Jesus Christ, the great iconoclast of his time, a polarizing figure and a lightning rod for controversy who turned every preconceived ideal once believed about the world completely upside down. He was and remains the worlds most interesting man, Jesus should replace the Dos Equis Iconic figure, "He once walked on water, raised a dead man back to life, defeated the sin of the entire world, turned water to rich vintage wine, stay thirsty my friends". So begins our starting point, the historical figure of Jesus Christ. He certainly existed. There can be no reasonable doubt about that. His existence as a historical figure is vouched for by pagans and Christians alike. His deity and claims though are widely argued and debated on a global scale.
When I hear people say "I don't believe in Jesus. I always wonder, what part of what He said do you not believe? Historically it is impossible to disprove the fact that there was once a Jewish man by the name of Jesus who was a great teacher and performed miraculous inexplicable events, was crucified circa 30 AD by Pontius Pilot. There is plenty of contemporary evidence supporting these claims as well. In the works of Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews) and works of Celsus in (Poems against the Christians) a compiled list of angry arguments attempting to prove the fallacy of Jesus divinity, works, and teachings. In one part he alluded to Jesus exorcisms and miraculous healings as being attributed to his allegiance with witchcraft and the occult. Now why would someone spend so much time and energy disproving his teachings, works and miracles, even going as far as accusing him a sorcerer and rebel ring leader of a very popular and now widespread religion if it was not backed in some semblance of reality? It doesn't make sense that a medical writer would devote so much time and energy to provide erroneous facts about a religious leader if it wasn't true.
There are claims out there where historians have said "Because his followers died horrible deaths and were fanatical in professing their undying love for him perhaps Jesus teachings may be true". This is straw-mans fallacy, no, to understand the real truth, it goes beyond their great sacrifice and service, but something far far more real and larger in scope. For example, there were 70 prophesies about the coming messiah alluded to in the book of Daniel. Jesus tit-for-tat fulfilled every single one of them, if you think the book of Daniel and Old Testament to be inauthentic and made up by a bunch of deluded religious fanatics, well that is just plain crazy since there is more contemporary evidence backing up these writings when the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered, these prophesies still etched on them, dated to be thousands of years before Jesus birth. How can a prophet know these things and predict someone's life so perfectly without divine enlightenment and inspiration?
Now the Jews knew there was going to be a messiah who would eventually come and rescue them from their oppressors, overthrow the unholy empires and establish His kingdom. Now what they didn't understand was exactly how he was going to accomplish it. They assumed the messiah was going to reign here on earth. There are many Jews still to this day who believe the messiah had not yet arrived, in fact the Jewish religion still teaches this doctrine.
When Jesus Christ started his ministry he began fulfilling every one of the prophesies foretold about him, many times you will find Jesus saying "today among you, this prophesy has been fulfilled" or "so what is written might be fulfilled" which baffled and irritated the Jews. This ordinary placid individual who exhibited no sense of majestic or kingly appearance, who furthermore had no regard whatsoever for stringently followed Jewish customs their fathers had been following for thousands of years. A carpenter of humble birth with an ordinary name who now had a rag-tag group of low esteemed, uneducated fishermen and hated tax collectors walking around forgiving sins, performing miracles, claiming to be God's son, not to mention calling them out on every one of their cleverly concealed flaws exposing them as ridiculous, lying two faced hypocrites living a sinful facade. Of course they hated him, he was nothing like the esteemed majestic messiah who was supposedly going to launch a divinely inspired jihad, throwing over their oppressors. No this will never do! Even the hated Gentiles He was calling to his name as well. "This is ridiculous! It has gone on too far". The madness must be stopped, their bashed egos could take no more. This insurrectionist stirring up the masses must be put to death. The most heinous of tortures could only re-mediate this gross dishonor. The
reason behind a complete disregard of Jewish customs was an abolishing of the old law, due to everything it
represented pointing to him: the sacrifices, the shedding of an innocent
lamb, the temple which instead of an earthly tangible edifice with sin separating us from entrance, would soon be His very broken body. The veil of that temple was torn asunder upon death,
He was the the human incarnate representation of the everlasting God.
