St Matthew-in-the-City goes on Facebook for an Easter message via Whybin\TBWA Auckland
Whybin\TBWA have looked to Facebook for their Easter message for St Matthew-in-the-City.
On the billboard outside the church, it appears to be a traditional image of the crucifixion but upon closer inspection it is a shared image on Facebook with only one like and it is by Judas Iscariot.
In commenting on the billboard, Vicar Glynn Cardy observed contrary to traditional understanding: “Jesus did not die for our sins. He died because he peeved a bunch of powerful people off. He lived and preached a message of radical inclusion that threatened the status quo. The authorities killed him for it. When there is a tragic death there is often a strong desire to apportion blame – the death of Jesus being a case in point. His early followers blamed each other and themselves. The early Church blamed ‘the Jews’, overlooking the fact that it was a Roman execution.”
Cardy continued: “Judas Iscariot, one of the disciples, has in particular been blamed and vilified for centuries. The ‘dying for sins’ business was a spin the Church applied at a later date. It was part of a larger spin about him having to die, being God’s plan and all, in order to save us from our sins. We were to blame. This billboard uses humor to laugh at and critique our ongoing desire to apportion blame. The message of Easter is that blame, guilt, and regret will not lead to a happy, contented life. Blaming others or ourselves is not the way forward.
Rather the way forward is by caring for one another, welcoming those labeled nuisances and nobodies [whether Jesus or Judas], and building an inclusive community in which everyone is valued.”
Credits:
Creative team:
Devon Wood,Stacey Vergis
Project Manager: Tineke Vandewalle
Production: Michelle Hong
Client: Glyn Cardy, Clay Nelson.
9 Comments
If Judas ‘liked’ Jesus’ death, why did he hang himself afterwards?
Enough with the cheap shots. I’m as keen on pulling the religious nutter’s chains as the next atheist, but this is getting tiresome.
Tom McElligot made his name doing ads for the Episcopalian Church, but they were witty, intelligent, and sincere. His faith shone though the writing. This is just pointless shit for the sake of being provocative.
And as the Real St Matt said above, they appear to be a little mixed up in terms of theology as well. Perhaps Barabbus or Pontius Pilot would have had more reason to ‘like’ the image.
Either that of God himself, who apparently planned the whole thing all along. Easter was an inside job.
Too easy
Clever! I ‘like’ it
Judas knew what was going to happen when he betrayed jesus…
There’s no need to take everything so literally.
I think the billboard is funny.
Awesome…clever stuff…a modern take!
Not as bad as some of the most recent billboards for St Matthews have been. It’s still pretty easy to pull apart tho. Judas hanged himself over Jesus’s death – that’s the kind of theology stuff that Christians know and a CHURCH definitely should! Also I didn’t notice the ‘like’ bit until it was pointed out to me. I wonder how many others missed it too?
Regardless of where you stand on the God-bothering thing, anybody who is even vaguely well-informed knows that Jesus dying for our sins is entire basis of the Christian belief.
If Vicar Glyn Cardie does not buy into this, he seems too have made quite a strange career choice.
I think more people will be offended by Vicar Cardy’s comment about Jesus not dying for our sins than by the billboard.
Personally, I like the CoE. They seem to the only guys who have figured out how to have a religion without believing in God.