The Easter Episode - The archetypes, history and literary importance of Easter. - a podcast by Christy and Garry Shriver

The Easter episode. The archetypes, history and literary importance of Easter.

 

Hi, This is Christy Shriver

 

And this is Garry Shriver, and this is the How to Love Lit podcast.  If you are listening to this in real time, this is the week of Easter 2020- and what a crazy year this has been.  The Kansas City Chiefs, my hometown team finally won the Superbowl after 50 years, we started our hard core workouts, well, we like to think of them that way, but we’d started attending our local work out core training classes regularly…and then… the Corona virus pandemic.  We, like you, are sitting in quarantine..no sports, no anything really.. wondering how the world will sort out this mess.  Of course, we all have ideas, no one appears to really know, lots of people are trying, but many of us are afraid for lots of reasons besides just getting sick, although that’s no small thing. 

 

And so, it is in that spirit that we would like to take a pause from Romantic literature, although we are looking forward to Frankenstein and Mary Shelley next week, and think to understand perhaps- the holiest day of the Christian calendar, Easter.  Easter, if you are not from a Christian background is a holiday that celebrates new birth, renewal- resurrection- and if there were ever a modern moment that planet earth could use a reminder of the idea that things can restart- redo- and even undo a dark past- it is now- in the middle of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.  So, in that spirit and in the spirit of Easter, let’s take a look at one of the most marking stories of Western Literature.- the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

 

We will read the narrative from the gospel of Luke, which is one of the four accounts of the life of Jesus Christ in the Christian New Testament.  As we discussed in the Christmas special, this story is NOT written from the perspective of a Jew or even an immediate disciple of Jesus, but from a Greek man- think Sophocles but a medical doctor by the name of Luke, a friend of Paul of Tarsus or St. Paul as he’s known today.  The story of Luke and how he brings the Greek perspective to the story of Jesus is interesting in and of itself and if you haven’t listened to the Christmas special, go back and catch that. 

 

We also want to read it from the beautiful and most significant translations the English languge has ever known- the King James version of 1611. 

 

It’s a fascinating story in its own right and one, we should tell, perhaps on another religious holiday, but in 1604, King James who actually considered himself a bit of a theologian and had even translated portions of the Bible himself set out to create what today we would called a “peer reviewed’ textual translation of the Bible.  47 scholars worked tirelessly to produce the most faithful, scholarly and ultimately the most accessible translation the world has ever known. And even though today it may feel difficult to read its influence is immeasurable.

 

 

That’s right- and although I know you’re talking about how it changed the political landscape because it empowered individuals- it had the same effect on the English language.  Phases like “my brother’s keeper” “fall from grace” ‘eye for an eye” and “thou shalt not judge” ‘by the skin of one’s teeth”  “salt of the earth” “the prodigal son”just go on and on in the ear of people who may or may not even know where the phrases originated.  Victor Hugo, author of Les Mis sayd, “"England has two books, the Bible and Shakespeare. England made Shakespeare, but the Bible made England."

 

So Today in that spirit, let’s take a look at the most sacred stories in this sacred text.  As you said, Garry, we’re not going to really focus on the author of this particular story, since we did that already.  Instead we’re going to drop the story into historical context, perhaps hit a little bit on the historical context of the story which is interesting in and of itself, but we’re going to look at the story from an archetypal perspective or in some sense a psychological one.  Lots of the ideas that you’ll hear come from Thomas C Foster’s fantastic classic “How to Read Literature Like a Professor” and if you enjoy reading classic literature, it’s really a delightful and informative book as he really breaks down into fun and simple language this extremely complex notion of literary archetypes which is what we’re really going to see in the resurrection narrative.  So by way of getting us into the literary and archetypal frame of mind, Garry, what should any basic student of literasture know about archetypes and how does that help us understand the narrative of the resurrection of Christ?

 

Sure, so the basic concept or observation of Jung is that there are images, symbols, characters and situations that are instinctual expressions of the nature of man.  He’s going to say that there things imprinted in the unconscious psyche of man- that’s been debated and perhaps is informed by religious tradition or other theories, but I think it’s pretty undisputed that there is absolute evidence that there are symbols, charactes and situations that reoccur in every culture on the globe, through time in all eras that are not connected.  So, what do I mean by that- let’s take certain numbers, if we look at the number 3- it represents divinity – there are three parts of the Christian divinity, but there three main gods in Hinduism too- Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.  That’s not a coincidence- that’s a pattern that we see all over the world.  Take the color white- it means purity and innocence- and that is not Western culture- that’s all over the world, and that crosses the expanse of time.  The symbol of water- it means birth, resurrection, purification- and again that is in all literature all over the world.  There are hundreds and hundreds of archetypes.  And according to the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, they are a part of what he called our “collective unconscious”.  Certain things mean certain things to all people- and it’s in our unconscious- it’s not something we’ve learned.

