Oh, What a Twisted Tale We Weave

As nearly as I can tell, Jesus’ mission was to empower the powerless. He accomplished this by elevating the low-esteemed to the position of equality in terms of how all of us are “seen” by our Creator. This is gospel. This is good news, but more so to the poor and lowly than to the rich and powerful. I am intrigued by how the early Church managed to put its own spin on the meaning of Jesus’ crucifixion. Instead of regarding it as a violent attempt by the elite to silence some wild-eyed humanitarian that was starting to stir the masses (which I think it was), an elaborate formula of salvation and atonement was cast upon the Christ, quite leaving the human Jesus hanging from the cross. Traditional Christianity asserts that Jesus’ death upon the cross was ordained by God as the means of redeeming humankind from itself. That’s quite a contrast, don’t you think? For a long time now I have believed that today’s Christian Right would be quicker to crucify Jesus of Nazareth than their Pharisaic and Sadducean counterparts of two-thousand years ago. Those who covet power over others have no need of the revelation that “all men are created equal”; indeed, they have very good reasons for wanting to subvert and corrupt such a message. Too early on, those who were instrumental in developing the Church were susceptible to the temptations of being in charge, of being in control, and of seeing themselves as superior to the rest. And so it is that the Christian Church may well have evolved into the antichrist that it hypocritically rails against today.