Jesus was in himself the picturesque representation of the spotless lamb
who was to absorb the wrath that was looming over the entire world.
The representation of a cross nowadays signifies strong religious symbolism and sentient, but two thousand years ago it meant nothing of the sort. In fact it signified the lowest state of dishonor and shame reserved for felons involved in the most morbid of crimes. Having a cross before Jesus death would be like someone walking around with a swastika accompanied with a small graphic image of a holocaust..It'd be like "why, is this necessary?"There were a great many imposters who came before Christ claiming to be the messiah who generated followings, each and every one of them were forcibly put down and brutally crucified by the Romans. Strictly for the reason of stirring up dissension and being a blasphemous fool. There were Romans sent to arrest Jesus multiple times and found they couldn't do it returning saying "No one spoke like this man! The religious leaders in ancient Judea would unravel large manuscripts of the torah and in long winded manner drone on including all the footnotes and annotations, which bored people to tears and others to sleep. So naturally when He was finally crucified it was the inherent human response to think "this is it", "it's been a great run but now it's over", "the gig is up another fraudulent failure has been exposed by means of crucifixion again", but this time Jesus was not crucified by the Romans but rather his own people so the prophesy written about him thousands of years prior ("he came into his own people but his own people did not receive him") might be fulfilled. This is why the resurrection is everything, like the grit and mortar in the foundation that the faith was built upon. He did marvelous works, fulfilled every prophesy written, and unlike other imposters, six feet under in the cold hard ground, his body is nowhere to be found. We know where those fraudulent messiahs are but why can't we locate the final resting place of this one?
After the ascension this messiah reappeared to the disciples and to over 5,000; all of them emerge back into the city saying without a doubt they saw him! How can you have over 5,000 people people say that without a sliver of a doubt? Clearly there were several mentally unstable people among the masses before the ascension or even before the birth of Christ claiming to be messiahs but five thousand strong, all eyewitnesses who were not disillusioned or on happy pills. His dealing with two locals on the road to Emmaus after the ascension also struck me as humorous, like, if any of you don't believe Jesus has a great
sense of humor you're mistaken, it's as if the King of Kings has a
very carefree relaxed nature, he randomly pops in on two strangers on the
road who have no idea whatsoever its Jesus, while they're deep in
conversation about the crucifixion, everybody knew about it here, this
is big, big news, its as if ancient Judea had a news channel it'd be
under the breaking news with red, highlighted "Just In--Jesus crucified
by angry mob--". If the Seahawks just won the
super bowl and some Seattle native has no idea,
okay we get a picture of how everyone in Jersualem knows about this
Great man Jesus and his death, who walks on water, he pops in on these men and
whimisically replies "what is this conversation you hold as you walk"
astonished they reply haven't you head of the things that have happened?
and Jesus carefreely replies "what things?" as if playing devils
advocate "what is this you speak of who is this man? they were
absolutely astonished your a Galilean and you have no idea whats going
on? He then revealed to them every prophesy
that was written so everyone could be fulfilled, imagine Jesus
enlightening them to all the events that took place, from the prophesies
of the old testament to now; they said there very hearts burned within
them as Jesus was describing history, basically HIS-STORY. Another event that transpired was right after the apostles are huddled
up , freaking out, their leader has just been brutally massacred afraid
the next knock is going to be a roman centurion at the door herding them out
to be staked, *boom* Jesus appears, imagine the screams of shock, then Jesus calmly replies "peace be with you" he doesn't
launch into some intense theological doxolgy so they can understand
what transpired its "have you anything here to eat?" as if "yes I am
still a human being and I'm hungry" so they hand him a fish then after
polishing it off, he begins to unravel heavens mysteries. I just can see
the amazement the disciples faces agape as he's hungrily devouring the
fish then wipes his face, alright gents, here's whats up: I just paid
for your sins..now go tell people about it. He most likely phrased it more eloquently than that but you get the point.
