Archives: April 2009

Editorial...

Taking it far too far

Ever taken something way too far? I was once having an argument with my brother and I pushed him down the stairs. Yep, that was bad. I’m not proud of that. Don’t worry, he was alright.

If you’re like me you’ll like to prove a point, but I have some mates who just have to win an argument and love being right. They have to have the last word and just won’t let something go. They aren’t bad people, in fact they are nice, but like me, sometimes they just won’t let something lie.

I bet if any of us were one of the disciples we’d think Jesus was a bit like that. Every time you’d hang out with him you’d be expecting something to kick off. If you left Jesus alone for 20 minutes more often than not you’d come back to find him challenging a bunch of religious leaders or tax collectors.

Eventually, like you would to any good mate, you’d have to address the issue. I imagine you’d say:

‘Jesus, we love you. You’re an awesome bloke, and some of us even think you might be the Son of God, but do you have to always push it and take it too far? Can’t we just have one day where we don’t argue with the Pharisees about something or other; a day without a scene like that time you took on the shouting crowd for the sake of the woman who’d been caught with another man; a day where we don’t have to chat to a whole village of Samaritans who think you’re the Messiah… Jesus, can’t you just chill and stop taking it too far?’

Of course Jesus wouldn’t listen, he’d keep on until the ultimate: the cross. He didn’t give in. He didn’t back down. He kept going. The disciples who watched on during the trial and crucifixion knew what was going to happen, Jesus would never give in… he would take it too far.

Eventually the disciples would have understood why. Jesus didn’t back down, not because -  like most of us - he wanted to win an argument. Jesus doesn’t back down because he loves us. He doesn’t back down because he hates it when truth is stifled. He pushed religious leaders to the limit as they were often responsible for creating rules that stopped people connecting with God when they should have been doing the opposite. In essence, he never took it too far, he got it right. And that’s the story of Easter, God getting it right even when we get it wrong. The God who is prepared to go too far and never give in to prove his point… that he loves us.

There is a bit more stuff on Jesus’ death this month as it’s Easter… take a look at the stuff on thorns in ‘Value’ for a bit of an idea. On top of that Mike has some stuff on getting it wrong, Frog and Amy are back with our trek through the Bible taking us from the Exile to the Gospels and our good mate Craig Borlase has been on a tough walk for water. Plus we have a all new competition and some funny kids in Vox Pops.

Thanks for reading

Dan
editor@soulsurvivor.com