The Vulnerable Power of Jesus
Once more, let it be said:
Biblical scholars, historians, archaeologists all agree: Jewish religious
authorities did not execute Jesus.
The Passion plays of Medieval Europe blamed Jews for the death of Jesus, and
after viewing them, as we know, Christians slaughtered Jews by the thousands.
This is a stain on Christian history and on our hearts.
But if the Jewish authorities were not responsible for Jesus’s death, then
who was? And why? What was it all for? Why the torture, the beating, the
cross?
Why did Jesus die?
Knowing that there are many theories of atonement, as theologians say, I
want to take a look at one in particular: I want to look at Jesus’s life to
shed light on why he died.
Jesus lived in occupied territory. Israel, Jerusalem, the Galilee were
colonized by the great Roman Empire: builder of aqueducts, commander of the
largest and most efficient army in the world, and inventor of that peculiar
form of execution, one they saved for dangerous political terrorists,
persons who were threats to the empire itself, charismatic leaders who
attracted followers–crucifixion, the cross.
Scholars have studied Jesus’s relation to Rome and, for them, neither the
term political activist nor personal savior quite cuts it, but rather
something or someone in between.
This ground is delicate: These days, we often make Jesus into only a
personal savior. I don’t want to swing all the way the other way and make
him into a political revolutionary. That limits him, too. But to remove
Jesus from his political and historic reality is to deny him and us, his
full story.
Trying to understand Jesus without knowing how Roman imperialism determined
the conditions of life in Galilee and Jerusalem would be like trying to
understand Martin Luther King, as historian Richard Horsley has said,
without knowing how slavery, reconstruction and segregation determined the
lives of African Americans in the United States.
Jesus grew up under the heel of an empire. And he saw, all around him, its
cost.
How does this speak to us, today? We know from his life that Jesus chose not
to identify with those with power. There are no gospel stories about Jesus
having drinks at the private clubs of Antipas or Herod.
We are all, every one of us, interested in having power. Some power is good:
the power to speak, the power to live out your vocation, whatever it is. We
speak of empowerment, calling out of others their own strength and
creativity. But we also know, as the old adage says, that power corrupts.
Even in the smallest ways, power can corrupt the work of love.
Many of us have been in the position of either the giving or on the
receiving end of the corruption of power. We see it in the many CEO’s who,
last year and this, have confessed to lying, cheating and stealing. Power
unabated can become demonic: witness Stalin, Hitler, Rwanda. And, I think,
we have all, at one time or another, collaborated in the abuse of power,
small and large.
I, like just about everyone else in America, want to
identify myself with those who have more, not with those who have less. I give to the poor; I taught in a homeless shelter,
but I don’t identify with Them. The people I cozy up to are the
one’s with the power.
Jesus, too, faced choices between power and vulnerability. He was a man who
over the short stretch of his life came into contact with power over and
over again. He made choices. Jesus took a blind man by the hand and
restored his sight. He fed a crowd with loaves and fish. He did not even
exclude persons who were collaborators with the empire: i.e. the
tax-collector, Matthew. He bound himself to those in need.
His parables are as clear as water in regard to power: Don’t be absorbed in
who is sitting at the head of the table. The last shall be first. The meek
will inherit the earth.
Before this Lent, I took these stories as difficult
admonitions, slightly accusatory reminders of how I should always remember
those on the margins. But what I have come to understand is that
Jesus meant to say these things to himself, as much as to me.
He said these
things to himself because he understood that choosing the vulnerable path
was the way to keep his soul alive, and protected, from the harsh realities
of power. He sought out the vulnerable because they helped keep him
vulnerable. And he finally came to identify with them.
I came to understand this because of the work I did in a soup kitchen a few years ago.
I wandered among the homeless and the vulnerable and discovered a kind of crazy freedom with them: none of my pretensions were useful there, but if my heart was available, then we got somewhere.
This vulnerability led him, finally, inexorably, to the cross. To the place where power
and vulnerability intersect or, more accurately, collide. The cross stood
at the end of a long series of choices. Like Rosa Parks who finally sat
down at the front of a bus, like Martin Luther King, Jesus did not suddenly
make a choice between power and vulnerability. He put his foot on a path,
and years later he looked back and saw where that path had led him.
When it comes right down to it, Jesus followed where compassion led him, and
he bore the cost of what he found. Jesus asks us to follow where compassion
leads, and bear the cost of what we find.