 

The story of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus- so- let’s make the connection

 

This story is archetypal from the beginning to the end.  We’ll start with the last supper and then through the resurrection- you will see that this story is a story we’ve read many times- even if youy’re not a Christian- even if you’ve never heard or read the story at all.  The pattern of the story is familiar- you’ve read it and perhapsit’s innately in our brains.

 

In some sense yes- and in some sense- we’ve read it a lot and we love it.  Let’s just think about blockbuster movies- The Matrix is the most obvious that first comes to my mind- Neo- is definitely a Christ figure and that story has a death and resurrection,.  The Lord of the Rings- Gandalph has a death and resurrection.  Obviously the Chronicles of Narnia with Aslan- but that one was written to be an allegory- but let’s look at some that were not- Man of Steel, the superman story, Anakin in Star Wars, ET in ET, James Cole in 12 Monkeys, Luke in Cool Hand Luke, of course we pointed out Simon in Lord of the Flies- but that’s just a cursory list – it goes on and on.  Jung tells us that these archetypes reveal the nature of our souls- who we are as people, as humanity- in a sense – the key to unlocking what we know about life.  It’s very deep and reading jung is not for the faint-hearted-

 

Well, all that to say, what we want to do today is read portions of the narrative of the crucuficion and resurrection of Christ and point out the archetypes. We won’t try to sort out the mysteries of the universe for you- you may need something to keep you occupied for the rest of the quarantine- but hopefully it will allow you to understand more fully and more deeply a story that has not just shaped Western Civilization- but has roots deep into the inner-shapings of the evolutionary nature of man himself!!    On tht. Note, Garry- let’s start reading.

 

Okay- it’s hard to know exactly where to start the story- so we’re going to start it with the Last Supper- and if you’re unfamiliar with that term, recall Leonardo da Vinci’s amazing mural painted on the wall of a convent in Milan- one of the world’s most recognizable paintings.  I will read from Luke 22. READ LUKE 22:14-23

 

Thomas Foster will tell you that in literature a meal is never just a meal.  Eating together means something- and of course it does.   Even in the real world, if someone asks you out to eat- it’s not because they need you to share the expenses of dinner, but they are extending a token of friendship, perhaps they want a romantic relationship- Thanksgiving in America is not just about a turkey- Italians have three hour dinners not because it takes that long to eat, but- it’s a sign of peace and community.  It’s about bonding- coming togehte- and that is exactly what it is doing here in this text.  This is the institution of one of the most sacred moments in a Christian church today- no matter how you interpret bread and wine- and there are plenty of ways of doing it- this is a moment of togetherness- a covenant- and although in all literature it may not be a holy moment- here it is…although the togetherness doesn’t last very long- in life it never does.  They disciples and Jesus leave the room and go up a mountain called the Mount of Olives.  Jesus wnted to pray, but everyone else fell asleep.  The story picks up at the foot of the Mount of Olives in a garden called Gethsemane.  Let’s pick it up in verse 45- and let the drama unfold.

 

Read 45-54

 

And of course after this is a very very rough night.  After Jesus’ arrest, he is taken in the middle of the night to the high priest.  This is a private and unofficial cross-examination.  After this he is taken to the Temple police for safe-keeping so he can be tried before the official Jesus Supreme court in the morning called the Sanhedrin. 

 

Just for clarification.  The Sanhedrin had complete jurisdiction over all things religious and was composed of 70 members: scribes, pharisees, Sadducees, elders- these were Jewish leaders.  This court met in a place called the Hall of Hewn Stone in the Temple court- and the president of it was called the high Priest.  The members of the court would sit in a semi-circle so every member could see every other member and the prisoner would face all of them.  Spectators could stand behind them.  According to the law, all charges must be supported by the evidence of two witnesses independently examined.  One interesting point is that a member of the court could speak against a prisoner then change his mind and speak FOR him- but not vice versa.  It was a court truly designed for fairness- when a verdict was due every member- from youngest to oldest had to give an individual judgement.  For an acquittal- a majority of ONE was all that you needed and a death sentence could NEVER be carried out the same day it was given- a night must elapse giving a chance for a condemnation to become mercy.  This is interesting to know because what we see in the Jesus story- is that all their rules and regulations were violated on this occasion.  The charge of the Sanhedrin was that of blasphemy which is to claim to be the son of God and insult the majesty of God.  This of course is punishable by death, BUT, the Jews at that time had no power to carry out the death sentence, so they needed to bring Jesus to the Romans.  However, the Romans didn’t care at all about blasphemy against a Jewish God- so this charge is never mentioned before Pilate the roman governor.  Christy, why don’t you read this part of the story.

