Why NRA are wrong, and why The Cross has Me on it until I receive God.

 Which of the following images is correct? One is correct the other is false.

Let's get to the case. The image of Jesus is supposed to be us. Jesus took our place on the cross. That on the cross should be us.

That should be us:
(1) wrongly accused
(2) violently abused and punished completely unfairly.
(3) mocked with a crown of thorns as people humiliate our status

(4) rejected by the public who jeer and side with those who oppress us.

(5) left to die naked under the sun, taking our last breath as people look on with indifference.

That is us.

And indeed it is us. How many times in a day do we not get the respect or recognition that we think we should get. How many times do we feel pain either physical or mental that we do not think we deserve. Even if it's the annoyance of our coffee not being as hot as we like: that is just a microscopic version of Jesus being whipped or having nails put through his wrists. There is pain: but when we think we do not deserve it it becomes so much worse. Cold coffee is bearable, but me getting cold coffee when I think I deserve better is far from tolerable.

So we remember Jesus above the robbers Dismas and Gestas because they to some extent deserve their punishment. If they didn't want death then don't commit the crime. But Jesus was innocent.

So Jesus is us, suffering in a world that does not seem to give us the recognition we think we deserve and which does not deliver us all the things we think we should get. This is the crux (literally) : it is not the pain itself but the expectation that we should not get it.

Jesus is us at our most abused and down trodden: waiting to die in absolute humiliation. It doesn't get worse than this.

And we can adopt this image in times of difficulty. Suppose I am robbed and find my house gutted and all my valuable possessions gone. Irreplaceable sentimental items lost, pure insult to the most precious and sensitive part of myself.

What we can do is look at Jesus. Wow what I am complaining about He had it so much worse.

Now this is half of the process. Jesus went to rock bottom to tread the path that we fear so that we can always think no matter how bad our life gets He has been there.

And if we suffer from Sin which he himself did not have, Jesus is again there offering us a swap out of Sin into Himself if we regret and repent and no longer want to life of Sin. Already when we no longer want this he takes us into righteousness.

This is half way.

The truly profound move is rarely talked about. What Jesus is really asking is for us to abandon this bloodied and abused creature on the cross that normally we view as precious and worth of so much more.

Jesus dies and he does so without any love for this abused self. He does not hang there cursing the people who have done this to him. Instead he accepts the abuse and is prepared to see this Christ as worthless. Go one do your worst he says I have no more use of this mortal being (he doesn't say this: I'm interpreting the situation).

And the moment we relinquish cherishing the body on the cross we are saved.

So it's a subtle couple of steps that I will go through slowly. It is us on the cross. We are the ones who have sinned. We are the ones who should die. We are the ones who should be mocked, and whipped and abused and left to die. That bloodied and broken body is us. But Jesus says do not worry this is not important. You have eternal life in me. IF you give up that cherished mortal entity and let it go, then I will swap you out for Me.

And that is the crucial move in all religions. IF you are prepared to give up cherishing yourself then you will receive the full wealth of the universe and heaven.

This is so easily only done half way. People take their cherished self and go and punish it thinking that by suffering they can emulate Jesus and get to heaven. No! this is not relinquishing the cherished self. It is just dragging the cherished self into hell and confusing the suffering with righteousness. For Jesus to swap places with you, you must give up on YOU.

When we see Jesus on the cross instead of ourself, it symbolises the move Jesus is asking that you let go of yourself and recieeve Him. He is not the point, it is the letting you self go that is the point. Buddhism calls this Anatta.

This is the correct image.

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The NRA image is completely different. It says that with a weapon I can defend myself. I can resist threats and challenges to myself so that I can remain where and as I am. To see how this differs from Jesus we would ask why didn't Jesus just open fire on the Romans and end their rule? Why doesn't he make a powerful space cannon to blast Satan out of the universe. Why doesn't Jesus stand up for himself and maintain himself rather than let evil opponents abuse and unfairly abuse him.

Hopefully after the opening analysis it can be seen that this kind of thinking comes from grasping and cherishing the self. And where there is lots of Me there is no room for Jesus. For NRA supporters that is not Jesus on the cross that is ME. I am being crucified. And that is how life feels for such people: having Me at the centre of their life means that everything becomes persecution.

Jews are the classics. It is so ironic that having rejected Jesus the Jews then went on to have 2000 more years of increasing persecution and obsession with forces opposing them. This is exactly what Jesus predicted. Those who do not accept me will be crucified.

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SO hopefully these two images can be seen as opposites and one is profound and leads to Heaven, while the other is just more of the same mundane suffering in opposition to God.