Taking Upon The Sins of The World
Any Christian would be familiar with the title of this article. Let's have a quick glance at 1 Peter 2:24 just for the benefit of those who are unfamiliar or would like clarity. Here are three most identifiable translations from the original Greek:
"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."
~ 1 Peter 2:24 KJV
"Who his own self bore our sins in his body upon the tree: that we, being dead to sins, should live to justice: by whose stripes you were healed."
~ 1 Peter 2:24 - Douay-Rheims Bible
"who our sins himself did bear in his body, upon the tree, that to the sins having died, to the righteousness we may live; by whose stripes ye were healed,"
~ 1 Peter 2:24 - Young's Literal Translation
Wow. So much being said in so few words. I ask that for just a few moments you set aside what you have been told by Christianity that Jesus, the Son of God, was crucified, buried, and resurrected on the third day ... literally. Just bear with me and remove the literal and historical event briefly. I have a very important point to make, and sometimes, beneath the layers of the surface stories lie very poignant Truths.
First, notice ... tree versus cross. Is there a reason or purpose? Even the Qur'an uses the word "tree." So was it a cross (ancient Druidic symbolism) fashioned from a tree, or was it something more. Something more closely related to the Tree of Life, and the Tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil. Or ... was it ALL of these?
As the story goes, Jesus the man wasn't fully considered God until his complete and total resurrection from the dead ... as The Christ, evidence to the full power of God. Even though there are stories of Jesus raising the dead, it wasn't confirmed until he presumably raised himself. After all, whom other than a God could raise a man from the dead? This sealed it for billions of followers. So, we move on ...
The verse in 1 Peter tells us that Jesus (the man), bore our sins in his body on the tree ... voluntarily mind you (he had free will as well). So our "sins" (wrong thinking/ignorance/missing the mark of Truth) would die with him. This was identical to the sacrificial scapegoat of Judaism. The sins of man were placed on the goat, and it was sacrificed as a traditional display of atonement and redemption to their God YHWH for their intentional sins. One goat died, the other was released into the wilderness to carry upon it the unintentional sins.
So, if Jesus the man, believes that he can bear the sins of mankind upon him, and at his death and sacrifice, all would be redeemed, free, and righteous ... then what a noble thing this would be. However, the Hebrews repeated this process every year and still ... sin was rampant anyway. One man, cannot remove the sins of another. Nor can God or Devil. If I ran the red light and caused an accident, it is ME who is responsible, and it is me who will be fined, or jailed. No one else can take my place.
In the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy we find this very interesting verse, hardly ever spoken of from the pulpits of our churches, and for good reason:
"The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin."
~ Deuteronomy 24:16 - KJV
Also, according to the very same Bible, God even throws this out directly from the Book of Amos:
"I hate, and have rejected your festivities: and I will not receive the odour of your assemblies."
~ Amos 5:21 - Douay-Rheims Bible
In other words ... your sacrifices do not work with me. No only that, but in the New Testament we also find an interesting comment:
"For there is no respect of persons with God."
~ Romans 2:11 - KJV
No favourites. No special races. No "chosen people." No denominational entitlement. You get my point. Everyone is EQUAL in the realm of Spirit/Source. The book even says so.
Back to our original point and verse - last section. It ends with so that by "righteousness we may live; by whose stripes ye were healed,"
So Jesus as a man, as you and I are, thought that it would be possible to take upon the sins of others ... to take the rap so to speak ... and leave behind a perfected and righteous world. But there still exists sin doesn't there? This "sin" or ignorant thinking comes from our selfish ego, not our Divine self. This is the deeper message. We remove our own sins. We save ourselves. And then ... once this is complete among mankind, once we all walk in the light of Truth ... the body of Christ becomes complete. Heaven comes to Earth.
Again, leave behind the literal story of Jesus just for one more minute. As Jesus did, do we also not try and take upon the sins of the world? To take it upon ourselves to actually think that we can change someone other than ourself? We all try and bite off the whole sandwich sometimes don't we? We think of ourselves as the "fixer" ... the "answer man" ... the one who can handle it all, stress included. But in the end, we are crucifying ourselves. We are sacrificing ourselves. And we will die upon this Tree of Life in the process. Heart disease, anger, murder, war, all part of our desire to control ... to save the world!
The story of the resurrection claims that all the Mary's who saw Jesus, didn't even recognize him. They mistook him for the Gardener. The one who places the seeds and helps them grow into a bountiful harvest and picks the weeds. He was no longer Jesus The Man, but he had resurrected the God within him to become The Christ. Just as we all do ... when we know the Truth. He became a new man. The old man had died.
It is not our job to "save" mankind from it's sin and ignorance. Leave that to God/Source Energy ... the universe. It is our job to change ourselves from ego-driven, to Spirit-driven. From man, to Divine. This is why he said "take up your cross." Each of us has our own Saviour within, our Higher-Self ... the Christ Consciousness ... the mind of God. You can't save the world, unless you first begin with yourself. Set the example. Crucify the ego, resurrect the Divine.
Just a thought ...
~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.