 

Okay- I’ll pick it up from verses 66-chapter 23:12

 

What we see here is that Jesus is charged with seditious agitation- they bring up this idea that he’s going around encouraging people not to pay their taxes- which of course it not at all what the problem was- but even Herod knew this was a veiled accusation of something else.  Herod knew they hated this guy; he probably knew the guy wasn’t really a threat, but he also knew the Jewish leaders could really make his life difficult, so he did the obvious thing…punted.  Once he was told that Jesus was from Galilee, he saw his out- he said, haha- this is not my jurisdiction and he sends Jesus over to Pilate. And basically says- your problem- I’m tagging out. 

 

And pilate tags in.  Pilate really didn’t want to do anything with Jesus either.  Roman justice was supposed to be impartial- it was the glory of Rome- but what do you do with a mob.  And a mob was what he had- people are worked up and going nuts.  He tries four different ways to let Jesus off the hook, but the Jews were committed- he basically said- he’s the worse person in the entire country- I’m either going to let him out or I’ll let Jesus out- and they say- let out Barabas- eventually Pilate understood that either Jesus was going down or HE was- and he did the “better you than me” sorry dude, move and down Jesus goes down the road to Calvary.  Let’s read it…

 

LUKE 23:13-27

 

Just as a point of clarification- in Roman culture when a criminal is condemned to be crucified, which means being hung up on a piece of wood publicly, his own cross was laid on his shoulders and he was marched to the crucifixion site the longest way possible- usually these guys were made to walk up every street being led by a soldier who would hold a sign up with his crime written on it- this obviously is meant to scare the crime out of anyone thinking about crime in Rome- this is exactly what we’re reading here- except Jesus can’t manage his cross.  He’s been beaten up by too many people.  It’s likely, btw, that Jesus was not a small or weak man, he was a carpenter or think of him as a brick layer- but he’d been pummeled all night by all sorts of soldiers and he’s giving out.  A man by the name of Simon a Cyrenian is pressed into service by the Roman soldier and made to carry the cross. 

 

aRufus- he comes up again in other places in the New Testament- which we don’t have time to get into, but it seems that this incident with Jesus had a transformative effect on Simon and he eventually becomes a Christian- but anyway, here he’s an unlucky guy who happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

Indeed of course, here, Jesus famously dies between two thieves- READ LUKE 23:32-49

 

We see lots of archetypes here- the sky goes black (a sign of evil) the world is at a moment of its most darkest- betrayal of our values had taken us to this point- the Jews had betrayed their values because of hate, the Romans had betrayed theirs because of fear- someone died- and everyone knew he was innocent- yet hate prevailed.  Total darkness.  Jesus cries out before his death, “IT is finished.”  And of course- we’re left with the question- what does he mean by that.  What is “it”- why not “I’m finished”. “The movement is finished” but he says, “IT is finished”- a job, a plan- his task.  And yet, the story is not finished. 

 

After Jesus dies, a member of the Sanhedrin- that council we already talked about, a rich guy named Joseph of Arimaethea wanted Jesus’ body.  He had been against this whole thing.  He took Jesus’ body and buried it in his family tomb.  And three days later we have Easter.  Garry, will you finish up the story for us.

 

Luke 24:1-7

 

The Jewish sabbath is the Christian Saturday, the Christian Sunday is the first day of the week- and it commemorates the resurrection of Christ.  And I like the fact, that it is the women of the Bible who finish out this narrative.  (just saying)- it comes back to that.  The tomb was actually a cave, and they were coming to embalm the body.  When they get there- the stone is rolled away- and they are met with the news that Jesus is gone.  This, of course, is the heart of the story- the all important fact of the empty tomb and the question that unites and divides people to this day, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” 

 

Western literature has inarguably viewed Jesus as the noblest archetypal hero, the perfect archetypal pattern of humanity—Christianity believes he is a living presence…and that’s what you will see that in every piece of Christian art, music and story…

 

So to conclude, today we would like to leave you with the Easter spirit of hope, renewal and rebirth, may Easter 2020 bring with it a promise and that the phrase “It is finished” apply not only to the corona virus (which we definitely hope it does), but to the many hardships it has brought our way- and that today we can all embrace a sense of hope and renewal…and resurrection!! 

 

 

 

 

 

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