He calls us, as Nicholas Cage says in the movie Moonstruck, “to ruin our
lives, to break our hearts, to love the wrong person and to die.” We are
invited to ruin the old life of silence, to break our hearts with compassion
over suffering, to love the wrong person–that would be Jesus–and to die. As
a friend of mine said once, “ to get resurrected ya gotta get dead.” Because
we know, from Jesus’s example, and from our own lives, what lies on the
other side of this death.
The other side of silence and distraction, of the
deadly life of business as usual, is new life, resurrected life, born of
compassion -- awake and broken-hearted, and, yes, dangerous.
Nora Gallagher is the author of two memoirs, "Things Seen and Unseen: A Year Lived in Faith" and "Practicing Resurrection," both published by Knopf and Vintage Books. Her first novel, "Changing Light," was just published by Pantheon Books.
By Nora Gallagher |
April 6, 2007; 10:35 AM ET
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To Nora Gallagher:
Wow. The intersection at the cross that you describe is a perfect description of sacrificial love.
Thank you. Re-fortification is necessary from time to time.
And though they don't know it yet, the naysayers are being drawn to Him, though they see a million difficulties (which, as the Chinese proverb goes, do not make a doubt.)
Posted by: Alfred C. | May 18, 2007 3:20 PM
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Mr Mark, as it says in the gospel, some Pharasis left because it was illegal. BTW, there was no more Sanhedrin after the sack of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., thus the council of Jamnia in circa 90 A.D. by the Rabbi's {didn't claim to be Sanhedrin} to authoritatively disallow any scriptures not written in Hebrew.
Posted by: Bill L | April 8, 2007 9:05 PM
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Bill L wrote:
"Mark, those were exactly why Jesus' trial was illegal, and no the sanhedrin was not allowed to execute anyone according to Roman law."
Dear Bill -
Thanks for the comment.
The hyperlink I provided in the above post disagrees with your assessment. Information for this page is drawn largely from The Trial of Jesus by Alan Watson (1995). Here's an excerpt:
"The gospel of John indicates that the Sanhedrin turned Jesus over to Pilate because it lacked the power to impose death: "Pilate said to them, 'Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.' The Jews replied, 'We are not permitted to put anyone to death.'" The Mishnah, however, clearly shows that the Sanhedrin did have the power to impose death for certain crimes--at least sometime before 200 C.E. In particular, Mishnah Sanhedrin 6.1 to 6.4 specify the procedures for stoning. There is no evidence to suggest that the power did not exist in 30 C.E. On the contrary, there is evidence that the Romans preferred to leave as much power as possible to control religious crimes in the hands of Jewish authorities.
"Mark and Matthew indicate that the trial before the Sanhedrin occurred at night and a capital trial at night was illegal. Mishnah Sanhedrin 4.1 confirms the illegality of a capital trial at night, assuming that the law stated in the Mishnah existed in 30 C.E.
"Mark indicates that the charge against Jesus was blasphemy: "You have heard the blasphemy (Mark 14:64)." Under Mishnah Tractate 7.5, blasphemy consists only of uttering the name of God, so there is reason to question whether in fact that was the charge against Jesus. If it is assumed to be the charge, however, Mishhah Tractate 7.4 makes clear that execution by stoning was an available option for such a crime."
Posted by: Mr Mark | April 8, 2007 1:33 PM
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Mark, those were exactly why Jesus' trial was illegal, and no the sanhedrin was not allowed to execute anyone according to Roman law.
The Gospels differed because some were written to the Jews and some to the gentiles. The Jewish day started at sundown, but the gentiles day started at early morn.
Because of the passover the Jews couldn't have the dead exposed and needed to purify themselves before hand.
Posted by: Bill L | April 7, 2007 9:56 PM
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Jesus' crucifixion on Passover defies historical believability, yet makes perfect sense metaphorically -
by RG Price - January 03, 2007
According to the Gospels, Jesus was crucified on either the first day of Passover or the day before Passover, depending on the Gospel. The synoptics have Jesus crucified on the day of Passover, while John puts the crucifixion on the day before. This itself defies reason, as Passover is considered one of the holiest of Jewish holidays, and this holiday not only took considerable preparation, but was a time of forgiveness and celebration. It is also when the Jews made public sacrifices to their god. That the Jewish authorities would have held a public execution of someone at this time is itself pretty well beyond belief.
Not only this, but the arrest and (very short) trial of Jesus supposedly took place at night on Passover eve. That the Sanhedrin (the Jewish body of judges) would have assembled in the middle of the night on Passover eve to pass a quick judgment on anyone defies reason, but when you add to this the fact that in the story the members of the council slap Jesus and spit in his face the implausible borders on the impossible. To say that the Sanhedrin slapped and spit on someone in a trial is like saying that the justices of the Supreme Court would slap and spit on defendants. Yes, these were ancient times, but the institutions being talked about here were formal institutions that didn't just convene on a whim and they didn't act like savages, much less on Passover eve.
