Much of war, including America's undeclared race war, is a battle of symbols, owing to war's terribleness.
Goliath was symbolic of Philistine strength. He was big; he was strong; he was belligerent. His spear was like a weaver's beam. He alone held off, frightened, terrified, and intimidated the entire army of Israel and of Saul.
He cowed them all, until the youngest son of Jesse, who was in the sheepcote during all this bluster, David, emerged to slay that big bully, that behemoth with a sling shot's smooth stone, as he had done previously to a bear and a lion.
David then decapitated Goliath with the dead man's own sword. Though but one man died, all of trembling Israel drew sufficient courage from that one man's symbolic defeat of another man, to put the entire Philistine army to rout and to flight! Thereby David demonstrated that his God, our God, was greater than Goliath's God before a great cloud of fearful witnesses, two great armies.
Symbols are powerful ! Symbols portend and convey meaning; yet, symbols too may become real!
The cross is now such a symbol; symbolic of Jesus Christ's life, ministry, death, and resurrection.
Previously, that cross was symbolic of Roman power, brutality, arrogance, and contempt, for its conquered enemies. Rome would crucify victims by the thousands on wooden crosses along the roadsides, as examples, as vengeful boasts!
Then, one day, Rome crucified one man too many, one man too many!
A Jew, a Nazarene, an obscure country preacher, who had upset his Jewish hierarchy by raising havoc among the people; by scourging the money changers in the temple, and by claiming direct descent from God, was the "one man too many" that Rome crucified on a cross.
That cross was thereby converted from a symbol of evil, wickedness and shame to a symbol of good, righteousness and resurrection.
http://biblehub.com/niv/isaiah/53.htm
Now, this man, Jesus, was nothing pretty to look at. Isaiah 53 says so. It also says that he was despised and rejected. A root out of dry ground. Yet, He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are and were healed.
The Lord laid upon him the iniquity, the sin of us all. Like a lamb led to the slaughter he opened not his mouth.
Jesus symbolically subsumed all the sin of mankind. His crucifixion being an act of atonement. Symbolic of his yet undying love for us all!
Like Jesus, Michael Brown's murder in Ferguson, Missouri, was the "one man too many" that was killed by police. Like Jesus he was nothing pretty to look upon, being young and black and big. He was despised and rejected of men! Like Jesus, he was oppressed, being "a root out of dry ground," in the street. Like Jesus, like a sheep before the slaughter, he opened not his mouth.
By his "stripes, Michael Brown's insufferable death, we are healed of our fear of these bullying, boastful and belligerent police, who cow and intimidate us like sheep because they can do so with legal immunity and with paid, professional impunity!
Like with Jesus, here there was symbolic bloodshed. Brown's blessed blood flowed symbolically on a street in Ferguson; Jesus' blessed blood flowed on Golgotha hill in Jerusalem.
Like with Jesus' death, this is a watershed moment. The brutal crucifier, Rome, centuries later, became the main exponents of the crucifix, and the primary bearers of Christ's name and teachings--Christianity--to the same pagan world to which it formerly belonged.
Also, young, 18-year old, Michael Brown's name, life story, image and videos have rocked and are rocking, the United States and the whole world on real 24-hour news media and on 24-hour social media without ceasing! it's a watershed moment!
From President Obama and Attorney General Holder, of the greatest power on earth, the United States of America, on down--both being brilliant black men--through Governor Jay Nixon of Missouri, a sagacious white man; including Missouri's entire Congressional delegation; and Capt. Ron Johnson, of the Missouri Highway Patrol, another black man, appointed by Nixon to be in charge on the street, a watershed moment has erupted in Ferguson ! A redefining event has been realized, as all eyes are opened!
From bloodshed to watershed. The cruel, boastful, brutal and belligerent Philistines are now on the run. These Romans are bowing down for mercy.
More police videos are being shown each day of "unarmed" blacks being brutalized everywhere, or murdered!
Grand juries are being empaneled, bad cops are being outed, booted!
"It is finished!" One of Jesus' "seven last words," by tradition, applies too.
" It is enough" the people cried out, on the news of Brown's death ! They caterwauled! They went berserk: many people, out of rage, burned, looted, marched, hurled , protested, raised their hands in homage to Brown's surrender pose, went to jail, and communicated all day and night!
They also prayed! As we all now must pray that old wicked, bullying Goliath is, here too, decapitated, at last, with his own sword, by the David of Justice ; that his Philistines flee, all over America, to the glory of God!