It's strange to me how God uses the meek and unperceived, unforeseen things in the world to confound the minds and ways of the so-called wise and powerful in the world. All other empires and religions have got their power through greed and personal gain save one. Jesus knew He was the meeting point between heaven and earth and it truly is a mind trip to wrap your head around, but this by no means infers it is too lofty an idea for our finite limited minds to grasp. Because we are representations of God himself, although fallen and tainted versions of that due to the insertion of a viral infection called sin, which has transformed and corrupted all of life and nature itself, we are the ghost in the machine, spiritual vessels incarcerated inside and controlling this very sophisticated, highly intelligent biological hardware. So because we are spiritual forms all we need is the awakening to grasp just enough understanding, not the faulty kind of understanding we often attribute, as we fancy ourselves little Gods; deities to be made much of, but as heirs awaiting the time to one-day co-author eternity , under the careful guidance of the most high. To reflect that limitlessness eternal glory, as we are now under an oppressed state of a fallen world, disillusioned many times by the powerful deceptive forces of the evil one. The veil will one day be lifted and we will see how we were meant to live at the moment of creation not as power hungry, greedy, sin filled beings pursuing sex, riches and control, which only lead to more instability and eventually mortality. Rescue and renewal is available though, the virus has finally has an anti-dote in the blood of Christ.
It's also interesting to me how nature has a way of exhibiting rebirth and regeneration through fire, as if the cyclical processes of nature need a way of fire and heat to occur in order to regenerate. According to a NASA article "Fire is the mechanism by which the forest is continually regenerated," states Hall. Fires consume dead, decaying vegetation accumulating on the forest floor, thereby clearing the way for new growth. Some species, such as the jack pine, even rely on fire to spread their seeds. The jack pine produces "seratonous" (resin-filled) cones that are very durable. The cones remain dormant until a fire occurs and melts the resin. Then the cones pop open and the seeds fall or blow out" I find it metaphorical in the same sense that fire and hardships promote spiritual renewal and regeneration, in that there is no regeneration or rebirth of pine tree's without fire, it is conducive to growth. It also is interesting how the eradication of a predator from a particular environment can lead to long term harmful ramifications on the ecosystem. For example wolves were thought to be harmful nuances to Yellowstone National park and were eradicated entirely over a period of years int eh early 20th century, due to this, environmentalists in the area were finding an exonential increase in the elk population which was causing the die off of other species in the area, they were also witnessing a decay of biological growth, strangely enough the beautiful Aspen tree's in the area began rotting and disappearing as well. It's as if to prove whenever anthropomorphic intrudes on an environment it throws the entire cycle of life off-kilter. Wolves are now being slowly introduced back into Yellowstone and according to the USGS strange beneficial changes are now occurring
"Previous research has claimed that the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park in 1995 is helping restore quaking aspen in risky areas where wolves prowl." It just goes to show how even in nature you can see how the predators can be beneficial in aiding the environment itself, on the other side of the spectrum even the dark, spooky things in this world, demons, ghosts, arch-angels and fiends have a purpose to play, in order to explain I will go further in depth.
J.R.R Tolkien's life work was spent perfecting and illuminating 'The Lord of the Rings', enlightening us to the many wonders, of his fantasy realm 'middle earth' down to the bloodlines and genealogies of elves, dwarves and men, all the way to creating his own language, that of the elves. Hollywood has mass produced his works in several visual thrillers with special effects so stocked full of impetus energy it dazzles and dizzies you. But what gets missed beneath the visual stunning allure of all the special effects is the allegorical representations and hidden meanings Tolkien places in each and every chapter of that book. Like JK Rowlings was getting at in her famous series was that same understood concept; that sometimes in order to fix a problem you have to dig into the very heart and ugly core of the issue.
