The Gift of Freedom
The image of Jesus on the Cross has come to mind several times today.
The Bible says that in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed in agony:
“Father, if thou be willing remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will but thine be done” (Luke 22:44).
In this scene Jesus is presented as opposed to Crucifixion; as buckling under God’s imperative and going to the Cross against his own will and better judgment.
But there is something about this view that doesn’t feel quite right.
It seems too human in the way most of us are – self protective and reluctant to suffer for others.
Maybe . . . when Jesus looked at that Cross on the distant hill, maybe he actually felt JOY about it.
Maybe he even felt gratitude for what was about to happen.
Because His death was going to change the world.
His Crucifixion was going to bring freedom to numberless people living in bondage.
People that Jesus loved.
“Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
Is there a greater gift than freedom to someone you love?
And though the cost that gift is “death,” maybe it is possible to be grateful,
Even joyful,
That it is within our power to give.
It was a beautiful intention He held on the cross...
ReplyDeleteHe would have had to believe wholeheartedly in this Gift, to feel the JOY of giving it. Remember all we need is" Faith the size of a mustard seed". So I will Trust those words and intend to feel Freedom grow and evolve to become fully realized. Yes, the best Gifts are when we recieve what is already ours.
Thank you for the insight on the possibility of Joy in bearing the Cross
“Father, if thou be willing remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will but thine be done”
ReplyDeleteI feel like this shows us too that he always asked for 'Gods Will' to guide every step of his walk here. I am feeling here the gift of setting All free, knowing that ultimately we are connected beyond form in Flesh. Yet, it is our absolute commitment to God, to others and the constant confirmation of ' not my will but yours, God' and then being with what is, in whatever form it takes, that is true freedom. There are things in my life that are downright miraculous, that are actually what I have been asking for that scare the hell out of me, continually asking and then trusting my experience and being with these fears...moves us into the Master Plan. Commitment is freedom. Jesus was resurrected beyond all his fear, pain, anger and humiliation...in that commitment is joy.
Awesome Post! Thank You CD, appreciate it, convicts me of my chicken poop self and how I run away...glad Jesus was committed, no matter what, and shows us by example that what is actual is beyond form and death and separation. Love the mustard seed of faith and receiving what is all-ready ours. When we walk IN Gods will, thine be the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever Amen huh?
Who knows what Jesus felt? It's all mere speculation ...
ReplyDeleteAnd billions of people have been speculating about Jesus for the last 2000 years...
So, here goes ...
I don't know, perhaps Jesus felt terrified and really didn't want to go through with the horror of being crucified.
And, even worse than that, the horror of being deified.
Maybe, the idea that Jesus felt utterly terrified and wanted to avoid his fate - just like the rest of us would have done - would render him as being "all too human".
And maybe he was "all too human". Perhaps Jesus was the MOST human of all of us. Perhaps, his divinity lay in the fact that he was utterly, utterly authentic. That he was 100% true to his experience of being human. That he was whole and complete as a human being - good and bad.
Somehow, we want to think of Jesus as being some kind of superhuman being, able to transcend death and all the rest of it.
In other words, he is portrayed as something that we could never be ourselves. Rather than being someone that we can relate to or identify with - because he actually shared our experience, and felt the same kind of pain and misery and suffering that we do - but rather he is this God-like figure that we have to worship, beautify and deify.
Perhaps Jesus felt joy, gratitude, and not to say just a little bit of relief that he would soon be escaping this nutso experience.
And, maybe, as he became increasingly aware of his impending demise, he was s**t-scared, and resisted like crazy.
"Abba Abba, lama sabachtani?"
And, maybe, as he looked over his life, he felt a sense of failure and regret in terms of accomplishing (or failing to accomplish) his mission.
Because, while inherent within his message was freedom from bondage, maybe he knew that his message would be skewed and manipulated and misrepresented in such a way that far from freeing people from their bondage, many of his "spokespeople" would distort his message in such a way that it would trap people even deeper in their bondage.
In the conceptual and perceptual prison of belief in an organised religion.
And, maybe, just maybe, I still have just a little bit more to integrate when it comes to Christianity ;-)
I feel he was simply authentic, a deeply feeling superhuman...why be ignorant and think we are limited in any way? We are like him; we are just unable to perceive it. And, as much as the truth is distorted and the focus may be on the 'Super' to the detriment of integrating the whole experience,...we are incredible beings with capabilities beyond measure, including, yet in part, deep felt perception on multi levels.
ReplyDeletePeople say Jesus, Mary and Joseph!... as a curse too. 'Christianity' like all, is about sifting the wheat from the chaff...recognizing the pearls from the swine, the true rare gems from the pomp and circumstance, surely this capacity is within us.