.com
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