The Blood of Christ

Unity through Diversity, with mutual respect for all, will produce better and longer-lasting results than absolute obedience to absolute authority.

Courtesy: washedinhisblood.com

(PASO ROBLES, Calif.) - Christianity evolved as a plan by a coterie of Judaic sectarians convinced its philosophy of One God for All Nations should replace Judaism’s One God of the Jewish Nation.

The cult hoped initially to exalt the Jewish God by making him the God of All Nations, a concept unacceptable to Jewish leaders who may have objected to being less than Jehovah's Chosen People. The Cult must have seemed audacious to them at best, and impossible in any event; obviously the Jewish leadership miscalculated.

All Religions are mythological constructs tied to the communities that invent them. Except for the expansive Religions of the Book; Judaism’s Torah, the New Testament and Islam’s Koran, other communities are beholden to gods of parochial invention, symbolic and cerebral concoction both of which involve emotional and psychological processes that satisfy particular needs within the community.

The Book of Isaiah presumes to be prophecy [a prediction of a future event that is believed to reveal the will of a deity] but has a manifesto quality about it [a public written declaration of principles, policies, and objectives, especially one issued by a political movement] a Coterie intent on creating a new political entity, the Catholic Church.

Isaiah’s Prophecy places him squarely in the camp of the Coterie [offshoot of the Judaic cult that became the movers of Christianity]. The deity in his Prophecy is the philosophy of the Coterie, and Isaiah expounds at length on the group’s ideology by putting words in the mouth of the “Lord,” [the Coterie and its philosophy] and eventually Jesus, chosen to become the Christ and spokesman for its philosophy.

Isaiah refers to the emergence of the Lord [Jesus] in wondrous terms, but elsewhere speaks of his arrival [not yet the Christ] in “little more than a year.” His Prophecy is a mine of nuggets that need to be sifted adroitly from the verbal-rubble if their worth is to be realized. An example is [Isaiah: 49; 1-3] where Jesus is referring to God [the Coterie] followed immediately [49; 4-forward] by the Coterie in a reversal of roles. In [49; 1-3] Jesus is presented as saying poetically [with additions]:

“The Lord called me from the womb, [the Jewish community]

from the body [politic] of my mother he named my name.

He made my mouth like a sharp sword . . . [he taught me what to say]

In his quiver he hid me away [during the period of my instruction].

And he said to me, “you are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”

The Prophecy contains many metaphors of mystery and supposed miracles performed by Jesus that dissolve in light of logic and attention to detail. The significance of the phrase “The Blood of Christ,” for example, is confounding even to many believers, which makes it a worthy subject for explanation.

It is easy to say that Christ died for our sins, but what exactly does that mean? How many of us think of ourselves as sinners, and how exactly does Jesus’ sacrifice involve us? The answer to the quandary is detectable if followed from [Isaiah: 49; 1-3-above] that describes the arrival and training of Jesus by the Coterie, and [Isaiah: 53; entire - edited] that refers to Jesus’ crucifixion [before the fact] when he says, [again with additions] “he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors [as King of the Jews]; yet he bore the sin of many [non-believers] and made intercession for transgressors” [Forgive them Lord, for they know not what they do].

Isaiah supposedly is prophesying, but what he describes is so exact, even to defining details, one might conclude that the role of the Christ was conceived in advance, including how he should die. If the why can be known, so too might be the significance of his blood.

His calling and his preliminary training, suggested above, was followed by a series of events to assure the Coterie of Jesus’ commitment to his role before he became the Christ. They consisted of several scenarios beginning with his baptism by John the Baptist, after which “angels” of the Lord approached Jesus saying, “this is my son in whom I am well pleased.” Next, Jesus was returned to the wilderness, the community of his birth, for forty days to test his dedication to worship only the God of [the Coterie]. Having satisfied the Coterie of his devotion, Jesus next was provided with disciples and was sent among the Jews to preach and to draw attention to himself, succeeding in causing elders to view him as a rabble rouser, and non-conformist, as the Coterie expected and desired.

Persistent behavior patterns and habitual thinking are the result of ingrained tendencies that make people reluctant to change lifestyles, especially those who are accustomed to accepting what is “given” them to believe in silence and without question [most religious members cling to their traditions]. And even [Isaiah: 30; 15] says with a Christian twist, “in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” Today’s Evangelists have laid claim to such thoughts, and insist that those who abide by their preachments are the “true Christians;” and refer to intellectuals as instruments of the Devil.

Borrowing among religions is nothing new, but appreciating the subtleties of tactics takes understanding rather than submissive commitment and astonishing belief in hearsay. When Jesus is spoken of in the Bible as saying something, it is likely he did not. For Jesus is referred to [before the fact] in scripted Prophecy, or in the Gospels sixty to one-hundred years after the fact, as saying what was written by persons generations removed, and whose purpose was to add substance to the Coterie’s mythology.

When Jesus supposedly asked his disciples, “who do the people say that I am?” All but Peter offered a variety of answers, none of them correct, so Jesus asked, “But who do you say that I am?” and Peter alone identified Jesus as the Christ [Mark: 7; 2-30] in what appears to have been a scripted scenario. And when it was time for Jesus to go to Jerusalem, he described to his disciples precisely what would happen after he and they arrived, and while at Bethany, he revealed to them his intended death and resurrection.

