This is # 21 in the Crossing the Threshold series.

Act Two: Descent and Initiation

Crossing the Threshold

Act Two begins with a Threshold for our Hero to Cross; Jesus is led by the Spirit out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. It is so easy with our rational minds to read this in sort of ho hum nonchalant way. He was tempted by the devil and of course he is God so he passed the test..…period end of story. It changes everything when we think mythically. Jesus laid aside his divinity and became man, one with all the vulnerabilities of man. He fasts for forty days and forty nights becoming weak and hungry. Now the Devil, God of this World, Accuser, Apollyon, Angel of the Abyss, Murderer, Ruler of Darkness and Demons to name just a few of his names moves in, to tempt his prey. He is the Villain, the slithering serpent of old, the source of all evil who seduced Eve and destroyed Adam. Remember they were first God’s glorious created ones, vice-regents; royal priests of the Lord Most High that is before their tragic fall and corruption.

The Villain has pursued Jesus since birth; this will not be their last meeting.

Tests, Allies and Enemies

After successfully withstanding the wiles and temptations of the devil; Jesus returns to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. Having Crossed the Threshold he is now fully immersed in The Special World. Jesus chooses to commence his earthly mission by entering the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth. After reading from the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah Jesus proclaims his Call to literally be the Hero, the Messiah, the Jubilee of Israel, while at the same time he is a Herald inviting others into the Call. Immediately the room is divided between Allies who believe and receive his Call, and Antagonists who want to kill him. There is no middle ground with Jesus.

Approach to the Inmost Cave

During the three years of his ministry proclaiming the Kingdom of God Jesus is always headed in one direction; toward the final confrontation with civil and religious authorities in Jerusalem and the spiritual power that lies behind them.

The glory is returning to the temple from which it departed (Ezekiel 10), but in a way no one anticipated. It does not come with a Messiah on a white horse leading an army to destroy the Roman occupiers; rather it comes in an interesting prophet riding a donkey with a rag tag assortment of ordinary people following him into Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover Feast.

Jesus, the Passover Lamb Approaches the Inmost Cave not by an ascent but by a progressive descent; first to his knees in the garden of Gethsemane, then by being nailed to a Roman cross and finally by being lowered into a tomb.

The Ordeal

Act Two began with descent and it climaxes with initiation. What was Jesus being initiated into? Death. We return to Paul’s letter to the Philippians; “and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians2:8). The sentence of death rested upon all men; for all men were “in Adam”. All men came from his corrupt seed and all had fallen short of the glory of God. The one and only spotless lamb must be initiated into the death of all in order that “in Christ” all may be saved.

Reward 

The mystery of the tomb remains just that a mystery. Scripture and creed proclaim that Jesus descended into the lowest parts of the earth. Like the mystery of a seed germinating and bringing forth new life, we will never know all that transpired during His three days in the tomb. We do know Jesus received a very great Reward. “Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11).

This is #20 in the Crossing the Threshold series.

                                       Jesus and The Hero’s Journey

Act One: Separation

Ordinary World

Once upon a time……In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God (John 1:1-2). The story of our Hero, the Last Adam begins in the heavens; the part of God’s one good creation not contaminated by sin. The Apostle Paul captures this beautifully in his Epistle to the Philippians when he writes to his tiny flock and tells them to “have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men (Philippians 2:5-7).

Our hero leaves The Ordinary World of heaven and enters The Special World of earth. The Incarnation is the beginning of the restoration of God’s entire creation and the reuniting of heaven and earth. It begins microscopically in the womb of a maiden from earth and a miraculous conception with a life from heaven (Luke 1:35).

The Call to Adventure

Shortly after our Hero’s birth comes the first Call to Adventure. Jesus is presented in the temple by his parent’s in accordance with the Law of Moses for “every first born male is to be called Holy to the Lord (Luke 2:23). In the temple is a devout elderly man named Simeon who is waiting for the fulfillment of a promise God made to him; he will not see death before he sees the Lord’s Christ. Simeon is a Herald bringing The Call for upon seeing the infant Jesus he blesses and proclaims him to be a light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of God’s people Israel. Turning to Mary, Jesus’ mother he gets more specific; “Behold this child is appointed for the fall and Resurrection of many in Israel and a sign to be opposed and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed” (Luke2:34-35).

