The World's Response to Christ on the Cross and the Olympic Stage

Behold the man upon a cross, My sin upon His shoulders; Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice Call out among the scoffers. Stuart Townsend

It was my sin that held Him there Until it was accomplished; His dying breath has brought me life – I know that it is finished. Stuart Townsend

The official web site of the Olympics makes this statement: 

"The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play."

Despite this lofty goal Thomas Jolly, the theater director, and those he works for and with, found a way to offend the 2.4 billion people in the world who call themselves Christians. They did this by mocking da Vinci's painting of the Last Supper by a live semblance of drag queens and others actors clearly mocking Jesus and his disciples. 

Some other aspects of the opening program were so overly sexualized as to be totally inappropriate for children and not appealing for moral adults. 

The mockery of the Last Supper is particularly offensive to disciples of Jesus because we reenact aspects of the event on regular occasions. We eat the bread remembering Christ's broken body for us. We drink the cup in celebration of a new covenant. Eating and drinking with the Lord in person is constantly on our minds as we contemplate his soon return.  

The natural reactions to the Olympic program are either sadness or outrage but let's remember that Jesus is very used to being mocked. He was opposed by religious leaders while he performed miracles and traveled and taught about the Kingdom of God. He was mocked as He hung on the cross at Calvary. For more than 2000 years his motives and intents have been debated and ridiculed. There have been many attempts to stamp out any memory of him by persecuting or killing his followers. But, even to this day there is something about Jesus that demands a response from humans. Some respond by ignoring him, others respond by ridiculing him, and still others respond in repentance and submission to His way and find the abundant life.