As we voice our opinions today and in the future, perhaps this Christmas season will serve as a reminder that it was no totalitarian government who crucified the Savior. Nor was it the criminals of the day, or invaders from foreign lands. The murder of Jesus was not just another unspeakable act perpetrated by an unknown, deranged psychopath. No, it was none of these.
The evidence afforded us in the Gospel is that Jesus was slain by something we all possess and use each day. Jesus’ fate was sealed by folks just like us, voicing nothing more than their own opinions, unprincipled opinions, opinions authorized by nothing more profound, and nothing more substantial than individual personal preferences.
Yes, the Gospel tells us that Jesus’ fate was determined democratically. As much as the local government resisted, a lesson here is that in the end it was democracy, the majority of popular opinion, that murdered him who many regard as the Savior of the world.
Accepting the Gospel as truth, perhaps it is time for those of us who follow that truth to attempt to best reconcile our own opinions with those of the most high authority, attempt to better agree with certain authoritative principles, applicable to all men and for all times.
To act in such a fashion, en mass, would help fulfill the calling of the American Founders, men who in 1776 firmly relied on the protection of God’s Providence as they risked all earthly known to them, establishing a nation whose authority rests on the pursuit of performing God’s Will on Earth.
Today, Americans remain charged with the high authority from our founding, and indeed with the high responsibility that comes with it. So as we Americans endeavor to make our daily personal decisions, our local democratic decisions and our national decisions, now and in the future, perhaps remembering this Christmas will also remind us to forever ask the assistance of He who is always with us, to impart His Will such that we can understand it, so that we can muster the strength and integrity to act according to that perceived divine intention.
If this Christmas season does nothing more than that, it will be the best Christmas of our lives.
Hank Sullivan
Cumming
The evidence afforded us in the Gospel is that Jesus was slain by something we all possess and use each day. Jesus’ fate was sealed by folks just like us, voicing nothing more than their own opinions, unprincipled opinions, opinions authorized by nothing more profound, and nothing more substantial than individual personal preferences.
Yes, the Gospel tells us that Jesus’ fate was determined democratically. As much as the local government resisted, a lesson here is that in the end it was democracy, the majority of popular opinion, that murdered him who many regard as the Savior of the world.
Accepting the Gospel as truth, perhaps it is time for those of us who follow that truth to attempt to best reconcile our own opinions with those of the most high authority, attempt to better agree with certain authoritative principles, applicable to all men and for all times.
To act in such a fashion, en mass, would help fulfill the calling of the American Founders, men who in 1776 firmly relied on the protection of God’s Providence as they risked all earthly known to them, establishing a nation whose authority rests on the pursuit of performing God’s Will on Earth.
Today, Americans remain charged with the high authority from our founding, and indeed with the high responsibility that comes with it. So as we Americans endeavor to make our daily personal decisions, our local democratic decisions and our national decisions, now and in the future, perhaps remembering this Christmas will also remind us to forever ask the assistance of He who is always with us, to impart His Will such that we can understand it, so that we can muster the strength and integrity to act according to that perceived divine intention.
If this Christmas season does nothing more than that, it will be the best Christmas of our lives.
Hank Sullivan
Cumming