The Refusal of the Call

Silence replaces the Refusal of the Call. From infancy to adulthood the scriptures are virtually silent on the life of Jesus. The one exception is the record of his visit to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast in his twelfth year. After losing Jesus for three days his parent’s find him sitting in the temple dialoguing with the teachers. His response to his mother’s query may sound strange, “Why is it that you were looking for me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” (Luke2:49). It does tell us that he understood his Call even if his parents by their bewilderment did not.

Meeting with the Mentor

All three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) give an account of Jesus’ baptism. The Gospel of John however skips the actual baptism in favor of recording the testimony of another Herald John the Baptist. He identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Jesus is baptized by his cousin to “fulfill all righteousness” and immediately after he comes out of the water the heavens open and the Spirit descends on him. A voice out of heaven declares “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”. (Matthew 3:16-17). The Father Mentor has spoken and given to Jesus the Son all he needs for the adventure that lies ahead.

This is #19 in the Crossing the Threshold series.

                     Israel

I am adding a note on Israel for it is important to see we don’t just jump from Genesis to the New Testament and the Last Adam. This often happens when you reduce God’s story to three act play: Creation, Fall, Redemption.

It is crucial to understand God’s plan of redemption begins in Genesis; first with the promise (Genesis 3:15) of one who will come and defeat the evil one, and then his initiation of a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15. God promises to Abraham (Genesis 12:3) that through his seed all the nations will be blessed. God’s “project” for filling the creation with a people who will offer up “right praise” and reflect his glory into creation pushing back the darkness, is to go forth through Abraham’s “seed”; Isaac then Jacob, who becomes the nation Israel.

This is the recapitulation of Eden. God will dwell with them, he in the tabernacle/temple, which is in the midst of the garden/land. Israel is to be King /Priests (Exodus 19:6), a royal priesthood like Adam and Eve were, and sadly like their parents they too enact the primal sin of idolatry. The entire Old Testament is to story of Israel going after other gods.

Finally in the book of Ezekiel ( 10:15-19) the glory of the Lord ( His presence) leaves the temple and in 586 BC Israel is expelled from the garden/land into exile, just as Adam and Eve were exiled from the garden. And even though Israel returns to the land in the second temple period it is important to understand they were still in a state of exile for the glory of the Lord had not returned to the temple. In the book of Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament they are still waiting for the glory of the Lord to return to Zion and inhabit the temple.

And that is where we pick up our Hero Journey story with the Last Adam. He is the climax of the six act story God is telling. He is the one true Israelite through whom salvation of God’s entire Kingdom will be accomplished.

Act 1 God Establishes His Kingdom: Creation

Act 2 Rebellion in the Kingdom: Fall

Act 3 The King Chooses Israel: Redemption Initiated

Act 4 The Coming of the King: Redemption Accomplished

Act 5 Spreading the News of the King: The Mission of the Church

Act 6 The Return of the King: Redemption Completed*

(Six acts from “The Drama of Scripture” Bartholomew&Goheen)

This is #18 in Crossing the Threshold series.

                                              Genesis the “Backstory”

Our story starts with a hero of course and before we step out on the journey with him we have to understand one of the many titles given to him in scripture. In First Corinthians 15:45 Jesus Christ is referred to as “The Last Adam”; what does this mean? We find the answer by going to the Genesis account and looking at the First Adam, the son of God (Luke3:37). This back-story is vitally important to all that follows in the biblical narrative.

In Genesis on the 6^th day of creation God created man in his own image and gave him the vocation of ruling over the plant and animal kingdoms, as well as commissioning him to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. In ordinary everyday terms God was making man his “vice-regent”; someone he would uniquely empower to rule the earth along with him. We have a great distortion and perversion of this idea when we see ruthless dictators setting up their own images all over their countries, as a reminder of just who rules the place. Man (Adam) created in God’s image was to be a reflector of God; of his glory, giving an exact representation of  who God is by exercising benevolent dominion over the earth. Being fruitful, he would multiply and fill the earth with the glory of God.

