Cruciform Kingdom

cruciform kingdom

Jesus came proclaiming the Kingdom of God had now come.  Of course, along the way, there was a great deal of confusion as to what the Messiah would do.  Many thought that the Messiah would merely be another king and warrior like Herod, Ceasar, Judah the Hammer, and others.  After all, that was the dominant method of being king - through strength of arm.  Not only would the Messiah vanquish the enemies, the Temple would also be re-constituted and re-established.  Weaving these two themes together would validate the true King and Messiah.

Jesus shattered all of these paradigms.  I'm actually writing this on Palm Sunday, the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem during the Passover.  It was to be Exodus for God's people once again... only this would not look like anything anybody expected!  Instead, freedom would look like laying one's life down for God's people.  Being enthroned as King of Creation would mean being lifted up on the cross.  Establishing God's Kingdom would resemble weakness, but in truth would result in glory.  A single seed of the new creation perished, buried in the ground, only to be resurrected to new life.  The Kingdom of God was shown to look nothing like the sword and spear - but resembled a plow and a pruning hook.  The cross, the world's tool of death and violence, is transformed into God's instrument of peace and reconicilation.  Thus, God's Kingdom is epitomized in the cross - it is a CRUCIFORM KINGDOM.

My hope is that this site can be one more means by which God's established, and yet still coming, Kingdom will continue to gain footing as we proclaim the glory of God together.  These are my reflections on theology and the pastoral vocation, as well as, my musings about life in its creative variety.  I look forward to any conversation that it may evoke.