Chapter 15 Atheists, Ignorance
As if on cue, the writing of The People of Pilgrim's Progress is coming to a close. John Bunyan brings Atheist and Ignorance together, and I walk the pilgrimage path to St. Isidol on Jeju Island, the same path that Jesus walked on the cross for me. It was a path of suffering for Jesus, but a path of naver-ending grace for me.
As Hopeful and Christian looked ahead, they saw a man walking in the wrong direction. The man's name was Atheist. "We are heading towards Mount Zion, where are you going?" Christian spoke first.
"I was once like you, looking for the kingdom of heaven. But there is no such thing!"
"You must look beyond this world. The kingdom of heaven is beyond this world."
"I met a man called 'Ignorance' on the road, and he said something very interesting about your religion. He said it was funny to believe that believing in Christ was the way to the kingdom of heaven, because we can just say we believe, and life can still be wicked, and we still go to heaven!"
Hopeful spoke up again, "Did he say his name was Ignorance? Ah~ that's what he might say, but a real Christian proves it by his life. Some people may eat their way through the regular life and rituals of religion, but at the end of the day, such people will be thrown out at the gates of the kingdom; God knows who are his children."
"The Bible says that faith without works is dead," Christian said again, "not because our actions save us, but because real faith is fruitful in sincere actions, so real faith fixes our lousy lives."
"Yes, God is a searcher of hearts. Do you think God is fooled by people's hypocrisy?"
"I've come all this way looking for heaven, but now I realise it's all in vain. So I'm going to go back to the way I used to enjoy, and leave you guys to find heaven!"
Atheists and Ignorance (2022)
Pilgrimage to St Isidore 1
Sometimes on my pilgrimage I encounter atheists and ignoramuses, who consistently insist that there is no God. Rather, they mock me, saying that the Jesus I believe in is a myth, and that God doesn't exist in the first place. This mockery is not unique to me as a Christian. The authors of the Psalms also faced this mockery: "They mocked me, saying, Where is your God? My tears day and night have become my food; why are you so downcast, O my soul, why are you so troubled? Wait for your God. Now will I praise thee again, my saviour, my God (Psalm 42:3-5). The Apostle Paul also says, 'For for me the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God' (1 Corinthians 1:18). With these words in my heart, I set out on my pilgrimage again.
There is one place I always stop by on my visits to Jeju Island. It's the St. Isidol pilgrimage route, and I've been walking it for a while on Jeju Island in my later years. No, when we think of pilgrimage routes, we think of the Camino de Santiago. But I hadn't realised that Jeju Island has its own pilgrimage route, even though I've visited the island so many times. St. Isidore is said to be derived from Isidore (Latin Isidorus), a farmer born in Madrid, Spain, who is a Catholic saint (feast day, 15 May).
If you go there, you'll find sculptures depicting the symbiosis of Jesus from 2000 years ago. The sculpture of Jesus on the eve of his crucifixion was so gruesome that I couldn't stay long. It shows a living Jesus lying on a cross, with a stake driven into his palms. In the sculpture's face, I could read the most excruciating pain a human being could experience. In another scene, a soldier stops a woman from reaching Jesus in a fit of fever. I was glad it was a statue, but it occurred to me that if I had been there in 2000, I probably would have fainted, as I'm not usually one to watch gory scenes.
The Cross of Jesus and the Two Prisoners (2022)
However, the scene of Jesus' crucifixion between two prisoners caught my eye: 2000 years ago today, the Lord was crucified on the hill of Golgotha with two other prisoners. The Bible records the scene: 'Two other prisoners were led away with Jesus to be crucified. When they came to a place called Golgotha, the soldiers crucified Jesus. They crucified the other two prisoners as well, one on His right side and the other on His left. Jesus prayed. "Father, forgive these men. Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Above Jesus' head was a sign that read, "This is the King of the Jews. One of the prisoners running with him cursed him. "You are a great Messiah! Save yourself! Save us!" But another prisoner interrupted him. "Aren't you afraid of God? He is suffering the same thing as you. We deserve to be punished, but he does not. He has done nothing to deserve this punishment." Then he said, "Jesus, enter your kingdom. "Jesus, remember me when you enter your kingdom," he said. "Don't worry. I will do that. Today you will be with me in paradise." It was now noon. The whole earth became dark, and the darkness continued for the next three hours. It was pitch black. The veil of the temple was torn in the middle. Jesus cried out with a loud voice. "Father, into your hands I commit my life!" With that, he breathed his last (Luke 23:32-46)'
What matters to me now is that the moment we believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, we are given new life. How is that possible? It may seem so unfair in some ways. I've been a prisoner all my life, and I can go to heaven with one moment's confession? Secular religions believe that you can go to paradise with deep discipline of body and mind, or by doing lots of good deeds, but Christianity doesn't. What matters to me now is to realise that I can go to paradise with one moment's confession, just like the prisoner on the side of Jesus' cross. John Bunyan's 'little faith' in The Passion of the Christ, though he lived a shaky life in the world, was due to his faith in God alone, not in his own merits. My confession now is 'faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me'.
As I was leaving the pilgrimage to the crucifixion, I saw a man named Joseph from Arimathea carrying the body of Jesus who had just died on the cross, and I thought to myself, "So Jesus is crucified and that's the end of it. He just goes into history as a saint and dies!" Because that's not what Jesus had been all along, coming as a king to save the world.
People carrying the body of Jesus (2022)
But then history takes a twist: Jesus rises from the dead after three days - three days is the biological time for a body to begin to decompose. He appears to his disciple, Thomas, and extends his hand to identify the nail marks. He appears before Peter, the only disciple Jesus has ever followed, and shares a meal with him. He appeared to the disciples on the road to Emmaus. The Bible says that after spending 40 days with his disciples, he was taken up into heaven in front of them.
Jesus finds Peter in his resurrected body(2022)
But that wasn't the end of it, as Jesus ascended into heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit and asked his disciples to live the same life he had lived. He didn't just ask them with words, he came as the Holy Spirit into the bodies of the disciples gathered in the upper room at Pentecost. This is the work and grace of the Holy Spirit, sent by God, that is still alive and well, beyond the reason and knowledge of a natural scientist. As each of these scenes is transferred onto the page, I feel myself being touched by the Holy Spirit and grace deep within my soul.
Jesus ascends into heaven in front of his disciples (2022)
