not so very long ago, a man walked parts of this earth, teaching people about what is now known as “radical egalitarianism”, the belief that all are born equal and are entitled to an equal share of available resources. he wasn’t on earth very long, and really only taught for 2-4 years, but his message resonated with his fellow lower class jews living under the tyranny of wealthy romans.
while his teachings did include equality in heaven, as well as on earth, it was his day to day actions and his core message, to take care of each other, that defined his life on earth.
but, somehow, after his death, he went from being yeshua (joshua, in english), the activist for the poor, to being jesus christ, the savior of all, even tho he never called himself that.
and his legacy went from being an active one, with responsibility placed on each human being to do the right thing – to love one another – at all times, to a passive message of eternal life after death if someone believes he died “for their sins” and arose three days later, something else he probably never said.
the truth is, “religion” has been used to control the masses for a very long time, much in the way santa claus is used to control the behavior of children today….. obey the rules set down by your superiors and get rewarded, disobey and get nothing or, worse yet, be punished.
when yeshua attempted to teach that all people were part of a larger whole by saying that he “existed before abraham”, or that he and god were one, some people took that to mean that he was saying that he was god, and they took the opportunity to build a new religion around that belief, ignoring the fact that yeshua himself directly encouraged and empowered other people to live the same way he lived, revealing the “kingdom of god/heaven” to be available to all who chose to accept it, along with the selfless life of compassionate acts it entailed.
yeshua knew it was not god punishing the jewish peasantry for some disobedience; it was the romans, and even other, wealthy, jews, who were mistreating their poorer brethren. he was simply trying to teach people how to work around the abuse by exchanging goods and services amongst themselves, cutting out the cruel and heartless middlemen.
in 2015, nearly 2,000 years after his death, close to a third of the population of earth, over 2 billion people, claimed to be christian, but what does that mean? are they christian only because they want that eternity free from pain and suffering? or, are they christian because yeshua’s message of equality still resonates with them, and they want to see that world free of tyranny, wealth inequality and suffering here on earth?
this easter, instead of celebrating what jesus did for you, try thinking about what yeshua asked from you, and about how you emulate his actions in your day to day life…or how you don’t. because, in case you haven’t noticed, the world hasn’t changed much and the need to “take care of each other” is stronger now than ever before.
blessings to all….
peacewillow's perspective 