They Killed the Man and Kept the Brand
Let’s say the quiet part loud. How dumb do you have to be to think the empire that crucified Jesus preserved his actual fucking message? Come on. Rome didn’t kill him because he was boring. They killed him because he was dangerous. Good news to the poor. Woe to the rich. Forgive your enemies. Overturn the tables. The last will be first. That is not a message that plays nice with empire. That is a message that gets you nailed to a cross. He ate with outcasts. He touched lepers. He talked to women like they mattered. He forgave people the religious machine had already written off. He called the pious hypocrites. He told the comfortable that their comfort was a trap. He told the powerful that their power was on borrowed time. He preached a kingdom that was not Rome. He preached a kingdom that was not the temple. He preached a kingdom where the first are last and the last are first. That is not a message that plays nice with empire. That is a message that gets you arrested, tortured, and e...