The Soldiers Mock Jesus
27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
~Matthew 27
Before Hitler was able to slaughter 6 million Jews in Nazi Germany, he first had to “work the crowd” over to soften them up, much like a comedian comes on before the main event. There was a deliberate Nazi campaign of movies, cartoons and false satirical rhetoric that marginalized and MOCKED the Jewish people. This created a heart of disdain. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE this technique of the devil. Once you disdain a whole group of people, it is much easier to HURT THEM.
Fast forward to 2014…Christian persecution is ramping up exponentially. In formerly Christian countries, such as the United States and Australia, Christians are openly mocked and ridiculed in frightening intensity. Here’s a Facebook posting describing the advertisement up above:
The ‘performance’ has the presenter (Joshua J Ladgrove) acting in the role of Jesus Christ. The show is described as being perfect for:
“altar girls and altar boys”, “atheists”, “priests (and by extension sexual deviants)” and “anyone who enjoys yelling at Jesus whilst watching a dramatic re-enactment of everyone’s favorite fairy-tale: The Crucifixion of Jesus The Christ.”
The supposedly ‘improvised’ ‘comedy’ performance will encourage the audience to heckle the person of Christ and even ‘throw things at his head’.
We cannot be silent
Decent people of any religious persuasion or none will easily recognise the offence that this supposed comedy show creates. Would the producers of the festival dare allow a show that would treat Mohammad in a similar manner?
What you can do
We are asking you to contact the two major sponsor of the Fringe Festival, the South Australian Government and Bank SA, to voice your disapproval. Let them know that they should not be providing funds for such outrageous and blasphemous productions.
Please also pass this on to your friends, church leaders you know and anyone else that you think will share our disgust and outrage.
Regardless of the outcome, we must stand up together.
Emails:
Premier, The Hon Jay Weatherill MP Cheltenham@parliament.sa.gov.au
The BankSA complaints line email: custrelbsa@banksa.com.au
Come Heckle Christ
www.adelaidefringe.com.auAdelaide Fringe is an annual open-access arts festival run over four weeks in Adelaide, South Australia during February and March.
It’s Time to REPENT!
~Posted with permission by Pastor Jeffrey N. Daly