In regards to "Gollum" Frodo mentions: Because of "all those horrible deeds" that Gollum has done, "He deserves death." Gandalf replies, "Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends. I have not much hope that Gollum can be cured before he dies, but there is a chance of it." "Sméagol's life is a sad story. Yes, Sméagol he was once called. Before the Ring found him… before it drove him mad." Frodo: "It's a pity Bilbo didn't kill him when he had the chance!" Gandalf: "Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the very wise can not see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play yet, for good or ill…" Gandalfs recitations here remind me that even the evil dark things, the unfriendlies who make there whereabouts while they murk about in this world have yet a part to play, for the makers will, whither willing or un-willing, most likely the latter, still yet, have a part to play in the grand scheme of this precious tapestry we call 'life'
Despite all the illusions present in the world, you can peer underneath to see the silver lining, we get captivated by novels of magical lore, but this is all indeed a very part of the truth, look no further than Tolkiens representations: Gandalf, a christ representative, standing in the way of the balrog and falling to the pit, coming back as stronger than ever; the hobbits journey to middle earth seemed like a fools mission: if he slipped up just once the whole future of the world would fall into blackness and terror. He had to journey in the very heart of the enemy's stronghold to overcome it; one that took a death of a being (once pure) defiled, wretched and tainted by sins curse (Gollum). In this case the heart of the problem was (violance, torture and fear). Everything has a metaphor, underlying meaning and covert agenda one is trying to push on you; sometimes you have to peel back the veils to understand the worldview of the one telling you. In the Bible the cross was mount doom, the ring Gods grace, because sometimes in order to fix a problem you have to dig into the very heart and ugly core of the issue.
If you happen to have some degree of interest in literary works of fantasy, you will find a common theme littered throughout. That theme is one of self-sacrifice. In many great novels a propitiatory measure is being taken to ensure greater good. Ingrained in our very DNA is a strive for means of happiness outside ourselves, one we cant fully understand or comprehend yet are inherently aware we possess. All of us could agree there is something wrong with the world and ourselves that elicits the need for fulfillment in other concepts: whither they be ideals of grandeur, emotional gratification or stimulants. The current underlying theme of these all is the need for a sublime figure to restore peace. A champion of justice to do what is deemed most honorable. You will find it in movies as well: In Batman, Christian Bale absorbs a grenade for helpless Gotham. In 300, Leonidas takes the famous stand, dying so that Sparta can be free. Will Smith in 'I am legend' screaming behind the glass that he has the cure yelling "your sick! I can save you!" yet to no avail, as he himself takes the grenade so a mother and child could escape to safety. In JK Rowlings popular series, you find Harry Potter dying so that Hogswart could be free.Well there was one hero these stories are so desperately attempting to understand: the kind of joy and satisfaction from a powerful force that sacrifices for the many. It is the silver lining in most every revered literary work down to the works of Charles Dickens; in one of many of his classic works: "A Tale of Two Cities": Sydney Carton exchanges places with his wrongfully convicted friend whose features uncannily resemble his own the night before he was sentenced to be guillotined. This apparent 'dishonor', egregious exchange of one's life for another's out of honor. whither sub-consciously or intentionally, we all find fulfilling, it can be attributed to a emotion that strikes our sentiment with mysticism and awe.
The real hero of these fantasies and myths we get so enraptured is alive and well today the very one who came down and wallowed in the pig sty with with the worst of us, just so that you and I could experience life unending with the best of us. All these myths and stories do is a create a piece of imaginative awe that can only be fully fulfilled one day in him. A life untainted from the deadly confines of this unhealthy incarceration. Life, hope, joy unending are there for the taking because of one persons birth and sacrifice. Even Lucifer himself was there on that dark day, that wily devil of old he thought he had it all figured out, thought he knew how to usurp his throne, but there was one thing he didn't know. Indeed no one becomes less like God than one who tries to be God and the one part that is a part of God himself that could not be obtained outside of God himself was love, and this he now lacked to the highest degree, now he knew God had undermined him and Gods love something Lucifer never had, now he knew he could never care about people the way Jesus did, as he know sees him tattered, torn and beaten, struggling with a cross, surrounded by a mob of people drunkenly shouting and jeering as the blood ran down his face, no this was a love he could never understand or exude. And just maybe The Son of God's heart echoed the same sentient of Sydney Carton awaiting execution, knowing his broken body was the meeting point between heaven and earth as he stumbles on Calvary's rocky slopes with the weight of a cross "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."
