Blood lust

The front page of today's Indian Express showed a horrific set of pictures. Images from a video of what seems to be the killing of naked men and women in the final stages of the elimination of the LTTE in Sri Lanka.

The accompanying article says that comments heard on the video indicate sexual abuse had taken place before the triggers were pulled. The video - apparently shot by one of the participants - lingers over the naked bodies. In one portion another hand can be seen capturing the scene using a mobile phone.

The cruelty that we as the human race mete out on each other. Where else has this scene been played out? A quick list that forms in my head include the killing fields of Cambodia, the dirty war in Argentina, the clusters of massacres in the Balkans, the slaughters in Rwanda... and these are all during my life-time, to speak nothing of the long line of incidents that keep being done along the long bloody trail of our historic inhumanity.

During this week I have a task at hand. To prepare a talk on one of the names of Jesus Christ - namely "Immanuel - God with us." Christians usually come to this name around the time they celebrate the birth of Christ. Its usually thought of in a sweet and lovely way. My own daily reading of the Bible had me covering the events of Jesus' execution.

In my revulsion and horror at the pictures from Sri Lanka - heightened by the knowledge of the sexual abuse that was carried out along with the murders - my cry was 'God, where are you at this time?' There is no pat answer - but there is one of flesh and blood. This is where my current Bible reading offered some insights.

The nakedness of those corpses was experienced by the naked corpse that hung from a Roman cross in AD 29. The abuse by the one who knew no sin - and yet was executed in the most degrading manner of the day. They stripped him of his garments, hurled abuse at him, marred him beyond recognition, yet tried to keep him alive so that he would experience the pain. Soldiers have over the centuries excelled in rape, torture and killing. The professionals who carried out the execution of Jesus of Nazareth would have taken pictures with their mobiles if those were available in those days. Perhaps to show their colleagues in the barracks later, perhaps for their own blood lust.

But the indescribable was experienced by He who flung stars into space. I can only imagine - in the most superficial way - the horror and pain those men and women went through in that nameless video. Jesus has experienced the degradation, the tearing of flesh, the unamable shaming in his own body, in his own soul and spirit. He remains true to His name - Immanuel - the God who is with us - even in the most unspeakable situations - because He himself has gone through them.

One difference to the men and women in Sri Lanka is that Jesus' death was public. It was witnessed by his enemies - who participated in further hurling insults and abuse at him - and at least some of his friends. We are told especially that at a distance women looked on. Mary Magdalen, Mary his mother, Mary Clopas (possibly his aunt) and others. What went through the minds of those who loved Him as they saw Him being tortured to death? What went through Christ's pain-scarred mind as He glimpsed His loved ones looking on from the distance?

As horrific as the account of Christ's execution is (and most of the Gospel accounts use very sober language when I would have gone into the gore had I been there) the fact of the matter is that they do not end with Jesus' broken body being brought down and buried in the tomb. The structure of Scripture takes us further - to His victory over death and repeated appearances before his followers.

And scripture also takes us forward into uncharted territory for us as humanity. A time when all will be called into account. A time when the ultimate war-crimes tribunal will take place. Where every deed is detailed, every hidden act is brought to light, when true justice will be meted out - once and for all.

Whoever pulled the triggers in the murders of the naked men and women in Sri Lanka, whoever used their bodies to rape and sexually abuse those about to die, whoever recorded the scenes for their further blood lust - all will be called to account. There can be no other way. The Bible says that the dead, great and small will be standing before the great white throne of judement - and books will be opened (Rev. 20.11-15). No dodgy FIRs, no hazy statements - just the facts - whatever they were in those hazy jungle days. And the eternal consequences for those who have not repented of what they have done.