In the summer I read The Great Good Thing: A Secular Jew Comes to Faith in Christ by Andrew Klavan. He was raised in a basically atheistic (though nominally Jewish) home. It was well written and interesting.
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Stephen, what’s going on in that picture? It seems to show Roman soldiers on a hilltop. Does it represent the earthquake and darkness during Christ’s crucifixion? Also, the soldier’s arms look withered—or is it showing something different? Thank you.
I added it to my wish list. Thank you for the recommendation. You should add it to this thread : )
I believe that Jesus came to give the Jews the next step in real religion, from the platform of keeping rules of morality and social conduct, (thou shalt and thou shalt not), to love of God, which the essence of all religion. But most Jewish people are not understanding this yet. (I was raised in a Jewish community). Above all, God wants our love, simply because He enjoys our love. We are created for that purpose. That is how God enjoys. People keep rules so they can go to heaven. That is not love; that is a business deal. It is for our own pleasure, our own salvation. One who loves God doesn’t care even to go to heaven. All he asks for and prays for is to be engaged in God’s service with love in his heart. He prays to the the Lord, “Not what I want from You, but how can I serve You? Not my will, but Thy will be done.” In this way, Jesus teaches by example. People are frightened by the thought of taking this position, only because they think that by taking such a position they will be the loser. This is because they don’t understand that when one’s heart is filled with pure devotional feelings for God, the heart becomes filled with ecstatic joy. At that stage of devotion, all attraction for the things of this world effortlessly depart. Whatever one sees, what ever one touches, he thinks, “Oh, how can I use this in a way that will give my Lord pleasure?” He brings flowers to God’s altar. He places his cooking preparations before the Lord, before taking. He uses his voice to praise and glorify the Lord. He wants to sing and dance before the altar. He works to build a temple to the Lord. He writes to spread the message of the Lord. And he prays, “My dear Lord, please keep me always engaged in Your service……and “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” And he sings and chants the names of God, following the instruction of Jesus, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name.” Because he has faith, that if we filled the universe with the sound vibration of the name of the Lord, the result would be, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” I know that I am preaching to the choir. “Where two or more are gathered in my name…..I am present.” That’s how we do it.
There is a book titled “The Spear” by Louis De Wohl. It is a historical fiction book about the Roman soldier who thrust his spear into the side of Christ. It tried to imagine how the soldier grew up and became the man at Calvary and his conversion after doing what he had done.
This is the power of the word. Material sound…..when dovetailed into spiritual context with faith and love, becomes spiritual sound. One can feel uplifted. Therefore Jesus says, “Our Father who are in heaven, hallowed by Thy Name, (and if we make that spiritual sound vibration), Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.” The whole world can become spiritualized if the people of the planet gather together, and make a great celebrative sound unto the Lord. With cymbals and drums. Singing the names of the Lord. He is present in the sound of His name. One can feel it. Therefore we have the rosary. But “where two or more are gathered in my name, I am present there.”
This is a painting by James Tissot, who created a book of watercolors showing the life of Christ. The picture is called “The Centurion’s Confession,” the confession being “Truly this was the Son of God.” I don’t know why all the soldiers are on the ground (I thought maybe the earth was quaking and they couldn’t stand up). All seem to be holding their hands in prayer, except one who has his hand to his head. Maybe I can find some further explanation.
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Peter1
But because there is no greater revelation of divine love than the Cross, and there is no surer path to the Resurrection than walking in the footsteps of the Crucified. As St. Paul came to know, when we carry the dying of Jesus within us, the life of Jesus gradually becomes visible to the world. Our lives become, in their own humble way, another proclamation of the Gospel, another living witness that love is stronger than death, and that the Cross, embraced in faith, is already flowering with the promise of Easter.
Christ crucified is intimately connected to the resurrection To our Reconciliation and salvation.
The symbol of the cross Without the crucified body of Christ Is very impersonal And it Barely represents the passion of Christ And often Can be seen Simply as jewelry.
It’s like that song by frank Sinatra Love and marriage you can’t have 1 without the other. This very much represents what’s going on - Christ crucified the ultimate expression of God’s love for us. Through the Resurrection We the church are married to the bridegroom Jesus. To turn away from Christ crucified Is turning away from the cost of reconciliation. We need to embrace Christ crucified Christ on the cross Christ crucified is the Gospel In a nutshell Christ crucified is the word Of God manifested. They are inseparable. The word of god The body of Christ Sounds like the Holy Catholic Mess !
