When did we see Jesus naked?

Yesterday I attended a webinar organised by Sarum College, Salisbury, UK and The Queen's Foundation, for Ecumenical Theological Education, Birmingham, UK. The theme was:

'When Did We See You Naked?': Holy Week Reflections on the Crucifixion and Sexual Violence

The webinar took its point of departure in the parable of Jesus recorded in Matthew 25. Jesus says that he was hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick, and in prison. Based on how people (we) responded to Jesus’ needs, people (we) were judged and sent either to punishment or eternal life. It is a tough text. This time the focus was on how Jesus describes himself and our reactions to that. The Church has tried to respond to persons in hunger or thirst, to strangers, to people in prison or in sickness. But what have we done with the nakedness of Jesus? 

We are now in the Holy Week. It is Maundy Thursday. Tomorrow it is Good Friday, and we listen to texts about Jesus’ suffering under Pontius Pilate. In the webinar we were reminded about this. A connection to Jesus’ nakedness was established. Under the heading “The Soldiers Mock Jesus” we read:

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him (Matthew 27:27-31 NRSV).

A cohort is a large group of soldiers. Hundreds of them. Think of the situation? How is it to be stripped in that context? Isn’t that an example of sexual violence? Jesus is stripped at least two times according to these few verses. And most probably a third time when he is led away to be crucified.

In the webinar the speakers reminded us how women and girls are being exposed to sexual violence. And they drew parallels to the torturing of Jesus. Another example came from the Caribbean where the whole slave trade is an example of the same. How people have been stripped and abused. And how this still affects people. It is about bodies that are treated the same way as Jesus’ body was. It is sexual violence.

I did not follow the webinar to its end, but I felt a challenge to Churches’ traditions during Holy Week. Do we ever connect Jesus’ suffering to sexual violence? For me this was an eye opener. When I reflect on the Passion I will from now on, in a renewed way, include all victims of sexual abuse. And the question from Matthew 25 will be there:

I saw Jesus naked. How did I respond?

Its’ Maundy Thursday. Yet another Thursday in Black. Towards a world without rape and violence.