Jesus arrived in Jerusalem riding on an ass [obviously a staged event] as humbly he received the accolades of the crowd [Coterie?] who spread palm fronds before him in a celebration that today is referred to as Palm Sunday. Jesus was crucified the Friday following; Good Friday [after the Jewish Passover] and supposedly was resurrected [if not in body at least in spirit] on Easter Sunday, the Sunday following the full moon on or after March 21st, the first day of Spring. The significance of dates corresponds to the planting season, and the start of a new beginning.

In Jerusalem, Jesus’ humanity failed him, when on the Mount of Olives he prayed his cup of death be removed, but an angel of the Lord reassured him, and Jesus re-committed himself to his obligation by saying "not mine, but thy will be done," which has since been portrayed in painting and verbally as his moment of Transfiguration from his humanity to a spiritual being.

Afterward, in Bethany, while he sat at table with his disciples, a woman anointed him for burial that earned for him the title of the “Christ” [from the Greek; Khristos [christen, to install somebody ceremonially, and give him a new name]. Perhaps on the Mt. of Olives or at Bethany the title of “King of the Jews” was assigned by the Coterie as an essential part of the symbolism cleverly intended to bring Christianity to fruition. The next act involved Judas Iscariot and his purported betrayal.

Judas’ name is similar to Judaism, Judaic, and Judaize [to conform to doctrines, observances, or methods of the Jews], and suggests that his name was intended to promote an idea that painted him as a traitor to Christianity, but who seems to have been a member of the cast devoted to its fulfillment. The recent discovery of the Judas Gospel confirms what should have been known from Isaiah when Jesus, during The Last Supper, told Judas to go and do what he must, the object of which seems not to have been in doubt. When Judas was gone, and in apparent anticipation of the expected, Jesus commented to the remaining disciples that his ‘end is near when he will be glorified.’

Jesus, as Christ, awaited the next scene at Gethsemane where he was identified by Judas, and a disciple is said to have used a sword to cut off the ear of the slave of the high priest. Isaiah describes the tongue as the "sword of the mouth," [tongue] an instrument of Christian persuasion, not of steel. Jesus admonished his disciple to put away his sword [of persuasion], was promptly arrested, and soon after was presented before Pilate.

Pilate asked him about the title, “King of the Jews,” and Jesus responded obliquely saying, "My kingdom is not of this world" [a line likely given him to recite by the Coterie]. Pilate could find no fault with Jesus, washed his hands of responsibility, and turned Jesus over to the Jews for disposition. But the scene makes sense only if the proceedings were orchestrated by the Coterie whose object was that Jesus must die.

If Jesus' Kingdom was not of the Jewish Community, why would he have been branded "King of the Jews" by Jews?" Why, once it was determined he should be crucified, was he crowned with thorns, and by whom? Isaiah's definition of the wilderness, let us not forget, was the Jewish community, a wasteland of mental-infertility overgrown with weeds, briars, thorns, and decay. Jesus was committed fully to the Christian cause and his role in it as “King of the Jews” and by the crown of thorns, His crucifixion and burial, He symbolically represented the death of the Old and the Beginning of a New Order within which, metaphorically speaking, Immortality reigns supreme by the Grace of God, and where beyond the Community, Immortal life is impossible.

The plot, as in any good play, ends by wrapping up all the loose ends. The Coterie established the Catholic Church, the presumed Resurrected Body of Christ, on the Rock of St. Peter’s Faith using Jesus’ title [Christ] to identify their new religion.

The “The Blood of Christ” is resolved in the understanding that it was shed for, and holds the promise of Life-everlasting to, those who partake of the Eucharist which of His Grace is offered to the elect, but is denied reprobates; the damned who refuse to abide by Christian authority.

The Protestant Movement, in the 18th Century, was successful when the Counter Reformation, and The Vatican [the Roman See] after three centuries during which it is estimated ten million souls were cruelly killed by both sides, finally admitted defeat. Today, the American Religious Right [the “Evangelical Holy See” of the Republican Party] seeks to push the envelope of its misguided plan to hasten the Second Coming of Christ [World Domination] when Christianity will force its will on all who must either submit or suffer the consequence. The final passage of Isaiah’s Prophecy describes the Apocalypse, and should be read by everyone.

Unity through Diversity, with mutual respect for all, will produce better and longer-lasting results than absolute obedience to absolute authority such as the Religious Right and the Evangelical Holy See of the Republican Party with Geo. W. Bush, as its instrument, would impose on Americans. Geo. W. Bush will not admit to having erred during his Administration believing he represented God‘s [Jesus’] will, as he is given to believe it by Evangelist Pretenders whose misguided faith this essay purports to prove; namely: that the Religious right is Wrong.

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Kenneth G. Ramey was a "writer without a Website" who is generating excellent, provocative articles on the subject of religion and world affairs. We are pleased that Ken's "lone wolf" presence as a writer in the world has been replaced by a spot on our team of writers at Salem-News.com. Raised in Minnesota and California during the dark years of the Great American Depression, Ken is well suited to talk about the powerful forces in the world that give all of us hope and tragedy and everything in between. You can write to Ken at: darken1@sbcglobal.net