Freed 1,992 Years Ago
Jesus Gave us Agency, Don't Give It Up
Happy Easter! About 1,992 years ago, Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Just three days before, he died hanging from a cross as a sacrifice for all of our sins—past, present and future. On that day, His church began. The Catholic church—the Universal church—was formed by the apostles who were struggling to figure everything out.
Though they may not have realized it, the apostles were now in control of the church and their own lives. Did they look for help from the governmental structure of Rome? Did they look for help from the rigid religious traditionalists in Israel? No—they feared both of course. They were on the run, afraid for their lives. Their leader was just tortured and killed. But then Jesus came back, walked Earth again and showed them and hundreds of others His defeat of death. They were saved and knew what they needed to do now.
They, like us, are saved from every sinful thought, action or inaction that we have done or failed to do. But we remain human and susceptible to things of this world. We would be wise to keep our eyes on Jesus the man by reading the accounts of the Apostles who traveled the lands with Him for years. Jesus taught them, provided aide through miracles and told parables so everyone could grasp the depth of what he was saying.
Jesus shows us the way to live our life. He shows us how to evaluate a situation and make the right choice. He shows us what to prioritize. Jesus shows us how to make a decision. But the decision is ours to make.
Jesus gives us agency. That is, we have the ability to control our own actions, decisions, and life.
The further away we allow decisions to be made for us, the further we get from Jesus. Governments today, like those governments and structures that operated 2,000 years ago, have no empathy or morality. Handing them your agency is not in your best interest for life today and for your journey home to heaven.
The government structure always tries to increase its power. One way or the other, it finds problems, even creates them, so they can solve them (but never seems to do so).
Each government ultimately wants to remove your agency and become the sovereign. And then they must maintain that power. That’s what Rome was doing hanging Jesus from the cross. That’s what the religious in Israel were doing, forcing Pontius Pilate to sentence Jesus to death.
The same thing can be said for every government through today: governments want to displace Jesus. They want to take our agency that Jesus handed us 1,992 years ago. Those in power play on our emotions to confuse and pretend to be looking out for our best interest. The United States was formed to attempt to keep this type of power at bay. Separating parts of government from one another and pitting them against each other through checks and balances, so that its citizens kept the agency granted by Jesus.
But the government is only as good as the morals of its people. That’s why we must live our lives with Jesus in our hearts and mind. Talk with Him. I have so much to learn.
Thank you for saving me, Jesus.
Peace.