The Brilliant Truth

OF THE CROSS

I love the Rumi Forum- Rumi was that Persian Apostle of Love and Peace whose poems are even more widely read than e.e.cummings. Rumi- he is all about the One God and unifying force field of Universal Love. You cannot read Rumi seriously and be untroubled by these wars we self-delude ourselves into.

At a recent event another apostle of peace spoke about her journey from Judaism bypassing through Hindi-ism all through India still holding onto the principle that The Lord Our God, the Lord is One, then backlooping through European monestaries and convents then through the Arabic world -she now confesses herself to be a Muslim in solidarity with the disadvantaged.
Her beliefs were moving, and purely intended. Only one thing shocked me and I found myself scratching my head wondering "how could she believe that-did she really say that?"

The woman who wrote a book about her spiritual journey which now has her living in Philadelphia and going to the co-op in Mount Airy no doubt shopping vegan organic Kosher in her Shibab veil, doesn't purport to refute any religion but tries to find the light in all of them. Sounds good. Who could argue? If it's all about Love- it's the right answer.

She stopped me in my tracks when pronouncing however that she didn't believe that there was a crucifiction and that Jesus instead 'ascended.' Both are true. She admitted that it is a very rare thing for anyone to "Ascend." True. I only know of three people who did- Elijah, Jesus and the Blessed Mother. Into heaven all of them- Elijah hitchhiked with a Chariot of Fire apparently. Perhaps the first UFO citing? Are 'clouds of glory" exhaust from UFOs? That's another episode of the History Channel.

There was of course however also a crucifiction. There was an old rugged cross. This was a common form of capital punishment in Roman times used throughout the Empire. Jesus underwent a trial- before a guy named Pontius Pilate, a roman regional ruler. These things are matters of historical truth recorded by people like the historian Josephus (not an Apostle) and others chronicalling the events of the day. It is just a historical fact Jesus was given a capital sentence given to heretics of the day for his alleged blasphemies and strung up between two real criminals to die on a cross. It is a fact he carried it part of the way, which is a brutal sort of humiliation like asking someone on death row to carry his own electric chair. He died there- he gave up his Spirit calling to God and asking forgiveness on those who killed him, then he was buried in a borrowed tomb. Joseph of Arimathea took his body and wrapped it in the burial cloth that some firmly maintain is what is now known as the Shroud of Turin (another episode of the History Channel for how it travelled from Jerusalem through Turkey, Asia Minor and eventually to France then Italy.)

The historical point about the Cross is more than just myth or "something your parents taught you" as she suggested.
The historical point about the Cross points to a much deeper spiritual reality that speaks to the superior being of who Christ was and is. Christ was buried. He didn't stay buried. He "rose" from the dead. After the Resurrection, he walked the planet in human form and then ascended.
The accounts of his life after he rose before he ascended are remarkable- he had holes visible in his hands that you could poke your finger through as Thomas did in the upper room. He apparently could penetrate locked doors as he did in the upper room- and appeared in resurrected bodily form as both human and a bit etherial- the Upper Room doors were locked for fear of the people trying to kill off this sect of Jesus followers- and Jesus walked through the doors/walls apparently.

The point about the Cross is that it could not contain him. No matter what your cross is, with Jesus you can defeat it- you can overcome it- you can be resurrected. It is more than a spiritual symbol- anything in God's will that we are called to do we have power to do it- even if it entails resurrecting the dead.

The apostles brought dead people to life. Christianity isn't just about making good people better or nice people more loving. It is about making dead people alive--through Jesus, the Messiah, the Savior.

You spend nine months floating around blissfully in your mother's womb-you hear vague sounds of her singing, maybe birds outside, or music, but your eyes are closed-or if they open all you would see is a watery fog. Then you are born kicking, crying and screaming into this world.
You get to live here if you are lucky for about 100 years or so, less if the elements get you quicker. Then "you"-your spirit- the essence of who "you" are goes on.

Heaven is real. In Jesus' Father's House there are many rooms. He goes to prepare a place for those who believe in him. That's where you go if you love him and as a consequence do as he commands. (If you love me you will do what I command)-

The Cross means death cannot contain this Love. It means death is defeated. It means Death-even a humiliating death on a cross- has no final last word for someone who believes in Jesus.

That's why we call him Jesus, the Lord, the Giver of Life, the Maker of All that is Seen and Unseen.