The wait for salvation has plunged Jews and Christians into eternal disgrace. A theological-philosophical reflection on the Ascension of Christ.

The Ascension of Jesus in the church of Notre Dame de la Gorge Photo: UIG/imago

Christianity began as a Jewish sect, one of many Jewish sects that passionately fought each other in the explosive political climate of the end of the Second Temple era. Initially, Jesus was seen as a kind of human prophet and religious leader, but Christians later adopted the story of the Son of God coming to earth to redeem humanity.

His death on the cross meant that the world was truly redeemed and that we moved from a state of waiting for salvation to one in which salvation was actually being accomplished. But then the Christian theologians looked around and said: Damn, everything is more or less the same: taxes are high, the cost of living is killing us, not to mention diseases, wars and the unbearable fact of that in the end you have to die. .

Then they took a somewhat more moderate stance: We are not completely redeemed yet, but that will happen soon. Just a little more effort. In the meantime, he tries to be a good person, donate money to the church and don't get abortions. This means that Christianity has fallen into the same trap that Messianic Judaism has found itself in since the destruction of the Second Temple: the Messiah is coming soon and, in the meantime, we must keep the commandments, pray a lot and vote for religious parties. Oh, and women are supposed to cover their bodies in all kinds of rags, and men are not supposed to think about sex.

Psychologically, this perspective means that our gaze is always focused on a future promise that will never be fulfilled. The present is just a corridor to a future where everything will be fine, and in this corridor most people suffer.

Hope of a Messiah

This corridor is currently dominated by the likes of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Jihia al-Sinwar, the head of the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Vladimir Putin and perhaps in the not-too-distant future Donald Trump. The student demonstrations on Columbia University's campus are definitely bringing it closer to electoral victory.

The only thing we can do is bow our heads and hope that God finally decides to send the Messiah, otherwise he won't do much for us. Occasionally it makes a statue of the Virgin Mary cry, but how does that change our situation in this world?

Judaism has held onto this passive and oppressive view for millennia, and only the secularization of Jews since the early 19th century has changed it. Christians did not fall into this vicious passivity because they had to manage countries, but the psychological legacy of this position does not allow us to focus on the present, to have true joy, true peace.

Anyone who thinks about Maximilan Krah when he has sex…

For example, I walk through the beautiful Grunewald and think of Netanyahu, Sinwar, Maximilian Krah… Philosophers like Hegel believed that we should look to the future, but think of the future in terms of progress and enlightenment. Perhaps in the 19th century it could still be assumed that humanity was constantly improving and developing. Today that is almost impossible.

It may be that in certain situations this disturbing Judeo-Christian consciousness is eliminated or at least weakened. For example during sexual relations. Anyone who thinks about Maximilian Krah during sex is really lost. Perhaps he has no choice but to practice Buddhism…