For his struggles to dismantle and return political power to the Black masses, Mandela's contribution to human rights cannot be challenged. His 1994 autography Long Walk to Freedom paints an intimate portrait of an ordinary man with foibles and weaknesses but who persevered despite all odds. The 95-year-old patriarch had crammed more into one lifetime than most people ever do. In reflecting on death, he said:
"Death is something inevitable. When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace. I believe I have made that effort and that is, therefore, why I will sleep for the eternity."
While Mandela's achievements and virtues are widely acknowledged, it is also known that the previous British and United States governments (particularly the Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan administrations, respectively) considered Mandela, the firebrand freedom fighter, a terrorist. Not long before his arrest in 1963, Mandela led the militant arm of the African National Congress - a military wing adopted violent means of protesting the racist regime.
Frustrated with the ineffectiveness of peaceful demonstrations, Mandela had departed from his non-violent approach and was embarking on the path of guerrilla warfare when he was caught and brought to trial. The South African Government considered Mandela a subversive force - an enemy of the State to be stopped and silenced. So strong was the State's opposition to Mandela that in 1964 when he and his co-accused where sentenced to substantial jail time, they all breathed a sigh of relief - as they had been bracing for an expected death sentence.
Much has been said about Mandela since his death. For me, one of the most significant lessons that can be drawn from his life is that everything comes down to perspective. The same person can be viewed as an angel to some but considered a demon by others.
I can't help but think about another one of history's great revolutionaries, Jesus.
The Jew who didn't want to be crowned King of the Jews
Jesus, who is still controversial today, in his own time was a highly polarising figure. Opinions about him caused friction and disagreement amongst his followers and non-followers alike. One time when he was surrounded by his disciples, the men who had followed his ministry for three years, men who had toiled with him in the trenches, Jesus asked them an important question: "who do people say I am?" (Mark 8 verses 27-29).
Some people considered him a prophet. Others saw him as nothing more than a man who partied too hard: a glutton, a drunkard and friend of outcasts (Matthew 11 verse 19).
For a holy man, Jesus seemed to give way too much time and access to "sinful" women (Luke 7 verse 39) as well as "insignificant" children (Matthew 19 verses 13 to 14) and he was no stranger to angry outbursts (Matthew 21 verse 12). Other critics felt he was just a religious upstart who openly flouted long standing, hallowed Jewish traditions (Mark 7 and Matthew 12). Some Pharisees thought he was a demon - literally gaining drawing his power from the devil himself! (Matthew 12 verse 24).
It seemed like everyone had a different opinion about this carpenter from the geopolitical backwaters of Nazareth, a place populated by rural peasants (John 7 verse 41). In fact, some wondered: "can anything good come from Nazareth?" (John 1 verse 46). But he wasn't even accepted in Nazareth. When he tried to preach in the synagogue in Nazareth he so angered the townsfolk that they tried to throw him off a cliff! (Luke 4 verses 28-30)
A dejected John the Baptist, the man who had spent his life foretelling and proclaiming the coming of the Messiah, asked from prison whether Jesus was indeed the one John predicted would come or "should we expect someone else?" (Matthew 11 verse 3).
One man, many faces
Ordinary Jews hoped that Jesus would be the one to wrestle freedom from the grip of their Roman oppressors. It was hoped he would gain political power and overthrow the harsh ruling regime. In fact, at one point, after performing the miracle where he fed a crowd of more than 5000 people with two fish and five loaves the people tried to seize him in order to make him King by force. Jesus eluded them (John 6 verse 15).
When he was finally brought down by the religious elite they portrayed Jesus as politically dangerous. Here, on trial, was more than a rabble-rousing false preacher. Here was a man bent on bringing down the power structure Rome was so invested in preserving. They accused him of starting riots and encouraging the people to not pay taxes. Plus, he was allegedly claiming to have supreme authority over the Jews in direct conflict with the position of the Roman Emperor (Luke 22 verses 2 and 5).
As he was dying, Jesus was viewed as a pathetic figure by some: a man nailed to a cross who could not save himself (Mark 15 verse 30).
Failed would-be leader or eternal King?
Ultimately, it matters less what others say or think about Jesus and more about what you say.
Here's one perspective. The apostle Paul wrote that Jesus was completely aware of his divinity but fully embraced humanity for our sake, to allow our sins to be forgiven and to reconcile humankind to God:
Christ Jesus...being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God [The Father] something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to deathâ€"
even death on a cross!
(Philippians 2 verses 6-8)
Christians believe that death was not the final act in his story. Jesus returned to life three days later and appeared before many witnesses (John 20 and Acts 1 verse 3).
Still, while there is corroborating evidence from historical sources that there was a Jesus of Nazareth who the Romans executed; for some Jesus was nothing more than an interesting historical figure. Others may say he was a good man who genuinely (but erroneously) believed He was the Son of God.
So what?
We all have to decide for ourselves who Jesus is and once that decision is made, we have to live it out. If he is King of the Universe, then that requires us to respond to his call to be a significant part of ourselves. Even those who claim to be Christians, the question is: are we really living as if we are answerable to Jesus? Is he the overriding authority in our lives and in control of our decisions?
Jesus was no stranger to being mocked, laughed at, condemned, spat on or dismissed. After all, not everyone will believe the story of his life as told in the Gospels. For some, the crucifixion story is quite simply rubbish (1 Corinthians 1 verses 18-28). And if Jesus was an invention, a fraud or a madman he deserves to be ignored.
Here's another lesson from Mandela's life and legacy. History did not look kindly upon Mandela's detractors and political enemies; even though they may have been convinced at the time they were right. At some point, we will all have to declare where we stand on the question of Jesus. I think there is too much at stake in our declaration to get it wrong. After all, our eternal future depends on it.
A Caribbean-based writer and an Attorney-at-Law by profession, Sharma Taylor completed a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Law at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand in 2013.
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