Cancelling Jesus - Father Dave's Blog

“Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, and on the way, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” (Mark 8:27)

Why did Jesus care what people said about Him? Here I am, telling myself that it doesn’t matter what other people think of me and that God’s opinion is the only one that counts, and then I see Jesus wanting to know exactly what people were saying about Him. Isn’t this the same Jesus who said, “Woe to you when all the people speak well of you!” (Luke 6:26)?

I suppose the issue for Jesus wasn’t whether He was popular. He didn’t care much whether people liked Him or not. Jesus recognised though that, to a significant extent, it was the way other people perceived Him that would determine where His life was going. Indeed, all of us who operate in the civic sphere have our lives shaped by our public personas. That’s why our enemies work so hard to discredit us.

The first character-assassination I saw first-hand was in 1986 when my friend, Mordechai Vanunu, published his photographs of Israel’s secret nuclear weapons factory in The Sunday Times. Stories immediately started circulating about Morde being a mad man, a conman, a traitor and a spy! I was relatively naïve at the time. I assumed that the press had just been misinformed and that I, or one of Morde’s other friends, would be able to set them straight. We tried to set them straight. The misinformation campaign didn’t skip a beat!

We remember what happened to Julian Assange when he first published the “Collateral Murder” video in 2007. Stories suddenly started circulating about Julian’s wild sex life! This is how these people work. If the message is unbearable yet unassailable, you attack the messenger. Julian was soon being labelled as a rapist. Who would listen to a rapist? The best they could do with Jesus was to label him ‘a glutton and a drunkard!’ (Luke 7:34).

I’ve had my own history of people spreading misinformation about me. When I tried to have some of the rubbish removed from my Wikipedia page recently, I was reminded that there has been a team of people out there for some time who have worked hard to discredit me. I suspect they haven’t gone away. Perhaps that should encourage me. Jesus did say, “Blessed are you when they revile you.” (Matt 5:11)

‘What was the disinformation that they were spreading about Jesus? Yes, they called him a glutton and a drunkard, but you can’t be crucified for either of those crimes. The more serious misinformation depicted Jesus as a revolutionary, trying to lead a revolt against Rome. That was a narrative with a predictable climax.

“Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, and on the way, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.” (Mark 8:27-30)

They were in the heart of the Empire – in a city named after two great dictators (Julius Caesar and Philip of Macedon) – and Jesus was keen to know what people were saying about Him. Associating Him with Elijah or one of the prophets meant people perceived Jesus to be a significant religious and political player. That could mean trouble. Peter’s declaration that Jesus was ‘the Messiah’ meant more trouble still! However we understand ‘Messiah’, the title clearly designated Jesus as someone who was going to transform their society. Understandably, Jesus told His team to keep this to themselves.

The way people speak about us is important, but it is not all important. People laud us, praise us, reward, and admire us. Then they revile us, spread misinformation, flame and cancel us. Even Jesus couldn’t control the process completely, and at Golgotha Jesus’ enemies thought that they had successfully cancelled Him. Even so, it only took three days for God to re-platform Jesus.

Our Sunday Eucharist

We celebrated another wonderful Eucharist last Sunday. A big thank you to Father Mark and Rob who joined me on the panel, and to everybody who contributed, As per usual, I’ve extracted some ‘shorts’ from our Bible Banter that are featured below. To see more, head over to the Sunday Eucharist Instagram page.

This coming Sunday I’m looking forward to having Karyn Hemming and Andrew Madry on the panel with me. Hopefully, we’ll also get some wisdom from Father Ola. Join us if you can, please, from noon at TheSundayEucharist.com and on Facebook , YouTube, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

Let me work your corner

If you’d like to see my work continue, please click here to make a one-off donation, If you can afford a monthly contribution, sign up at Patreon.comand choose either:

Middleweight – $10/month (community mentoring)

Enrol in the Fighting Fit training program
Access member-only training videos
Publish to the members-only blog
Get free access to silver level membership at SurefireWealth.com
Super-Middleweight $50/month (remote mentoring)
All of the above +
One-on-one mentoring via email, phone, or Skype

Heavyweight – $100/month (in-person mentoring)

All of the above +
Training with Father Dave’s Old School Boxing Academy

Superheavyweight – $200/month (intensive in-person mentoring)

All of the above +
One weekend per month at Binacrombi Bush Camp.

Every dollar helps keep the wheels turning – the websites, the newsletters, the broadcasts, the boxing club and the bush camp. Even so, it’s not a one-way process. I want to support you in return, so please fill out the Physical and Spiritual Fitness Assessment form and get it back to me, and then sign up at Patreon.com.

What’s On?

Saturday, Sept 14–Boxing at Fadi’s Boxing Gym in Fivedock from 8.30 am
Sunday, Sept 15^th – Our Eucharist from midday via thesundayeucharist.com (or through Facebook , YouTube, Twitter, or LinkedIn).
Tuesday, Sept 17^th – Boxing at The Mundine Gym in Redfern from 7 pm.
Thursday, Sept 19^th – Boxing at The Mundine Gym in Redfern from 7 pm.
Friday to Sunday, September 20-22 – @Binacrombi. Please join me

My weekly schedule is returning to normal after my week’s holiday. I spent the last few days of that in Melbourne and came back with a cold. Even so, it was well worth the effort as I was able to be with my darling daughter, Imogen, on her birthday.

It was wonderful to be able to spend that time with Imogen and her partner, Hamish. I was also able to celebrate the birthday of my good friend, John Shipton, while I was there. It was great. I’ll just remember to take warmer clothes next time.

The other big event for me this week was that my son, Soren, announced his engagement to his partner, Lydia. They called and told us via Facetime, and I took this screenshot. They are wonderful people and very good for each other. I give thanks to God for them both.

So … I’ve had my break and it’s time to get back into the fray. I’ve got some fights coming up next month and, of course, the greater fight continues to rage around us, though I find I’m having more trouble staying up to date on what is happening.

The hourly updates I was getting on Gaza through Telegram have suddenly stopped. I’m not sure whether that’s connected to the arrest of Durov (Telegram’s CEO) or to some other form of censorship or whether it’s just coincidence. We will have to work harder on keeping www.israelandpalestine.org up to date, keeping us all informed.

Truth is elusive but, as our Gospel reading today reminded us, it is essential. If we don’t know who or what we are dealing with, how can we move forward? God grant us wisdom, courage, and the light of truth.

Your brother in the Good Fight,