“The rulers sneered at Jesus and said, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is a king.” “The soldiers too jeered at Jesus” on the cross. “Now one of the two criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, ‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.’”
The earthly kings and their soldiers are in the process of murdering Jesus on the cross. They know that killing him is saving them annoyance and significant challenge. They know, as does the one criminal know, that Jesus’ suffering and dying on the cross is not saving anyone from any sins. History’s Biggest Lie, of Jesus suffering and dying on the cross to save us from our sins, is a very Old Lie. It starts in the Old Testament with Sin-Redemption theologians. Ruling theologians tell all those whom they make suffer that their suffering is redemptive, saving. This theology is restarted by Paul in the New Testament. All Sin-Redemptive theologians assert ‘God’ is angered by sinners and requires a blood sacrifice, such as suffering and dying on a cross, to be appeased. Like the Old cohort, Paul and his New cohort assert the rulers and soldiers are doing the will of this angry God when they murder Jesus on the cross. Rulers and soldiers have invented a quite convenient God and a quite convenient 2nd Amendment theology. The right of the rulers and their soldiers to keep and bear arms, blessed by their mirror-image deity, shall not be infringed, especially when they take aim against sinners. Believing Jesus suffered and died on the cross to save us from our sins does not show belief in Jesus. It shows belief in the rulers and soldiers who murder people like Jesus and invent a theology to sanctify doing so. How is it we believe in such a God and such a theology? It is possible to reconsider the belief that Jesus suffered and died on the cross to save us from our sins. It is possible to consider that Jesus suffered and died on the cross because rulers and their soldiers, whose sin it is to make people suffer and die, murdered him. These sinner rulers and soldiers then projected their guilt onto all humanity. They have coerced us to maintain their Big Lie. The Big Lie coerces us to be saved by our obedience, our suffering, and our sacrifice to and for the ruling killer class. We are thus diverted from witnessing Jesus’ challenging life. He rejected obedience, loved those made to suffer, and healed those made to violently sacrifice their lives – and was murdered by the ruling killer class for doing so. That is why Jesus ended up on the cross. Jesus replaced their rule, suffering, and violence with our communion, love, and healing. Jesus’ life and our own is the ultimate radical challenge that brings the killer rulers and soldiers to an end. We are called to co-create a spirituality of equals, lovers, and healers.
“You must learn one thing. The world was made to be free in. Give up all the other worlds except the one to which you belong. Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you.” (David Whyte)
Prayer: Beautiful Spirit, in you we are free
Question: When will we be free of the religion of Militarism that rules us, abuses us and kills us?
November 20, 2022 Gospel Luke 23:35-43 Feast of Christ the King