Christ crucified is the source and summit Of the catholic church
I respect your passion and your faith. I respect your understanding of what Jesus on the cross means as the way in which human kind can become reconciled with God.
But for me personally, I also like to envision Jesus giving the sermon on the mount. I like to think of Jesus healing with his touch. I like to think of Jesus commanding the wind to stop blowing when he was in a small boat with his students. I also like to think of Jesus feeding several hundred with a few loaves of bread …but not the fish.
I don’t eat fish myself. A friend once took me fishing. A small fish, about six inches long , was caught on my line, and was struggling and fighting to be free. I landed the liitle guy, and extracted the hook from his throat. I lowered my hand into the water, and watched him swim away. I put down the fishing rod, and never picked one up again. I feel the same way about all of God’s creatures. I know people who weep when their cat or dog dies. Because they share love, reciprocate love with these creatures. I met a woman in the auto parts store last week. She was working there. We talked a little and she showed me pictures on her smart phone. She lives in the forest, outside of town. She showed me pictures of a deer that she had befriended. In the picture I could see that the deer was in her house and was eating from her hand. I am 82. I stopped eating animals when I was 25. People tell me I look like I’m 60. But that’s another story.
I guess that what I want to say, is that when we love someone, we don’t like the idea of them being disrespected or hurt in any way.
If I could be with Jesus today, I would like to wash his cloth. I would like to offer him a nice sitting place. I would like to sit and listen to him glorify his Father in heaven. I would like to ask him if there was anything that I could do for him, as a gesture of love. And if I saw that anyone wanted to be hurtful to him, I would do whatever in my power to protect him.
I understand that Jesus did not have to accept crucifiction. I understand that Jesus could disappear, fly into the air, make those who wish to hurt him be powerless. But Jesus is so beautiful. Physically beautiful. And spiritually beautiful. And the thought of him enduring what he allowed to happen to him…it hurts my heart. I know that Jesus forsaw everything, and even prayed to God that he would rather not go through such and ordeal…but if that was what God wanted, then he was willing to endure it.
So perhaps there is some beauty in what happened that I don’t understand. But it is not beautiful to me. I find it horrific. If these things happened to someone you love, naturally you would wish it didn’t happen. What to speak of these things happening to a peronality like Jesus, who is an intimate personal associate of God, who loves all of us beyond our capacity to comprehend.
However, if the ordeal of Jesus is what had to happen so that we could be made sinless, then if we really love him, how can we go on being sinful? How can see men in bars, looking for women while wearing the cross on thier necks? How can we not be living in prayer, and, loke some of the people who write on this site, take time off, to watch cartoons lon TV, like the Simpsons, and call themselves followers of Jesus? These things disturb my heart. “Jesus died for me; now I can have fun watching cartoons.” If I really believe that he died so that I can be free…if I’m really grateful…If I really care for him…then let me do everything in my power to maintain my purity.
What can I do? If I saw people coming to hurt Jesus, I would be inclined to draw my sword, so to speak. Why? Because if you love someone, you want to protect them from harm. That’s just how I feel. I don’t feel that what happened is something nice. It makes me angry. And it makes me sad. The love of Jesus for all of us is beautiful. However, if we who are followers of Jesus, who are made free of responsibility of our sins because of his sacrifice…if we do as he requested, accept the yoke of love of God that he wears, that would be appropriate. But if we become very off-hand about it, and don’t really endeavor, as he instructed, to love the Lord our God, with all of our heart, mind and strength…then we are no better than the ones who put those spikes through the hands and feet of Jesus. If we are the cause of that crucifiction, because there is no other way that we can be free of sin…and if we don’t try, with all of our strength to follow him…then we are no better than those who crucified him. This is how I feel. But I am not pure. Perhaps my ideas are not in line with what Jesus would say about these things. But it seems that Jesus also knew that very few of us would take his sacrifice very seriously. We would call ourselves Christians or Catholics and think that getting some water poured on our head is enough. Jesus said it very clearly: “Strait is the gate, and narrow the way, and very few it will be who will go through it.”
A beautiful expression of love for our God I will keep this In my E. mails to reread. Thank you!
Thank you for being open, and not defensive. It is not my position to judge anyone, as I have a long way to go in my own little life. But if I can find a few others who agree that we should be more serious, then by associating with them, that will give me more strength.
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