It's strange to me how God uses the meek and unperceived, unforeseen things in the world to confound the minds and ways of the so-called wise and powerful in the world. All other empires and religions have got their power through greed and personal gain save one. Jesus knew He was the meeting point between heaven and earth and it truly is a mind trip to wrap your head around, but this by no means infers it is too lofty an idea for our finite limited minds to grasp. Because we are representations of God himself, although fallen and tainted versions of that due to the insertion of a viral infection called sin, which has transformed and corrupted all of life and nature itself, we are the ghost in the machine, spiritual vessels incarcerated inside and controlling this very sophisticated, highly intelligent biological hardware. So because we are spiritual forms all we need is the awakening to grasp just enough understanding, not the faulty kind of understanding we often attribute, as we fancy ourselves little Gods; deities to be made much of, but as heirs awaiting the time to one-day co-author eternity , under the careful guidance of the most high. To reflect that limitlessness eternal glory, as we are now under an oppressed state of a fallen world, disillusioned many times by the powerful deceptive forces of the evil one. The veil will one day be lifted and we will see how we were meant to live at the moment of creation not as power hungry, greedy, sin filled beings pursuing sex, riches and control, which only lead to more instability and eventually mortality. Rescue and renewal is available though, the virus has finally has an anti-dote in the blood of Christ.
It's also interesting to me how nature has a way of exhibiting rebirth and regeneration through fire, as if the cyclical processes of nature need a way of fire and heat to occur in order to regenerate. According to a NASA article "Fire is the mechanism by which the forest is continually regenerated," states Hall. Fires consume dead, decaying vegetation accumulating on the forest floor, thereby clearing the way for new growth. Some species, such as the jack pine, even rely on fire to spread their seeds. The jack pine produces "seratonous" (resin-filled) cones that are very durable. The cones remain dormant until a fire occurs and melts the resin. Then the cones pop open and the seeds fall or blow out" I find it metaphorical in the same sense that fire and hardships promote spiritual renewal and regeneration, in that there is no regeneration or rebirth of pine tree's without fire, it is conducive to growth. It also is interesting how the eradication of a predator from a particular environment can lead to long term harmful ramifications on the ecosystem. For example wolves were thought to be harmful nuances to Yellowstone National park and were eradicated entirely over a period of years int eh early 20th century, due to this, environmentalists in the area were finding an exonential increase in the elk population which was causing the die off of other species in the area, they were also witnessing a decay of biological growth, strangely enough the beautiful Aspen tree's in the area began rotting and disappearing as well. It's as if to prove whenever anthropomorphic intrudes on an environment it throws the entire cycle of life off-kilter. Wolves are now being slowly introduced back into Yellowstone and according to the USGS strange beneficial changes are now occurring
"Previous research has claimed that the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park in 1995 is helping restore quaking aspen in risky areas where wolves prowl." It just goes to show how even in nature you can see how the predators can be beneficial in aiding the environment itself, on the other side of the spectrum even the dark, spooky things in this world, demons, ghosts, arch-angels and fiends have a purpose to play, in order to explain I will go further in depth.
J.R.R Tolkien's life work was spent perfecting and illuminating 'The Lord of the Rings', enlightening us to the many wonders, of his fantasy realm 'middle earth' down to the bloodlines and genealogies of elves, dwarves and men, all the way to creating his own language, that of the elves. Hollywood has mass produced his works in several visual thrillers with special effects so stocked full of impetus energy it dazzles and dizzies you. But what gets missed beneath the visual stunning allure of all the special effects is the allegorical representations and hidden meanings Tolkien places in each and every chapter of that book. Like JK Rowlings was getting at in her famous series was that same understood concept; that sometimes in order to fix a problem you have to dig into the very heart and ugly core of the issue.
