Let’s Just Get Rid of Jesus. Good Luck. Welcome to Lent.

Do not, please, have remorse for killing Jesus unless you have remorse for refusing God’s absolute and complete forgiveness for every person for all time, forever, where all receive the same eternal benefits of life with God simply because God decides this is to be so.

Do not feel remorse because you think its proper etiquette to feel bad for innocent blood shed and thus yourself are able to keep your distance, untouched.

Be honest instead. You don’t feel bad. You feel vindicated. Jesus got what he deserved! Of course we need to kill the one who simply let’s everybody off the hook! It’s not only unfair to do that, its dangerous! It’s not only unlawful, it’s reckless. Jesus is an outlaw!

There is a thing in the Christian tradition called the “adoration of the cross.” It is possible to do that, but beware you are not using it to your glory. You can’t adore it without first, or simultaneously, hating it. In fact, it might be better to drop our whole adoration of the cross and realize the cross adores us: kills us and raises us up.

Jesus! You forgive too much!

For Christians: you forgive the rotten and the unbelieving too much!

For Non-Christians: you forgive us when we don’t even need your forgiveness!

For Both: get rid of Jesus!

For Christians: give me law, not gospel!

For Non-Christians: give me gospel, not law!

For Both: let me be me!

To put a 16^th century reformation theology light on it:

For Christians trying to control our wild nature: nomianism and Melancthon

For Christians trying to control God’s wild nature: anti-nomianism and Agricola

To put a 1^st century biblical theology light on it:

For Religious (Pharisees and Sadducees) : Jesus, you forgive the rotten too much!

For Non-Religious (Pilate): Jesus, you forgive me too much! (“Don’t you see that I have power over you?!!”)

Both want to dismiss Jesus. Both want to kill Jesus.

Jesus is a loose cannon! He must be contained! He isn’t just a pest, he is dangerous.

Religious: the rabble will rise!

Non-Religious:  we are usurped!

Jesus is offensive to both.

Religious: Others don’t deserve forgiveness from you Jesus!

Non-Religious: I don’t need forgiveness from you Jesus!

 Well, and then there is this: Jesus raised from the dead! We simply could not get rid of him! He lives, and he remains offensive!

This is why I am suspicious of any who say they love God without first saying they hate God. And why I believe you cannot adore the cross without first despising it. All at the same time.

We are about to head into the 40 day period that Christians call Lent: a time to focus on the life and death of Jesus with particular attention to the cross and the killing of Jesus. Hmmmmm. Perhaps we can see it is our story of being rid of him. And how he simply will not let us go.