Easter has its ups and downs

Night eggs

Happy Easter!

He is risen indeed

Return to the land of the living
Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper - Schleswig Leader, Thursday, April 5, 2007 - Page 3

As if his torture wasn’t excruciating enough, which by the way consisted of the most advanced and brutal means available to the military at the time- as if the torture wasn’t bad enough, all of it was essentially because there were people who didn’t want to lose power- not because he had violated any laws.

He was an easy mark for both sides. The people who wanted to establish a theocracy used him as a scape goat with the occupying super power to draw attention away from their own corruption and behind the scenes power-brokering. The soldiers were all too happy to oblige, They were tired and frustrated being stationed so far from their families, and hated and resented by the people who they believed they were helping by bringing civilization and order.

The political envoy acted the way you can expect politicians to behave. He didn’t want to give the religious leaders the blood they craved, but he certainly wasn’t about to stick his neck out for, for what? A member of the lunatic fringe? A leader of yet another splinter sect? A thinker? An activist, pundit, spiritual healer, guru? He tried to evade taking responsibility for whatever torture or execution that the man would be subjected to- but truthfully, this was a win-win for a politico. His soldiers could release some aggression, maybe even improve their morale a little. The men with the religious clout would be placated because they’d feel as if their “imperial oppressors” were giving them some modicum of authority. And who knows, hopefully he could even win over some minds and hearts of the people by making it look like he was responsive to their leaders for once.

As if the torture, incarceration under false pretenses, the kangaroo court held in secret in the middle of the night, with no representation, as if all this wasn’t enough- and oh yeah, the slow, cruel death, as if that wasn’t enough, then there was carrying all of the weight of all of the sins and hatred and selfishness and ugliness and pain of all of the people of all of the world through all of the ages, all at once.

But when it was over, it was over and done. He was the one and only sacrificial lamb, the last one and the ultimate one for all time. He tore the curtain that separated the profane from the divine. The war was over and the reconciliation could begin. The Father and ALL of His children could finally have a healed relationship thanks to His only “begotten” Son.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
His long time rival and sworn enemy was caught surprised in the midst of his gloating and premature celebrating. He broke through the gates of his compound and marched in to declare victory.

The very Earth trembled. Soldiers who had days before made sure His fate was secure were now slack jawed with awe and amazement.

Early Sunday morning, women took the things they needed to ceremonially prepare the body to the vault where they expected it to be. It was open. They were confused when He wasn’t there and were taken aback by two people in clothes that glowed like an electrical charge. The women fell on the ground in fear.

These messengers asked them simply,
“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you, that He must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ “

Finally, the light bulbs went on in their heads and it dawned on them that He had told them exactly how things were going to happen.
Now, He was the first born to new life. Like the first Robin of Spring, or the first daffodil to break through the snow. Because He died for us, defeated death and rose again, He will raise us all who believe in Him and one day where blood stained the ground, instead a carpet of flowers will bloom and beckon in the whole new creation.

Ted Mallory lives in Charter Oak and teaches at Boyer Valley Schools in Dunlap. ‘Ted’s Column’ has appeared weekly in the Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper since 2002. If you’d like to see any of Ted’s editorial cartoons bigger and brighter, you can visit http://tmal.multiply.com/photos/album/2

Easter Egg Hunt

Beware of mystics selling books; Judas betrays Christ again

Happy Easter. I had hoped to offer you some light, entertaining fluff this holiday, but something has cast a pal across the holiday and I feel like I need to address it.

Unless you’ve been living in a box, you’ve probably heard that the National Geographic Society has unveiled the discovery of a “Gospel according to Judas.” It’s actually a bunch of papyrus that was discovered nearly 40 years ago, the existence of which was known all along by scholars.

So why is it such a big deal right now? Newsweek magazine said that it was as if “an unseen hand must have arranged for the Gospel of Judas to be published while the "Da Vinci Code" craze still had life in it.” Just before Easter, and soon before the Da Vinci Code movie is released. Convenient, whether you believe that is the unseen hand of commerce or the hand of the devil himself, it is a little too fishy.

The Da Vinci Code itself is very controversial. It suggests that the early Church conspired to hide secret knowledge. The theory is that Jesus didn’t really die on the cross, but went on to marry Mary Magdalan and the holy grail wasn’t a chalice that held the first communion wine or even the blood He shed, but it was Mary and the wine/blood is the bloodline of Jesus, carried by his descendants. People who get too wrapped up in this need to remember that the novel is "almost pure fiction, using author Dan Brown's imagination, loosely based on legends about so called “lost gospels” or “Gnostic gospels” like gospel of Thomas, the gospel of Mary, and now the gospel of Judas.

First of all, Leonardo Da Vinci had nothing to do with all this. Sure, he may or may not have included and later painted over Mary in his famous “last supper,” but he was a vain, short-attention-spanned fame hungry pop-star who was working for a church that at the time was drunk with the opulence of the renaissance and political power.

This Easter, you might want to read John 20:11-18. Think about the role Jesus appears to be give Mary in his church? I think that’s far more meaningful than being just a spouse.

