He dances in light and in shadow

[cincinnatus_c]

Excavating the table I, uh, work on here, I turned up a tract that came (from something called Bearing Precious Seed) in the mail some months ago. Flipping through it, I find this wonderfully clear explanation of the crudest possible idea of the significance of the crucifixion:

Imagine you had done something so bad a judge sentenced you to die for it as the only way to satisfy justice. From the back of the courtroom a man stands and says, "Your Honour I know they are guilty but I will take their place. I will die FOR them." That is EXACTLY what Jesus did when he died on the cross; He paid YOUR penalty for sin.

I mean ... if you don't think the judge who accepts that is insane, that's a problem.

If you don't notice that this impulse in yourself to be satisfied as long as someone is punished is a problem, that's a problem.

(Of course, I have to start sliding down the rabbit hole, and think: if God is the author of all, then it is most appropriate for God to punish himself. The man in the courtroom knows the guilt is ultimately his; the condemned must bear their guilt only as long as they believe it's their own.)

--
Currently under my porch: 3.1. Currently at Belmont Lake: 2. High there today: 3.2.

Comments

[meanwright]

I thought that the impulse to punish random people for vague and unassignable transgressions was what modern politics was about.