Jesus’ Passion: Our Spiritual Welfare, part 2
The stories about Jesus’ death and resurrection are meant to be an extremely powerful spiritual metaphor about the systemic sins of this world: corporate greed, profit over people, political pride, religious arrogance, and human hubris. The story of Jesus’ crucifixion, which we remember today, is one of nonviolent resistance against a system that enslaves and disenfranchises the weak and poor. It’s about the ability of each of us, when we give ourselves completely to the loving current of God flowing throughout the universe, to become agents of change—loving, peaceful, nonviolent change.
We have a personal responsibility to eradicate the sinful myths of greed and selfishness from our lives. This change is only possible when we allow ourselves to be crucified to the systemic sins of the world so that the loving Christ energy that exists within us, as it existed in Jesus, can become more fully active.
We are spiritual beings in need of spiritual resurrection, and this entire period from Holy Thursday through Easter was originally designed to remind us of this fact. We are One with God, but we think Oneness with God is impossible because our religions have sinfully made us feel worthless rather than worthy. So instead of recognizing and working on embodying the deep spiritual message of sacrifice in the crucifixion story, we give Jesus all the responsibility for salvation, unfairly placing the sins of the world upon him and a Roman instrument of torture, absolving ourselves of any hard work, and turning God into a murderous, jealous beast in the process. How typically human.
From beginning to end, the Jesus Holy Week cycle makes clear that the only way to overcome the cruel systems of this world is through deep, spiritual change. This change comes from God and is activated when
we start to awaken to and speak out against the corrupt systems that are destroying our planet. Just like Jesus did. Our spiritual awakening has begun, because every day more of us understand that we are being dehumanized by a global commerce system that sees us as nothing more than a commodity. When Jesus brought just such a system to the attention of his people living under Roman occupation, he was crucified. Does not the same thing happen to anyone who dares speak out against our neocolonial slaveholders today? Does not the media drag every rebel through the muck? Are we not every bit in need of a spiritual resurrection today as we were in Jesus' era?
The story of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection are powerful calls to action. The authors wanted us to be inspired by the story, most likely in order to continue the peaceful movement of resistance and non-compliance with Empire that Jesus started. The real sin we should remember this weekend is the sin of complicity with our modern global empire, which has nailed every single one of us to the cross of consumerism, and encouraged us to willingly turn a blind eye to the destruction of our people and our planet.
Willingly going to the cross won’t be easy. Change is never easy. But that never stopped Jesus, and if we are truly to call ourselves disciples, it cannot stop us, either.
Meditation: I am yours, Holy and Infinite Energy of Love. I fear nothing, and through you, can accomplish anything.
We have a personal responsibility to eradicate the sinful myths of greed and selfishness from our lives. This change is only possible when we allow ourselves to be crucified to the systemic sins of the world so that the loving Christ energy that exists within us, as it existed in Jesus, can become more fully active.
We are spiritual beings in need of spiritual resurrection, and this entire period from Holy Thursday through Easter was originally designed to remind us of this fact. We are One with God, but we think Oneness with God is impossible because our religions have sinfully made us feel worthless rather than worthy. So instead of recognizing and working on embodying the deep spiritual message of sacrifice in the crucifixion story, we give Jesus all the responsibility for salvation, unfairly placing the sins of the world upon him and a Roman instrument of torture, absolving ourselves of any hard work, and turning God into a murderous, jealous beast in the process. How typically human.
From beginning to end, the Jesus Holy Week cycle makes clear that the only way to overcome the cruel systems of this world is through deep, spiritual change. This change comes from God and is activated when
we start to awaken to and speak out against the corrupt systems that are destroying our planet. Just like Jesus did. Our spiritual awakening has begun, because every day more of us understand that we are being dehumanized by a global commerce system that sees us as nothing more than a commodity. When Jesus brought just such a system to the attention of his people living under Roman occupation, he was crucified. Does not the same thing happen to anyone who dares speak out against our neocolonial slaveholders today? Does not the media drag every rebel through the muck? Are we not every bit in need of a spiritual resurrection today as we were in Jesus' era?The story of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection are powerful calls to action. The authors wanted us to be inspired by the story, most likely in order to continue the peaceful movement of resistance and non-compliance with Empire that Jesus started. The real sin we should remember this weekend is the sin of complicity with our modern global empire, which has nailed every single one of us to the cross of consumerism, and encouraged us to willingly turn a blind eye to the destruction of our people and our planet.
Willingly going to the cross won’t be easy. Change is never easy. But that never stopped Jesus, and if we are truly to call ourselves disciples, it cannot stop us, either.
Meditation: I am yours, Holy and Infinite Energy of Love. I fear nothing, and through you, can accomplish anything.