Here are rules of the Sanhedrin that were in place at the time according to the Jewish Mishnah:
1) No criminal session was allowed at night.
2) No Sanhedrin trial could be heard at any place other than the Temple precincts.
3) No capital crime could be tried in a one-day sitting.
4) No criminal trial could be held on the eve of a Sabbath or festival.
5) No one could be found guilty on his own confession.
6) No blasphemy charge could be sustained unless the accused pronounced the name of God in front of witnesses.
7) The Sanhedrin were allowed to execute people on their own and did not need the Romans to do so for them.
The trial of Jesus according to the Gospels violated all of these rules.
More information on the laws of the Sanhedrin can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/39xwcs
So, the story of Jesus' arrest and execution seems quite implausible at the outset, but when one considers the symbolism of the story it becomes apparent that the basis for this story is theological, not historical.
On Passover, at the time that this story is supposedly taking place, the Jews provided many sacrifices, most of them as burnt offerings, meaning animals that were slaughtered and then burned on a fire. In addition to these sacrifices there was a special sacrifice of a lamb which was not burnt, but was instead eaten.
Josephus tells us of this tradition:
"The feast of unleavened bread succeeds that of the Passover, and falls on the fifteenth day of the month, and continues seven days, wherein they feed on unleavened bread; on every one of which days two bulls are killed, and one ram, and seven lambs. Now these lambs are entirely burnt, besides the ewe lamb which is added to all the rest, for sins; for it is intended as a feast for the priest on every one of those days."
- Antiquity of the Jews, Josephus
This special lamb is a sacrifice specifically for the forgiveness of sins.
The crucifixion of Jesus on Passover is a metaphor for this sacrificial lamb. This symbolism was, perhaps, one of the earliest and most developed parts of Jesus Christ theology among the early followers of the Christ mythos among the Jews. The idea of Jesus Christ as a sacrificial lamb is first recorded in the letters of Paul from 1 Corinthians 5, where Paul associates immoral people with yeast and urges his correspondents to expel an immoral man from among their group:
1 Corinthians 5:
7 Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.
1 Corinthians was probably written some time between 50 and 60 CE. We will specifically address the works of Paul later, but here we can see that the symbolism of Christ as a sacrificial Passover lamb was a part of the Christian tradition prior to the writing of the Gospels.
The Book of Hebrews describes Christ as an ultimate sacrifice that makes the need for all other sacrifices obsolete:
Hebrews 9:
"When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
"For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
"In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. He said, "This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep." In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
"It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
...
Hebrews 10:
"Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy."
The Book of Hebrews was probably written before the Gospel of Mark was written, but this is not certain. The Book of Hebrews, like the letters of Paul, gives no details about a life of Jesus, it only talks about Christ in a metaphorical sense. The author of Mark may or may not have been aware of the Book of Hebrews, but one can presume that the author of Mark was aware of the same symbolism that is discussed above, because this symbolism is a part of his story as well in a more subtle way.
None of the three synoptic Gospels makes an explicit reference to Christ as the Passover lamb, but the Gospel called John does. The writer of John refers to Jesus as the "Lamb of God" and gives the following narrative of his crucifixion and death:
John 19:
28 After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), ‘I am thirsty.’ 29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
31 Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. 32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. 35 (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and there is one who knows that he tells the truth.) 36 These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, ‘None of his bones shall be broken.’ 37 And again another passage of scripture says, ‘They will look on the one whom they have pierced.’
They keys here are the references to the breaking of bones and the hyssop. The breaking of bones refers to Numbers 9, as well as Psalm 34. Numbers 9 states:
Numbers 9:
11 In the second month on the fourteenth day, at twilight, they shall keep it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12 They shall leave none of it until morning, nor break a bone of it; according to all the statute for the passover they shall keep it.
John is specifically drawing on this passage to craft his story, thus John has Jesus crucified on the 14th day of Nisan, whereas he is crucified on the 15th day of Nisan in the synoptics. The difference in days here is because the lambs are sacrificed on the 14th day of Nisan. The point here, though, is that John is explicitly drawing a reference to Jesus as the Passover lamb. John makes-up the scenario here of having the other individuals' legs broken (and having Jesus stabbed in the side) in order to make references to the scriptures.
