That picture below of Jesus is laughable.
Jesus was not some sweet, neatly-shaven white guy, who carried a baby lamb in his arms, picking daisies, patting children on the head and spouting off sappy stories about being nice. That halo around his head in the picture doesn’t work either. Jesus was no saint.
Jesus raised hell against the religious establishment, and his life was a middle-finger to the ways religion oppressed, exploited, and divided people. He once drove a bunch of hypocrites out of the temple, wielding a whip. Jesus was not fond of entrenched power structures – political or religious. Whether in the name of God, or Caesar; Jesus would have none of it.
There was a Jesus, before Christianity. That Jesus was fierce, courageous, and unyielding. He stood for the inherent worth of every human being. He denounced the religious lie that humankind was separated from God and told people to find heaven within themselves. Jesus proclaimed another world was possible. He chastised people for sitting around waiting for God to save the world, and challenged them to wake up and save it themselves.
Jesus rebuked those who tried to make a religion out of him, and insisted that everyone is Jesus. He proclaimed that the hope of the world’s not floating up in the sky, but present in our own hearts. The real Jesus of history was a lightning rod. The religious establishment hurriedly condemned him to death for blasphemy, while the political regime executed him for sedition.
The church is fond of asking the WWJD question.
P L E A S E! Let’s be honest here. Very few people truly sign up to live as Jesus did. It’s much easier to make Jesus into a religion, sing about him on Sundays, and get all dressed up for Christmas and Easter.
Jesus said, “you have to take up a cross in order to follow him.” In other words, to join the revolution Jesus started, meant you had to quit playing religion, confront your ego, give up your comforts, speak truth to power, endure hardship, and suffering. No one really wants to do that. The cheap alternative is to wear a cross and sing Jesus songs.”
Jim Palmer, Inner Anarchy
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