In Chapter Two of Genesis this vocation is more clearly defined when in verse fifteen God takes man and places him into the Garden of Eden “to cultivate it and to keep it”. Adam is given the priest-king role of serving (to cultivate) and guarding (to keep) God’s first temple Eden. This includes keeping out all uncleanness. In “journey” language Adam leaves his Ordinary World, the ground from which he was created, and enters the Special World of the garden. When he is placed in Eden he is confronted with a test; will he obey the one command God gave him? Only one stipulation: “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). Adam failed the test; he failed to love and trust His Creator.

Do you remember our definition of Hero in Chapter Two? The word hero comes from the Greek root of the word that means “to protect and to serve”; a hero is someone who is willing to sacrifice his own needs on behalf of others, like a shepherd who will sacrifice to protect and serve his flock. Protect and serve was Adam’s Genesis vocation, he was called to be God’s shepherd over creation. Adam did not reflect God when he allowed the unclean “serpent” into the garden, he was not willing to lay his life down to protect his flock instead he willingly chose to sin. He turned in on self and became the first tragic hero. 

What was God to do? Scrap the whole project of filling the earth with glory by using his image bearers; his priest kings? No, he had spoken his word. Did he know Adam would fail? Absolutely, and he already had a plan for the great rescue operation. God’s salvation is not about saving some people so they can go to “heaven” when they die. His salvation encompasses rescuing his entire creation; of restoring the earth and reuniting it to heaven, of restoring his images bearers to be his royal priesthood, and of saving the plant and animal kingdoms that have been subjected in bondage to corruption

For the task of saving God’s creation, another Adam had to be found. The Last Adam would be one that would not fail the test but be obedient even to the point of death; one who would be the true hero by sacrificing his own life to protect and serve his flock and in so doing defeat all the powers of evil unleashed by the first Adam’s disobedience.

This is #17 in the Crossing the Threshold series.

                                                   The Hero’s Journey

Now that we have a better understanding of the word myth we can return to The Hero’s Journey or Hero’s Myth without automatically thinking fable, falsehood, untrue story. We can now begin to see its cosmic pattern and perhaps by “looking along and through” as C.S. Lewis would say, connect the myth of the Hero’s Journey with the “true myth” of Jesus Christ.

In Chapter Two I used Christopher Vogler’s Twelve Stage version of The Hero’s Journey and we will return to that, but let me give you another formulation that may also prove to be insightful. In his book Mythology: The Voyage of the Hero, David Adams Leeming outlines the journey like this: 1. Miraculous conception and birth

                                                2. Initiation of the hero-child

                                                3. Withdrawal from family or community for meditation                                                           

                                                      and preparation

                                                4. Trial and quest

                                                5. Death

                                                6. Descent into the Underworld

                                                7. Resurrection and rebirth

                                                8. Ascension, apotheosis, and atonement.

Oh does this sound familiar? If I had not revealed the source of this eight point list you could easily have thought “I know this story, it sounds very much like the one that’s been going around for well let’s see, two thousand years; the one about Jesus!” If you attend or have attended a liturgical church you probably recited either The Apostle’s Creed or the Nicene Creed, both are very early statements of the Christian faith and both include the essential outline of Christ’s life: miraculous conception and birth, trial and death, descent, resurrection, ascension, atonement. You see Joseph Campbell was wrong in one respect; the hero does not have one thousand faces he has one, and the Hero’s Journey that we find in all cultures at all times does not originate in the primordial past, it originates in eternity.

So let’s take a look at God’s Eternal Story in a fresh new “mythic” way by seeing it as The True Hero’s Journey.

This is #16 in the Crossing the Threshold series.

                                                True Myth

The high meaning of myth: a means by which the eternal expresses itself in time, went to the low meaning of myth; a discredited popular belief , in much the same way Christianity went from being the one true metanarrative of the one true God to being….well myth!

