What if Jesus Returned to Earth as a Man to Test Us? Dostoevsky’s The Grand Inquisitor
Imagine the scene hundreds of years ago in Spain. The Church is being purged by violence and Roman Catholic leaders are inflicting horrifying punishments on those who question their faith. It’s the Spanish Inquisition and the pioneers feel they are serving God by purifying Christ’s Church of unbelievers, heretics and sinners.
To perform God’s work, they feel they must execute suffering on others for the ‘greater good’
Then, a solitary figure emerges through the crowds, healing the sick, serving the poor and loving the outcast. He comes to disturb the ‘great work’ of purging the Church of heretics and sinners, and he’s arrested and dragged before the grand inquisitor of the Church.
The religious interrogator holds the life and death of those he questions in his hands, but it horrifies him to recognise the eyes of Jesus before him. Deep down in his soul, the inquisitor knows that Jesus of Nazareth has returned – as a man – to witness what the Church is doing in His name.
“Why, then, art Thou come to hinder us?” the grand inquisitor says to Jesus, “For Thou hast come to hinder us and Thou knowest that”
– The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Lord stares with piercing, merciful eyes at the grand inquisitor, saying nothing and the conscience of the inquisitor convicts him of sin. He speaks with haste to Jesus, “Thou hast given to us the right to bind and to unbind, and now, of course, Thou canst not think of taking it away. Why, then, hast Thou come to hinder us?”
The inquisitor must now choose to repent or continue governing the Church into graver sin and estrangement from Jesus. He must choose submission to Christ or rebellion, as the Church pursues money, power and dominion. Then the inquisitor finally admits to a truth that he’s been suppressing for decades:
“We are not with Thee [Christ], but with him [Satan], and that is our secret! For centuries have we abandoned Thee to follow him”
– The Grand Inquisitor
The Grand Inquisitor is a story by Fyodor Dostoevsky, set within his epic nineteenth century novel The Brothers Karamazov. As I read, I wondered what Jesus would make of His Church today? If Jesus of Nazareth walked into our megachurches with their smoke machines, celebrity pastors in private jets, trendy preachers with mansions, media experts, negotiators, spin-doctors and shopping malls attached, would He thank us?
Jesus, are we serving You or ourselves? Are we advancing the Kingdom of God or building our own kingdom?
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness
– 2 Peter 3:10-11
By Paul Backholer. Find out about Paul’s books here.
