Mary wasn't Scottish

I was at an Easter service at Ps and Gs today (Easter service on Easter. Crazy, I know). Before the service started there was a short animated film about Mary Magdalene telling Peter that the tomb of Jesus was empty.

As soon as this animated Mary started to speak, her words came out in a thick Scottish accent. I was taken aback. I think I actually sat straighter in my seat. I thought, "Mary Magdalene wasn't Scottish!" I was actually appalled that they could dub the tape in a Scottish accent. I think I scoffed silently (I hope it was silent). I thought, "How silly." And then I realized (mocking myself), "Cause an American accent would be so much more legitimate..." I thought about it and I actually would not have thought twice if Mary was speaking in an American accent. It would have been the Gospel ('Gospel'). I would not have batted an eye lash. Yet (as I'm sure you've realized where this is going) there is really no difference between a Scottish Mary and an American Mary (clearly). It sounds quite silly to say it like that. They are both so far from what the person is. This is like me being portrayed in later years by a small Chinese girl. I'm not Chinese. I'm not even close to Chinese. I can barely say the names of Chinese cities properly. To put me in a Chinese setting would be to make me someone completely different. Chinese would think I knew what they knew, I thought like they thought, when really, I 'know' as an American, I think like an American, I have no cultural understandings of a Chinese person.

I have no real, hard 'point' in all of this. The realization just made me wonder. What do we do to Jesus in all of this? What do we make Jesus by making him American, Scottish, English, German, Chinese, etc., etc. I like to think Jesus transcends all of these cultural understandings. But how much do we project onto our idea of Jesus? How much do we not get to know him because we see 'Cowboy Jesus' or 'Scottish Jesus' or 'Prince Jesus' and we do not see or understand Jesus as he came, lived and died - Jesus of Nazareth. I belive Jesus has a message for all people, of all cultures, but he was in a certain time and place. As a human, he was in a circumstance and his own culuture. I just wonder how much we overlook this.

Anyway. Theological thought of the day over :)