In the undivided world prior to 1400 Christianity looked upon earlier pagan myths, not so much as lies but as primitive attempts to express God’s eternal truth prior to the coming of the full revelation of His truth in Jesus Christ. They did not dismiss the pagan myth; they sanctified it by using it as a means to communicate in story language the one “True Myth”, the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is exactly what we earlier saw the Apostle Paul doing in Athens; taking the myth of an unknown god and explaining it with the true myth, the gospel of Jesus Christ. You see, beyond myth in the primordial past lay true myth in eternity, for as Mircea Eliade says myth is simply “nostalgia for eternity”.

When Christianity and the Bible were rejected as fable and falsehood by The Enlightenment, the world lost this understanding of true myth. Instead of being the source from which all truth originated the Biblical narrative was reduced to just another “myth” and all myth was reduced to its lowest possible meaning; a false explanation or a pleasant lie.

This loss puts men in perilous circumstances for “whether or not people are aware of the fact, they cannot live without myth, nor can they reach full stature as people without true myth. Wrong myths destroy lives; those partially true affect the human spirit like disease. A proper response to true myth is necessary to moral and spiritual health” (R.Hein)

What is the proper response to true myth? It is not to deny it like the secular modernist do; nor to relegate it to a subjective personal belief signifying nothing like the postmodernist does. And certainly it is not to abstract it from scripture making the Biblical text nothing more than a set of doctrinal truths and moral precepts, the way so many in the religious world do.

A proper response is to see that true myth is essential to who we are as human beings. We were created in the image of God to live a mythic life in an epic story. The proper response is to identify true myth with Truth himself Jesus Christ, for only then can we understand “why we respond as we do to patterns of myth, why the human heart is so strongly moved and fascinated by them and where they come from in the first place.” (R. Hein)

This is # 15 in the Crossing the Threshold series.

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Myth

If you were to ask most people in the postmodern world; what is myth? The answer coming back from both the sacred and secular arenas would surprisingly be the same: a false or untrue story. Differing on just about everything else these two opposing factions find common ground by dismissing myth as fable at best or worse an entrenched lie. Wheaton College Professor Emeritus Rolland Hein says this low meaning of myth; a discredited popular belief is the complete degeneration of its high meaning. It is essential in our examination of the Hero’s Journey to regain the true high meaning of myth.

For Hein myths are “first of all stories; stories which confront us with something transcendent….the eternal expressing itself in time”. Clyde Kilby former President of Wheaton says “myth is the name for a way of seeing, a way of knowing.” For these men and many others including the great Christian mythmakers C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien, myth is the only way certain transcendent truth can be expressed in a comprehensible form. Far from being entrenched lies myths are stories that help people see and experience the transcendent in ways the rational never can.

This is #14 in the Crossing the Threshold series.

                                                         The Monomyth

This is the Hero’s Journey, the world’s most basic story. It exists in all cultures at all times. It is a three act story that transcends cultural boundaries, time, language, gender, politics and religion, and resonates in the heart of every person in every time and every place.

Where did it come from? Who is its author? Certainly not Joseph Campbell, he just made the observation that the world had a Hero Myth. Nor did it originate with Mr. Vogler or any of the other authors who have devoted study and scholarship to writing on The Hero’s Journey. They all acknowledge the origin of the Monomyth to be in the primordial waters of the time before history…..the time they call Myth

This is #13 in the Crossing the Threshold series.

                                                       The Characters

Since The Hero’s Journey is a basic foundational story, there are some basic characters better known as archetypes that are associated with it.

Hero

First and foremost of course is the hero, the central protagonist in the story. We may be tempted to think of heroes as being strong and courageous however these are really secondary qualities. Mr. Vogler says “the word hero is a  Greek word, from the root that means ‘to protect and to serve’…a hero is someone who is willing to sacrifice his own needs on behalf of others, like a shepherd who will sacrifice to protect and serve his flock.”. The true mark of a hero then is a willingness to sacrifice. To surrender something of value, perhaps even their very life on behalf of another person, group, or cause.

 Heroes also show us how to face the ultimate fear by facing death and doing it well. Some may lay down their life like William Wallace in Braveheart, others may die symbolically like Chuck Noland in Cast Away, while others simply face the possibility of death like Harry Potter in The Deathly Hallows. Whatever the outcome is, a hero is someone who does not give death a victory. They transcend it.