From bloodshed to watershed: Amen.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
BLOODSHED TO WATERSHED
Bloodshed to Watershed
Much of war, including America's undeclared race war, is a battle of symbols, owing to war's terribleness.
Goliath was symbolic of Philistine strength. He was big; he was strong; he was belligerent. His spear was like a weaver's beam. He alone held off, frightened, terrified, and intimidated the entire army of Israel and of Saul.
He cowed them all, until the youngest son of Jesse, who was in the sheepcote during all this bluster, David, emerged to slay that big bully, that behemoth with a sling shot's smooth stone, as he had done previously to a bear and a lion.
David then decapitated Goliath with the dead man's own sword. Though but one man died, all of trembling Israel drew sufficient courage from that one man's symbolic defeat of another man, to put the entire Philistine army to rout and to flight! Thereby David demonstrated that his God, our God, was greater than Goliath's God before a great cloud of fearful witnesses, two great armies.
Symbols are powerful ! Symbols portend and convey meaning; yet, symbols too may become real!
The cross is now such a symbol; symbolic of Jesus Christ's life, ministry, death, and resurrection.
Previously, that cross was symbolic of Roman power, brutality, arrogance, and contempt, for its conquered enemies. Rome would crucify victims by the thousands on wooden crosses along the roadsides, as examples, as vengeful boasts!
Then, one day, Rome crucified one man too many, one man too many!
A Jew, a Nazarene, an obscure country preacher, who had upset his Jewish hierarchy by raising havoc among the people; by scourging the money changers in the temple, and by claiming direct descent from God, was the "one man too many" that Rome crucified on a cross.
That cross was thereby converted from a symbol of evil, wickedness and shame to a symbol of good, righteousness and resurrection.
http://biblehub.com/niv/isaiah/53.htm
Now, this man, Jesus, was nothing pretty to look at. Isaiah 53 says so. It also says that he was despised and rejected. A root out of dry ground. Yet, He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are and were healed.
The Lord laid upon him the iniquity, the sin of us all. Like a lamb led to the slaughter he opened not his mouth.
Jesus symbolically subsumed all the sin of mankind. His crucifixion being an act of atonement. Symbolic of his yet undying love for us all!
Like Jesus, Michael Brown's murder in Ferguson, Missouri, was the "one man too many" that was killed by police. Like Jesus he was nothing pretty to look upon, being young and black and big. He was despised and rejected of men! Like Jesus, he was oppressed, being "a root out of dry ground," in the street. Like Jesus, like a sheep before the slaughter, he opened not his mouth.
By his "stripes, Michael Brown's insufferable death, we are healed of our fear of these bullying, boastful and belligerent police, who cow and intimidate us like sheep because they can do so with legal immunity and with paid, professional impunity!
Like with Jesus, here there was symbolic bloodshed. Brown's blessed blood flowed symbolically on a street in Ferguson; Jesus' blessed blood flowed on Golgotha hill in Jerusalem.
Like with Jesus' death, this is a watershed moment. The brutal crucifier, Rome, centuries later, became the main exponents of the crucifix, and the primary bearers of Christ's name and teachings--Christianity--to the same pagan world to which it formerly belonged.
Also, young, 18-year old, Michael Brown's name, life story, image and videos have rocked and are rocking, the United States and the whole world on real 24-hour news media and on 24-hour social media without ceasing! it's a watershed moment!
From President Obama and Attorney General Holder, of the greatest power on earth, the United States of America, on down--both being brilliant black men--through Governor Jay Nixon of Missouri, a sagacious white man; including Missouri's entire Congressional delegation; and Capt. Ron Johnson, of the Missouri Highway Patrol, another black man, appointed by Nixon to be in charge on the street, a watershed moment has erupted in Ferguson ! A redefining event has been realized, as all eyes are opened!
From bloodshed to watershed. The cruel, boastful, brutal and belligerent Philistines are now on the run. These Romans are bowing down for mercy.
More police videos are being shown each day of "unarmed" blacks being brutalized everywhere, or murdered!
Grand juries are being empaneled, bad cops are being outed, booted!
"It is finished!" One of Jesus' "seven last words," by tradition, applies too.
" It is enough" the people cried out, on the news of Brown's death ! They caterwauled! They went berserk: many people, out of rage, burned, looted, marched, hurled , protested, raised their hands in homage to Brown's surrender pose, went to jail, and communicated all day and night!
They also prayed! As we all now must pray that old wicked, bullying Goliath is, here too, decapitated, at last, with his own sword, by the David of Justice ; that his Philistines flee, all over America, to the glory of God!