The hyssop refers to Exodus 12, which states:
Exodus 12:
21 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, ‘Go, select lambs for your families, and slaughter the passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood in the basin.
Though the synoptics do not directly refer to Jesus as the Passover lamb, the symbolism is still very clear.
There are other symbolic elements to the crucifixion story as well. For example, the timing of events in Mark is in triplets. In the Gospel of Mark the crucifixion starts on the "3rd hour" (which is 9:00 a.m. our time), darkness covers the land on the "6th hour" (12 noon our time), and Jesus dies on the "9th hour" (3 p.m. our time).
The crucifixion scenes in the Gospels are so utterly symbolic and based on the scriptures that as history they are unbelievable. The events of the arrest, trial, and execution defy our knowledge of Jewish law of the time. On the eve of, or during, Passover these are things that they simply did not do. There is also considerable doubt that the Jews would have had any reason to go to the Romans to carry out the execution, or that they would have had him crucified, since the law required death by stoning for blasphemy, which is what Jesus was supposedly charged with. However, "Christ crucified" was already a theme in the teachings of Paul. Crucifixion was a means of execution that was performed by authorities, while stoning was performed by the public. In the apocalyptic and messianic stories of the time where leading figures were executed, the leading figures were executed by authorities, typical heavenly authorities.
http://www.rationalrevolution.net/articles/jesus_myth_history.htm#5
Posted by: Mr Mark | April 7, 2007 9:37 PM
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Halozcel
Your admonition is the very reason I chose that name. Anna Karenina became a victim of the power and aristocracy with which she entangled herself.
If you recall, she committed suicide by throwing herself in front of a train.
Christ told the rich young man: "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the gates of Heaven."
When we become too enamored of material goods is when God takes his hand away. We have the free will to choose good or evil.
"The only way evil can triumph is for good men to do nothing."
Posted by: Anna Karenina | April 7, 2007 4:15 PM
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That was a wonderful article with a few errors. The Jews and the gentiles were responsible for Jesus' crucifixion. Thus we are all responsible for the death of Christ through our sins!
Also it never fails to amaze me at how looney some of you posters are!!!
Posted by: Bill L | April 7, 2007 10:57 AM
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Jesus was betrayed and crucified because in his days he challenged the corruption and hypocrisy of those in (religious) authority. He leveled the playing field and paved the way for everyone, not just the high priests, to have a personal relationship with God.
The story of Jesus brings us to the essence of humanity. It leads us to an undeniable truth that human beings are much more than flesh and blood and what eyes can perceive. Jesus also made it abundantly clear that God did not make the distinctions between race, color, gender or creed. It was religion and politics that did and today much of the same is taking place.
Posted by: Freevoice | April 7, 2007 8:29 AM
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Typical drival and distorted history but then what is to be expected from an author of "memoirs?"
The Post is really loosing it.
Posted by: speed123 | April 7, 2007 2:30 AM
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Nora,
Did you copy this from Borg?
Why does everyone constantly brind up the "jews" as though they were some monolithic entity?
The Pharisees (leaders of the Jews) who ruled and dominated the Jewish people (these leaders were in turn ruled by the Romans) were the cataylst for the death of Jesus. Pontius Pilot washed his hands, remember.
Therefore it is not the Jewish people but the ruling Pharisees that are responsible - and we all bear that burden not just one group.
Posted by: Anonymous | April 7, 2007 2:25 AM
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Dear Anna Karenina,
Tolstoy monumental novel,high society life of privileged ones and lover of count vronsky.
Your name doesnt fit to your article.Anyway,let me come to the point.
You say,He made no distinction between class,race,gender or rank and privileged.
Count Vronsky(such as many others in everywhere) was very privileged and high ranked man in christian russia.
1.Timothy 2.12 and 1.Timothy 6.1 dont fit to what you write.
Posted by: halozcel | April 7, 2007 1:41 AM
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Regarding "Biblical scholars, historians, archaeologists all agree: Jewish religious
authorities did not execute Jesus."
I guess they didn't read Matt 26:59.
Or Mark 14:53 - 64 or Mark the 15th chapter.
Here's what you have to ask yourself, would Pilate have had a trial without the Jewish religious leaders? Their intent was clear.
Regarding the atrocities committed by ones calling themselves christian, it's easy to see the fulfillment of Matt 7:21-23 and 7:15-20. All of Matthew 7 is a warning to "christians". Clearly most people who call themselves christians today are not. I suspect it was the same by the late second century CE. To much philosophy and Pagan holidays were accepted and promoted as christian beliefs.
Enough with these bible commentators who haven't read the bible.