Mentor

Mentors are wise old men and women who come along side the hero to teach, guide, and protect them. Often they are former heroes, ones who have survived the tests, trials, and ordeals and grown to an old age full of wisdom. They are willing to impart to their young protégés all that experience has taught them.

A mentor will often speak as “the voice of God” and serve as the source of divine wisdom in the story. Along with life saving advice they may give magic gifts like magical weapons. They help the hero to overcome his fears and impart a code of virtue that all heroes are required to have.

Merlin, Gandalf, Dumbledore, Yoda, are all classic examples of a hero’s mentor.

Threshold Guardians

One of my favorite visual scenes in Peter Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring comes toward the end when the small band leaves the Woods of Lothlorien and paddle up the river on their quest to reach Mordor. They come to these immense stone figures …The Argonath, The Pillars of the King; here is how Tolkien himself describes them:

“As Frodo was borne towards them the great pillars rose like towers to meet him. Giants they seemed to him, vast grey figures silent but threatening….Upon great pedestals founded deep in the waters stood two great kings of stone: still with blurred eyes and crannied brows they frowned upon the North. The left hand of each was raised palm outwards in gestures of warning; in each right hand there was an axe; upon each head there was a crumbling helm and crown. Great power and majesty they still wore, the silent wardens of a long vanished kingdom. Awe and fear fell upon Frodo, and he cowered down, shutting his eyes and not daring to look up as the boat drew near.” (The Lord of the Rings) These are perfect images for the archetype known as Threshold Guardians.

Threshold Guardians stand at the threshold of new worlds to keep out those they deem unworthy. They maybe a boss, a watchman, a sentinel, a guard, or anyone whose job it is to block the way of the hero.

Herald

A herald is a forerunner used to introduce or give tidings, to make proclamations or announcements of significant change. They can be as small as the robot R2D2 in George Lucas’ Star Wars or as large as Hagrid the giant in Harry Potter and the Scorer’s Stone. They are used to present the challenge and get the adventure going.

Shapeshifter

A shapeshifter is exactly what the word implies; a figure who changes shapes at least from the hero’s perspective. Are they friend or foe? Loyal or traitor? Honest or Dishonest? They are not the villain but they may be used by him and they always keep the hero guessing.

Shadow

The Shadow of course represents the darkside. They are the forces of evil that are dedicated to the hero’s destruction. They can be outright villains who want the hero’s death, or they may be antagonists, those who are after the same goal but do not like the hero’s way of achieving it.

Ally

The hero usually has a few close allies who make at least part of the journey by his side. They serve different functions; messengers, sparring partners, figures who fight along side in battle, loyal servants, and companions. It would be hard to imagine Frodo without the Fellowship, Arthur without his Knights, or Robin Hood without his Merry Men.

This is post #12 in Crossing the Threshold series.

Act Three: Return

The Road Back

The hero is not safe yet nor is the journey over by any means. The enemy usually comes back with great vengeance. Commodus unleashes his fury after his humiliation in the arena and all of Rome feels the brunt of it. The Road Back is leading in one direction; to the final and ultimate confrontation.

The Resurrection

If the Ordeal is the crisis of the story then the Resurrection is the climax. This is the final clash between life and death and usually includes a sacrifice. Something must be given up, surrendered in order to “sanctify” the story. This is Harry Potter’s walk ‘Into the Forest Again,’ it is Chuck Noland’s loss of Wilson the volleyball, and it is Jack and Rose’s final descent into the waters in Titanic. From this last most dangerous meeting with death the hero will emerge transformed.

Return with the Elixir

The journey is now over and the hero returns to the Ordinary World having been transformed by the experience and brings with him the elixir. The elixir can be a treasure, a lesson learned, love, and friendship. Whatever it is the hero will be forever different and will enter into a new life.

Not only does change come to the hero but the elixir he returns with can change the Ordinary World.  “The whole world is altered and the consequences spread far. There is a beautiful image for this in Excalibur. When Percival brings the grail back to the ailing Arthur, the King revives and rides out with his knights again. They are so filled with new life that the flowers burst into bloom at their passing. They are a living elixir, whose mere presence renews nature.”(The Writer’s Journey)