Easter is upon us.<\/p>\n
But who <\/em>is Jesus? Upon reading the Scriptures, it becomes clear that the real <\/em>Jesus, as opposed to the tamed, lame, and maimed <\/em>Politically Correct Jesus who Christian clerics as much as anyone have been promoting for years, was the antithesis of the meek, mild mannered, nonjudgmental man of whom Christians and non-Christians alike hear about at every turn. The latter placates this generation\u2019s political-moral sensibilities, but he hardly fits the profile of a person who gave rise to a religion claiming billions of followers.<\/p>\n The truth about Jesus, in His own day as in ours, is hard.<\/p>\n For starters,\u201dMarcionism\u201d was a school of thought from the second century that distinguished the God of the Old Testament from the God of the New. Though it was recognized early on for the heresy that it is, to hear many contemporary Christians, including and especially clergy, one could be forgiven for thinking that Marcionism is Christian orthodoxy.<\/p>\n Though God in the Old Testament repeatedly reveals His love for and patience with His people, He just as often proves that this love is not at all incompatible with bloodshed and death. In fact, judging from the Hebrew Scriptures, divine love\u2014which is inseparable from the divine justice\u2014not infrequently demands<\/em> punishment.<\/p>\n In other words, the God who flooded the Earth and ordered the Israelites to slaughter every living thing among their neighbors is <\/em>the babe who was born in a manger to a humble young virgin.<\/p>\n However, even \u201cthe God of the New<\/em> Testament,\u201d i.e. Jesus, was most definitely anything but meek and mild. Meek and mild human beings tend not to draw huge followings of fans that are willing to sacrifice their very lives for them. They tend not to polarize whole populations, command the attention of the most powerful leaders and rulers, and get themselves executed as capital offenders against the largest empire the world had ever seen (up to that point).<\/p>\n Jesus was neither meek nor mild by the standards of His own day. By the lights of the self-appointed guardians of secular liberal orthodoxy\u2014both Democrats and <\/em>Republicans, \u201cliberals\u201d and <\/em>\u201cconservatives\u201d\u2014He is nothing less than scandalous: Jesus, to the politically respectable, can only be judged a \u201chater,\u201d a \u201cfear monger,\u201d a \u201cbigot,\u201d and maybe even a \u201csexist!\u201d<\/p>\n After all, Jesus had the audacity to refer to a poor Canaanite woman who begged for Him to heal her daughter as a \u201cdog.\u201d \u201cIt is not fair to take the children\u2019s food and throw it to the dogs,\u201d Jesus sternly informed her. It was only after the woman persisted\u2014\u201cYes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters\u2019 table\u201d\u2014that Jesus relented and healed her little girl (Mathew 15: 21-28).<\/p>\n As for judging, Jesus spared no occasion to remind both fans and foes alike that He and \u201cthe God of the Old Testament\u201d are <\/em>one and the same:<\/p>\n \u201cSo it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth\u201d (Mt. 13: 49-50).<\/p>\n \u201cWhoever is not with me is against me\u2026but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come\u201d (Mt. 12: 30-32; Mk. 3:19-30; Lk. 11:14-23).<\/p>\n For His enemies, the Pharisees and scribes, Jesus reserved a furry of criticism. They were \u201chypocrites,\u201d \u201cblind guides,\u201d \u201cwhitewashed tombs\u201d who are \u201cfull of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth\u201d like \u201cgreed and self-indulgence.\u201d His opponents are \u201cdescendants of those who murdered the prophets,\u201d \u201csnakes\u201d and \u201cvipers\u201d who can\u2019t \u201cescape being sentenced to hell\u201d (Mt. 23: 16-36; Mk. 12: 38-40; Lk. 20: 45-47) [.]<\/p>\n Yet even those who styled themselves His friends didn\u2019t escape His wrath.<\/p>\n Unfaithful servants will be \u201ccut\u201d into \u201cpieces\u201d and placed \u201cwith the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth\u201d (Mt. 24:51; Lk. 12: 41-48). Jesus informs His disciples of His plans for those nations <\/em>with which He is displeased: \u201cThen he [the Son of Man] will say to those at his left hand, \u2018You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels\u2026And these will go away into eternal punishment\u201d (Mt. 25: 41-46).<\/p>\n Of the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, Jesus likened them to the cities of Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom\u2014cities to which He (God) laid waste. \u201cBut I tell you [Chorazin and Bethsaida], on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum\u2026you will be brought down to Hades\u201d (Mt. 11: 22-23; Lk. 10: 13-15).<\/p>\n \u201cIf any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea\u201d (Mt. 18: 6; Mk. 9:42-48; Lk. 17: 1-2).<\/p>\n If Jesus were on the Earth with us right now, PETA would\u2019ve long ago made Him into Public Enemy Number One, for Jesus, upon curing a man of demons, sent the demons into a herd of about 2,000 pigs, propelling the swine down a hill into a body of water in which they drowned. Not only, though, did legions of defenseless animals die; the livelihoods of people who depended upon these animals were also destroyed. \u201cThen they [the townspeople} began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood\u201d (Mt. 8:28-9:1; Mk. 5:1-20; Lk. 8:26-39).<\/p>\n I could continue.<\/p>\n Some other details about the real Jesus that we never hear:<\/p>\n While Jesus did indeed show great love to the poor and powerless, He also showed great love to the rich and powerful. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were wealthy and influential members of the Sanhedrin\u2014and disciples of Jesus. The Centurion whose servant Jesus healed was, obviously, a man of means\u2014and of power.<\/p>\n And, of course, God the Son, as the Christian\u2019s Old Testament readily reveals, always extended blessings to such super wealthy and powerful rulers\u2014and kings<\/em> to boot!\u2014as King David and King Solomon, etc.<\/p>\n Though He condemned some <\/em>rich people, He also condemned some <\/em>poor people. And, contrary to the narrative that the socialist-minded clerics of today have labored tirelessly to ensconce in the popular consciousness, it wasn\u2019t only <\/em>the rich and powerful that conspired to execute Jesus; the poor, <\/em>many of the very folks to whose needs He attended with great care, turned on Him in His<\/em> hour of need and demanded\u2014demanded<\/em>!\u2014His death: According to all four Gospels, when given the choice to spare the life of Christ or that of the murderous zealot, Barrabas, the bloodthirsty crowd of mostly poor folks chose the latter.<\/p>\n Jesus was no pacifist: At least some of His disciples were armed with swords, and at one juncture, Jesus even commands <\/em>His disciples to arm themselves. \u201cAnd the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one,\u201d He ordered them (Lk. 22: 36). All four Gospels inform us of how Jesus burst upon the Temple in Jerusalem and cleared house by flipping over the tables of the traders and driving them and their animals out with a whip!<\/p>\n Jesus also used military imagery in His parables, and heeded a Centurion\u2019s request (without admonishing him, as He admonished so many others\u2014like Levi, the tax collector\u2014to repent of his <\/em>ways). Furthermore, the martyrology of the early church included soldiers).<\/p>\n To serve Jesus, we must first know Him from the idol\u2014the false god\u2014with which \u201cpolite society\u201d has replaced Him.<\/p>\n Happy Easter!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Easter is upon us. But who is Jesus? Upon reading the Scriptures, it becomes clear that the real Jesus, as opposed to the tamed, lame, and maimed Politically Correct Jesus who Christian clerics as much as anyone have been promoting for years, was the antithesis of the meek, mild mannered, nonjudgmental man of whom Christians…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":399,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n