In regards to "Gollum" Frodo mentions: Because of "all those horrible deeds" that Gollum has done, "He deserves death." Gandalf replies, "Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends. I have not much hope that Gollum can be cured before he dies, but there is a chance of it." "Sméagol's life is a sad story. Yes, Sméagol he was once called. Before the Ring found him… before it drove him mad." Frodo: "It's a pity Bilbo didn't kill him when he had the chance!" Gandalf: "Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the very wise can not see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play yet, for good or ill…" Gandalfs recitations here remind me that even the evil dark things, the unfriendlies who make there whereabouts while they murk about in this world have yet a part to play, for the makers will, whither willing or un-willing, most likely the latter, still yet, have a part to play in the grand scheme of this precious tapestry we call 'life'
Despite all the illusions present in the world, you can peer underneath to see the silver lining, we get captivated by novels of magical lore, but this is all indeed a very part of the truth, look no further than Tolkiens representations: Gandalf, a christ representative, standing in the way of the balrog and falling to the pit, coming back as stronger than ever; the hobbits journey to middle earth seemed like a fools mission: if he slipped up just once the whole future of the world would fall into blackness and terror. He had to journey in the very heart of the enemy's stronghold to overcome it; one that took a death of a being (once pure) defiled, wretched and tainted by sins curse (Gollum). In this case the heart of the problem was (violance, torture and fear). Everything has a metaphor, underlying meaning and covert agenda one is trying to push on you; sometimes you have to peel back the veils to understand the worldview of the one telling you. In the Bible the cross was mount doom, the ring Gods grace, because sometimes in order to fix a problem you have to dig into the very heart and ugly core of the issue.
If you happen to have some degree of interest in literary works of fantasy, you will find a common theme littered throughout. That theme is one of self-sacrifice. In many great novels a propitiatory measure is being taken to ensure greater good. Ingrained in our very DNA is a strive for means of happiness outside ourselves, one we cant fully understand or comprehend yet are inherently aware we possess. All of us could agree there is something wrong with the world and ourselves that elicits the need for fulfillment in other concepts: whither they be ideals of grandeur, emotional gratification or stimulants. The current underlying theme of these all is the need for a sublime figure to restore peace. A champion of justice to do what is deemed most honorable. You will find it in movies as well: In Batman, Christian Bale absorbs a grenade for helpless Gotham. In 300, Leonidas takes the famous stand, dying so that Sparta can be free. Will Smith in 'I am legend' screaming behind the glass that he has the cure yelling "your sick! I can save you!" yet to no avail, as he himself takes the grenade so a mother and child could escape to safety. In JK Rowlings popular series, you find Harry Potter dying so that Hogswart could be free.Well there was one hero these stories are so desperately attempting to understand: the kind of joy and satisfaction from a powerful force that sacrifices for the many. It is the silver lining in most every revered literary work down to the works of Charles Dickens; in one of many of his classic works: "A Tale of Two Cities": Sydney Carton exchanges places with his wrongfully convicted friend whose features uncannily resemble his own the night before he was sentenced to be guillotined. This apparent 'dishonor', egregious exchange of one's life for another's out of honor. whither sub-consciously or intentionally, we all find fulfilling, it can be attributed to a emotion that strikes our sentiment with mysticism and awe.
The real hero of these fantasies and myths we get so enraptured is alive and well today the very one who came down and wallowed in the pig sty with with the worst of us, just so that you and I could experience life unending with the best of us. All these myths and stories do is a create a piece of imaginative awe that can only be fully fulfilled one day in him. A life untainted from the deadly confines of this unhealthy incarceration. Life, hope, joy unending are there for the taking because of one persons birth and sacrifice. Even Lucifer himself was there on that dark day, that wily devil of old he thought he had it all figured out, thought he knew how to usurp his throne, but there was one thing he didn't know. Indeed no one becomes less like God than one who tries to be God and the one part that is a part of God himself that could not be obtained outside of God himself was love, and this he now lacked to the highest degree, now he knew God had undermined him and Gods love something Lucifer never had, now he knew he could never care about people the way Jesus did, as he know sees him tattered, torn and beaten, struggling with a cross, surrounded by a mob of people drunkenly shouting and jeering as the blood ran down his face, no this was a love he could never understand or exude. And just maybe The Son of God's heart echoed the same sentient of Sydney Carton awaiting execution, knowing his broken body was the meeting point between heaven and earth as he stumbles on Calvary's rocky slopes with the weight of a cross "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."
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