Posted by: Thinking out Loud | April 7, 2007 12:17 AM
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GOP WINS PRESTIGIOUS WHITED SEPULCHRE AWARD ON EASTER
March 24, 2007, AgenceWSF -- In its annual Easter missive, Whited Sepulchre Foundation is pleased to honor the entire Republican Party as recipient of its annual "Hypocrite of the Year" award. This is the first time that the prestigious award has a group (rather than individual) winner. The Foundation's jury voted hands down to single out what it called the GOP's "truly outstanding performance" (in part catalogued by E.J. Dionne's WashPost column March 24).
The list of notable accomplishments includes
-- defending family values while simultaneously protecting child predator Congressperson Mark Foley, anti-gay but promiscuous homosexual preachers, druggie radio figures and oft-married, morally dubious presidential hopefuls; -- saying they support our troops while sending the latter to slaughter and mayhem without adequate strategy, armor or transport in a meaningless, illegal and unaffordable occupation of Iraq; -- labeling their legislation "green" while plundering and ravaging the environment; -- in its Gonzo-Gate purge of U.S. attorneys, taking the opposite side of all the arguments they savaged Bill Clinton with; -- finally, espousing democracy abroad while giving Bush unlimited power at home.
The Whited Sepulchre award takes its name from the Book of Matthew, wherein Christ compares hypocrites to a vessel that is pure white on the outside but foul within. In scripture, Jesus decries hypocrisy as a serious sin. One member of the Foundation's awards jury said, "What better metaphor for the Bush's Brain (Rove) and the GOP -- saying one thing while doing another, over and over again."
(Whited Sepulchre Foundation is a Bible-based, public-service, non-profit research entity operating at various undisclosed locations throughout Northern California. The Foundation is dedicated to identifying, recognizing and publicizing the most outstanding examples of hypocrisy, mendacity and cant in media, politics and cultural life of our modern times. Last year's national winner was George W. Bush, who overwhelmed the competition by sheer volume of output leavened by numerous instances of comic malapropisms and unintended buffoonery.)
Posted by: E. Mainland | April 6, 2007 8:19 PM
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OH, My ECLATI in me, hidden within my MEME, you
see:
You ALL are Nice Folks. Ya Ya.
What A BEAUTIFUL WORLD.
What Great Blogers
Holy Mackerel! Ya Mon :=)/
There really is LIFE-IN-LIGHT and Our Eclati Never Dies.
So Round and Round WE go and NOBODY Knows.
Imagine being resurrected in the Eclati-an Way
and never in the Biblical way?!
Now thats True Justice mixed with Genuine Love via our COSMIC Holy Heart Beats and us being in ITSELF (G-d)
via the PALANDROME of Absolute Contraction of Temperature [TIME] and then the Absolute Expansion, over and over again.
Thus we are in Eclati thus Eternally Avoiding Loneliness via IT (G-d). Lord. Eclat, Almighty...
Can You Feel It Sisters, Brothers, HUMATES et al? Praise Eclati ! WOW! :-)/ Ya Mon! Umm Umm.
Attention All Hands:
((((((( A.M.O.N ))))))))
[a Egypt Half-Man & Half-Animal]
IS, in Fact, THE SAME, in the Abrahamic History records, that saying:
((((((( AMEN ))))))) IS THE SAME THING as saying, “A.mon!”
So people have been AMONing or AMENing, all this time in the wrong Light of what the average sucker or man has not understood of which was unknowingly being worshiped INSTEAD-OF-ECLATi (g-d), that is in Me, You & ALL things animate & in Inanimate at REALITY. Ya Ya.
Am I right on the AMON & the AMEN worship? :=)/
Posted by: Jacob Josevz On: Its TRUE, We Never Die in ECLATi. | April 6, 2007 6:30 PM
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Jesus was the great equalizer. He made no distinction between class, race, gender or rank and privilege.
Your assertion is right. "To follow where compassion leads and bear the cost of what we find."
As I have discovered in my own life, sometimes that cost is very high---financial and social. Jesus said we would suffer if we choose to follow him.
Our social mores in the U.S. are not very far behind those of ancient Rome in Jesus' day. We squash opposition (George Bush); we reward the powerful and the corrupt (Jack Abramoff).
Perhaps we are in the "end times" as many fundamentalist Christian groups profess. Whatever it is that ails the United States, it will destroy us if we can't find a way to turn away from the lure of power and social rank and use it in constructive and positive ways.
Happy Easter!
Posted by: Anna Karenina | April 6, 2007 3:23 PM
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