30 AD: The Full Pascal Moon Lit the Other Side of the Jordan

In the Light of a Pascal Moon

The Pascal Moon lit the other side of the Jordan. The red hills were witness to a fateful day, when we put the King of the Jews up onto a piece of wood.

Almighty God Ungirded him,
eager to mount the Gallows,
Unafraid in the sight of many:
He would set free mankind.
I shook when His arms embraced me
but I durst not bow to the ground,
Stand fast I must.

Say you want a Revolution:
Revolutions often happen in the Rural Areas first. Revolutions then grow in strength and attack the Urban Center. Not this revolution. This revolution attacked the fortification first and quickly surrendered. Jesus was surprised when he saw the armed strength of the Roman Band. He replied, "Did you think you were coming to overpower a bandit?" He gently surrendered.

Was this a human movement?
Jesus left no written record. He had chosen twelve men to be witness of the day. These were ordinary men, not necessarily leaders who could make a movement happen. In fact scripture says in Matthew 11 "From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and violent take it by force." He was telling his men that to bring the Kingdom to the people one can not use force. Humanistic force harms the Kingdom of Heaven.

Who were his men?
One of these twelve men betrayed him with a kiss. One of the twelve named the Rock (who would later be a significant part of church growth) had betrayed him three times in the course of a night.

What was the mission:
None of his twelve chosen men immediately understood the full light of The Mission. The mission was later defined.

Lasting Impression:
How did a simple movement, in a far off land, one prone to human failure, grow to effect me today in a far off non existent land?

Written while listening to the Podcast:
Groove Electric
Books Referenced:

Bruce F.F. New Testament History. Garden City, New York: Anchor Books, 1972.
Shelley, Bruce L. Church History in Plain Language Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1982.
Latourette, Kenneth Scott Christianity Through the Ages: New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1965.
Davie, Donald ed. The New Oxford Book of Christian Verse Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 1981.