Jesus Came To Raise The Dead. He

...there Is Therefore Now No Condemnation For Two Reasons: You Are Dead Now; And God, As The Lamb Slain From The Foundation Of The World, Has Been Dead All Along. The Blame Game Was Over Before It Started. It Really Was. All Jesus Did Was Announce That Truth And Tell You It Would Make You Free. It Was Admittedly A Dangerous Thing To Do. You Are A Menace. Be He Did It; And Therefore, Menace Or Not, Here You Stand: Uncondemned, Forever, Now. What Are You Going To Do With Your Freedom?

Man Was Made To Lead With His Chin; He Is Worth Knowing Only With His Guard Down, His Head Up And His Heart Rampant On His Sleeve.

With Jesus, However, The Device Of Parabolic Utterance Is Used Not To Explain Things To People’s Satisfaction But To Call Attention To The Unsatisfactoriness Of All Their Previous Explanations And Understandings.

Lord, Please Restore To Us The Comfort Of Merit And Demerit. Show Us That There Is At Least Something We Can Do. Tell Us That At The End Of The Day There Will At Least Be One Redeeming Card Of Our Very Own. Lord, If It Is Not Too Much To Ask, Send Us To Bed With A Few Shreds Of Self-respect Upon Which We Can Congratulate Ourselves. But Whatever You Do, Do Not Preach Grace. Give Us Something To Do, Anything; But Spare Us The Indignity Of This Indiscriminate Acceptance.

Why Do We Marry, Why Take Friends And Lovers? Why Give Ourselves To Music, Painting, Chemistry Or Cooking? Out Of Simple Delight In The Resident Goodness Of Creation, Of Course; But Out Of More Than That, Too. Half Earth's Gorgeousness Lies Hidden In The Glimpsed City It Longs To Become.