From bloodshed to watershed: Amen.
Much of war, including America's undeclared race war, is a battle of symbols, owing to war's terribleness.
Goliath was symbolic of Philistine strength. He was big; he was strong; he was belligerent. His spear was like a weaver's beam. He alone held off, frightened, terrified, and intimidated the entire army of Israel and of Saul.
He cowed them all, until the youngest son of Jesse, who was in the sheepcote during all this bluster, David, emerged to slay that big bully, that behemoth with a sling shot's smooth stone, as he had done previously to a bear and a lion.
David then decapitated Goliath with the dead man's own sword. Though but one man died, all of trembling Israel drew sufficient courage from that one man's symbolic defeat of another man, to put the entire Philistine army to rout and to flight! Thereby David demonstrated that his God, our God, was greater than Goliath's God before a great cloud of fearful witnesses, two great armies.
Symbols are powerful ! Symbols portend and convey meaning; yet, symbols too may become real!
The cross is now such a symbol; symbolic of Jesus Christ's life, ministry, death, and resurrection.
Previously, that cross was symbolic of Roman power, brutality, arrogance, and contempt, for its conquered enemies. Rome would crucify victims by the thousands on wooden crosses along the roadsides, as examples, as vengeful boasts!
Then, one day, Rome crucified one man too many, one man too many!
A Jew, a Nazarene, an obscure country preacher, who had upset his Jewish hierarchy by raising havoc among the people; by scourging the money changers in the temple, and by claiming direct descent from God, was the "one man too many" that Rome crucified on a cross.
That cross was thereby converted from a symbol of evil, wickedness and shame to a symbol of good, righteousness and resurrection.
http://biblehub.com/niv/isaiah/53.htm
Now, this man, Jesus, was nothing pretty to look at. Isaiah 53 says so. It also says that he was despised and rejected. A root out of dry ground. Yet, He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are and were healed.
The Lord laid upon him the iniquity, the sin of us all. Like a lamb led to the slaughter he opened not his mouth.
Jesus symbolically subsumed all the sin of mankind. His crucifixion being an act of atonement. Symbolic of his yet undying love for us all!
Like Jesus, Michael Brown's murder in Ferguson, Missouri, was the "one man too many" that was killed by police. Like Jesus he was nothing pretty to look upon, being young and black and big. He was despised and rejected of men! Like Jesus, he was oppressed, being "a root out of dry ground," in the street. Like Jesus, like a sheep before the slaughter, he opened not his mouth.
By his "stripes, Michael Brown's insufferable death, we are healed of our fear of these bullying, boastful and belligerent police, who cow and intimidate us like sheep because they can do so with legal immunity and with paid, professional impunity!
Like with Jesus, here there was symbolic bloodshed. Brown's blessed blood flowed symbolically on a street in Ferguson; Jesus' blessed blood flowed on Golgotha hill in Jerusalem.
Like with Jesus' death, this is a watershed moment. The brutal crucifier, Rome, centuries later, became the main exponents of the crucifix, and the primary bearers of Christ's name and teachings--Christianity--to the same pagan world to which it formerly belonged.
Also, young, 18-year old, Michael Brown's name, life story, image and videos have rocked and are rocking, the United States and the whole world on real 24-hour news media and on 24-hour social media without ceasing! it's a watershed moment!
From President Obama and Attorney General Holder, of the greatest power on earth, the United States of America, on down--both being brilliant black men--through Governor Jay Nixon of Missouri, a sagacious white man; including Missouri's entire Congressional delegation; and Capt. Ron Johnson, of the Missouri Highway Patrol, another black man, appointed by Nixon to be in charge on the street, a watershed moment has erupted in Ferguson ! A redefining event has been realized, as all eyes are opened!
From bloodshed to watershed. The cruel, boastful, brutal and belligerent Philistines are now on the run. These Romans are bowing down for mercy.
More police videos are being shown each day of "unarmed" blacks being brutalized everywhere, or murdered!
Grand juries are being empaneled, bad cops are being outed, booted!
"It is finished!" One of Jesus' "seven last words," by tradition, applies too.
" It is enough" the people cried out, on the news of Brown's death ! They caterwauled! They went berserk: many people, out of rage, burned, looted, marched, hurled , protested, raised their hands in homage to Brown's surrender pose, went to jail, and communicated all day and night!
They also prayed! As we all now must pray that old wicked, bullying Goliath is, here too, decapitated, at last, with his own sword, by the David of Justice ; that his Philistines flee, all over America, to the glory of God!
From bloodshed to watershed: Amen.
