My wife borrowed a book "Tears of Jesus" from another member of our church.  Its title, Tears of Jesus, caught my eyes and I riffled through the pages.  There were sentences written on the sleeve of the book.

A sister who feels nausea seeing a cross against her will. In midst of her agony, Jesus spoke to her.

 

 

What is the ultimate misunderstanding concealed in “the cross-detesting syndrome” which started to appear world-wide?

This novel deals with a topic more sensational than “Da Vinci Code”, yet it appeals deeply into the heart of every reader,

My wife enjoys reading this book in bed every night.  But I can’t wait till she finishes the entire book.  So, I took the book with me to work during the day and gave it back to her at night. She used a cotton book marker and I used a paper book marker to distinguish where we stopped. However, after I began reading it, I read it through all the way to the end without stopping.  It had a topic which didn’t allow me to read it in a leisurely mood.

“Tears of Jesus” written by Peter Chavier (Art Village Publisher) is a novel of suspense and romance. The Roman Pope and the Cardinals that appear in this novel are all fictitious. However, phenomena similar to the “cross-detesting syndrome” in this novel are actually occurring in various parts of the world.

This is a phenomenon which occurs to devout Christians.  They are suddenly attacked by nausea or a detesting feeling seeing a cross.  In some extreme cases, the cross is burned or destroyed.

What is common among these people is that they only detest the cross and not Jesus.  They rather deeply love Jesus and sympathize with Jesus’ sorrow and it seems that this triggers them to be involved with such a syndrome.

Then, why do they detest the cross?

The Christian Church, Catholic or Protestant, have evangelized its teaching based on the following doctrine:

Jesus was crucified with his own will for the redemption of the human sin.

In other words, Jesus came on earth to be crucified.

Therefore, we are “saved” from our sin by believing “Jesus who was crucified.”

However, those involved with the “cross-detesting syndrome” oppose the above doctrine.  They sometimes see visions of Jesus, hear his voice, or experience what Jesus is feeling in their prayers and conclude that Jesus was crucified against his will. Therefore, the cross should not be adored as something beautiful.

As I read this book, I thought that it dealt what I had always thought about ever since I became a Christian.  I have thought that Jesus’ cross was not what he had wanted and that it was against his will.  No one taught me about it, but I naturally believed so and I talked about it on various occasions, such as at practice time of the choir I conduct Passion music.  I recently talked about it at my lecture on “Passion music of John”.

As is written in this book, this thought was heretical from the church’s point of view. That’s why it’s natural even if one’s life is aimed at or if one had to go under inquisition and be burned just as it was mentioned in this novel.  Of course, the modern church does not have such a legal power any more, but the leaders of my church who read my home page could have found it inexcusable and could have ordered me to submit a written apology.

I like Jesus as a human being. I do not go to church and I am not such a serious Christian, but I definitely love Jesus.  Basically, I only looked at and followed Jesus.

What do I like about Jesus?  I like the way he lived.  He was straight and he never compromised. He never sought for his own interest and wished for the happiness of others. He is full of life and is always with those who are oppressed. On the other hand, he walks right into the midst of his enemy to tell the truth, knowing how dangerous it may be.  He is indeed a perfect person.  I have always wanted to be like him.

When I look straight at Jesus, I can feel his heart, especially his sorrow and how regretful he was. I can feel his desperate prayers at Gethsemane and how he was disappointed with his disciples who fell asleep.  I can hear him crying out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

I’ m not trying to say that St. Paul and the early Christian who raised the cross as a symbol of salvation were wrong. However, I can’t agree with the idea that one can be saved just by believing that Jesus came on earth solely for the purpose of being crucified and that he took away all our sins.  “Do you believe it? You do! Then, congratulations! You are now saved! I now give you a permit to go to Heaven. You can live as you want and you can go to heaven. All you have to do is to believe in Jesus. It’s so simple and easy. There’s no better religion than this.” When I try to feel Jesus’ heart, I cannot agree with such an idea.

Thus the idea of this book is not something new to me. I found in the Internet the other day, “The cross is a negative heritage of the world.”  I liked the expression and borrowed it in my lecture.  In this novel, someone with such an idea would be nearly assassinated. The traditional doctrine may be more solid and hard to break down than I think.

We may not easily draw any conclusion. If you are interested in this issue, please read it once.