Keep in mind, too that the four canonical gospels in the Bible were all written within a few decades of Jesus’ resurrection by Jesus’ followers who had a direct connection to Him. These other apocrafal gospels were written hundreds of years later by people trying to make Jesus’ story more complicated and mysterious than it has to be. I believe that Mary, the Apostle ‘doubting’ Thomas, and even the regretful, suicidal Judas would be ashamed that anyone put their names on something so counter to Jesus’ own teaching.

There are two basic false-doctrines that are being promoted by both the Judas gospel craze and the Da Vinci Code fad. One is Arianism and another is Gnosticism.

Arianism was a 4th-century Christian heresy named for Arius (c.250-c.336), a priest in Alexandria, Egypt. He basically denied the deity of Jesus. He held that the Son of God, while divine and god-like, was created by God the Father, rather than being part of the Trinity. Arianism spread in the early church and resulted in such disunity that Emperor Constantine called for a church council at Nicaea in 325, from which we get the “Nicean Creed.”

One of my favorite stories about the council was that a bishop from Turkey named Nicholas (you may know him as “Santa Claus”) got so angry he punched Arius in the nose!

Gnosticism is form of mysticism, that says that the goal of life is to discover "special knowledge" (gnosis). It basically sees the struggle of good and bad as a division between the physical realm, and the higher spiritual realm. This dualism is not a Hebrew, Jewish or New Testament Christian idea, it came from the Greeks, and the philosopher Plato in particular.

An in depth study of Gnosticism makes it look like some bizarre pagan religion like Wicca or Scientology (or even the deepest levels of Mormonism). It’s definitely not some lost or hidden form of true Christianity, far from it. Basically, the gospel of Judas and other Gnostic teachings want us to imagine that rather than the only begotten Son of God, who is the only way truth and life (John 4:14), He’s just a perfect human who demonstrated for us the “secret” way to discover our own inner-light.

This new gospel of Judas tries to suggest that Jesus asked Judas to help him escape his corrupt physical body in order to reach “enlightenment.” Funny, I could have swore that He was crucified for the forgiveness of our sins, not just his own spiritual benefit.

Like Judas, Gnostics want control, they want religion on their own terms, not God’s. At first Judas wanted to overthrow the Romans but when he saw that Jesus’ Kingdom was one of humility, love and service- he sold Him out for money instead. Now they’re trying to capitalize on our appetite for the mysterious and our own desires to feel like we understand or control God, instead of trusting Him.

This Easter, go to the sources. Read the Gospels of Matthew Mark, Luke and John and discover the true “light of the world,” the one outside yourself, who died and rose again so that you can know all His secrets, nothing hidden, nothing that we have to work for ourselves, free.

“Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” ~1 John 2:22-23

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” ~1 John 4:1-3

Easter Sonrise

I can’t believe how many people half-believe. Whether you eaves drop, overhear or engage people in a conversation about religion it’s amazing how pessimistic some folks are. I can’t believe how many people have resigned themselves to the fact that they’re headed for Hell.

They resent religious people for being too hypocritical and sometimes they resent God for not wanting them, but they just figure they’ve been too bad to get into Heaven, so "what the Hell?!"

If you’re one of these people, can I let you in on something? It’s not how good or bad you are, it’s not what you know- it’s all who you know. God does want you, He loves ALL of His children, but He won’t ever force you to love Him back.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. ~2 Peter 3:9

That’s why He sent Jesus, to die and go to Hell, so we won’t have to. And since Jesus defeated death and the Devil on Easter, we don’t have to worry about how many mistakes we’ve made or how bad we’ve been, all we have to do is accept the free gift of His love, forgiveness and salvation.

Surely you’ve heard John 3:16-

16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Well, let me play Paul Harvey and give you "the rest of the story."

First of all, did you catch that there is no catch? All it says there is "whoever believes." I knew a girl in High School that knew without a doubt that she was going to Hell because she’d had an abortion. So, she said, "I may as well be bad, because I’m already going to Hell."

Listen, thank God you don’t have to be good to get to Heaven because no one could ever possibly be good enough their entire lives to earn their way to Heaven.

Jesus said in Matthew 5, "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' 22But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother, will be subject to judgment…"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.'28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

It’s our sinful-human nature to be selfish and short sighted. We’re base animals who’re only interested in gratifying our own desires. Romans 3:23 says that "ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." All the goody-goody hypocrites included.

But remember all John 3:16 says that we have to do to be saved is to believe.

8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9not by works, so that no one can boast. ~Ephesians 2:8-9

Nobody is a better Christian than anybody else. Now, once you believe that Jesus is who He says He is, God the Son, you probably want to learn more about Him and even try to be more like Him. Just like being a recovering alcoholic or a recovering drug addict, you’ll still have the same cravings, but unlike an animal, you’ll recognize that there are consequences for your choices and that "being bad" hurts other people and damages your relationships.

I want to make it perfectly clear to you this Easter that God does not want ANYONE to go to Hell. That’s why He came in the form of Jesus and sacrificed Himself in our place. Hell wasn’t even created for humans. Matthew 25:41makes it very clear that Hell was intended only for Satan and his demons, not for you.

You know John 3:16, but have you ever read John 3:17-19?

"17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil."

I hope this sheds some light on the subject, Jesus is the light of the world.

Now you know, the rest of the story.

Happy Easter!