Post by Jeremy Sharpe on Apr 22, 2011 16:17:08 GMT -5
There are three paths one can walk in life: That of Pilate, Barabbas, or Christ. The first represents civilized savagery, the second, uncivilized savagery, and the third, true humanity. In the first, the state or some other institution is God. In the second, the self is God, and in the third, God is God. Each of us have to choose which of these paths we'll walk.
Pilate, a Roman governor, embodied the path of civilized savagery that was the Roman Empire. Despite it's relatively advanced state, Rome could be as brutal as the lowest of the barbarian hordes that surrounded it, as evidenced by it's utilization of crucifixion. On this path, the state is the ultimate authority, the state is God. One might consider Nazi Germany as a modern equivalent of what the Roman empire represented; a kind of cold, mechanistic, savagery.
Barabbas, on the other hand, embodied the path of uncivilized savagery, a more naked form of barbarism. Barabbas was an enemy of the Roman machine, but not out of any sense of sympathy for the suffering that it caused. Rather, Barabbas' rebellion was out of a will to be free of any power or authority whatever outside of himself. On this path, the self is the final authority, the self is God. The more terroristic elements of the anarchist community might be seen as analogous to the path that Barabbas represented; more driven by passion than reason, more animal in expression than mechanistic, but no less brutal.
Jesus Christ, however, represents the complete antithesis of each of the preceding paths. Rather than exhibiting the totalizing selfishness of Pilate and the wider Roman Empire, or the private selfishness of Barabbas, Jesus embodied a self-sacrificing nature that was willing to give of himself to the benefit of others. Consequently, he was a stumbling block for Pilate and Barabbas alike. Rather than justifying either the civilized savagery of the former or the uncivilized savagery of the latter, he convicted both by the exhibition of true humanity. On this path, the state and the self are each put into their proper place and God himself is the final authority.
Truth is the common enemy of all liars, and Christ Jesus was the truth made flesh, the very embodiment of truth. Ergo, he was the common enemy of both Pilate and Barabbas and the worldviews that they represented. His very existence served to condemn them. Accordingly, it was in both of their interests that Jesus be put to death.
The question you must ask yourself is, whose path do you find yourself on? Who is the final authority in your life? Who is your God? Given that one can only choose between the crooked paths of man or the straight path of God, which one do you walk? Have you taken up your cross and begun to follow Christ, or refused the cross to follow another? God well knows the answer, do you?
Pilate, a Roman governor, embodied the path of civilized savagery that was the Roman Empire. Despite it's relatively advanced state, Rome could be as brutal as the lowest of the barbarian hordes that surrounded it, as evidenced by it's utilization of crucifixion. On this path, the state is the ultimate authority, the state is God. One might consider Nazi Germany as a modern equivalent of what the Roman empire represented; a kind of cold, mechanistic, savagery.
Barabbas, on the other hand, embodied the path of uncivilized savagery, a more naked form of barbarism. Barabbas was an enemy of the Roman machine, but not out of any sense of sympathy for the suffering that it caused. Rather, Barabbas' rebellion was out of a will to be free of any power or authority whatever outside of himself. On this path, the self is the final authority, the self is God. The more terroristic elements of the anarchist community might be seen as analogous to the path that Barabbas represented; more driven by passion than reason, more animal in expression than mechanistic, but no less brutal.
Jesus Christ, however, represents the complete antithesis of each of the preceding paths. Rather than exhibiting the totalizing selfishness of Pilate and the wider Roman Empire, or the private selfishness of Barabbas, Jesus embodied a self-sacrificing nature that was willing to give of himself to the benefit of others. Consequently, he was a stumbling block for Pilate and Barabbas alike. Rather than justifying either the civilized savagery of the former or the uncivilized savagery of the latter, he convicted both by the exhibition of true humanity. On this path, the state and the self are each put into their proper place and God himself is the final authority.
Truth is the common enemy of all liars, and Christ Jesus was the truth made flesh, the very embodiment of truth. Ergo, he was the common enemy of both Pilate and Barabbas and the worldviews that they represented. His very existence served to condemn them. Accordingly, it was in both of their interests that Jesus be put to death.
The question you must ask yourself is, whose path do you find yourself on? Who is the final authority in your life? Who is your God? Given that one can only choose between the crooked paths of man or the straight path of God, which one do you walk? Have you taken up your cross and begun to follow Christ, or refused the cross to follow another? God well knows the answer, do you?