Alienation

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I’ve long had theological blockage around the way the Bible describes Jesus as ‘sinless’ and ‘perfect’.

It brings to the doubting mind…

Did he ever have a wayward thought? 

Did he ever steal a ballpoint pen at a conference? 

Did he ever catch a prolonged peek at a cocktail server on the Vegas strip?

Did he ever rip one of those tags off of the couch that we’re not supposed to?
(BTW, do couches still have those tags, or are they a product of my childhood?)

And then someone described it to me…

You know the alienation from God that sits at the core of the human experience? That’s the root of sin. It’s not anything that you and I do, say, don’t do, or don’t say. The items listed above are merely effects of that root alienation (especially the ballpoint pen thing - HOW COULD YOU STOOP SO LOW?!). 

Jesus didn’t have that sense of alienation from God like the rest of us do.

But then, I argue…
We’re faced with Jesus hanging on the cross shouting in agony, “My God, why have you forsaken me?”
What’s THAT all about?

Well, that, right there, was (perhaps), as the Creeds say, Jesus’s descent into hell. His trip down to the lowest of human experience - the feeling of extreme alienation and abandonment by the creator. 

Christ traveled to the depths of the low in order to renew and redeem every level of creation. 

Grace + Godspeed,
Jonas