Ah, in all fairness, I have been as adversarial as ever (!) ... of late. Something maladjusted, I'm sure.
Which brings me to a snappy answer to the thread title, but one I do believe in. Jesus was crucified because the powers that represent evil recognized what great Progress the world was about to make - especially *Humanity*, within the World Entity [Acts 17:28]. This brought about a backlash, and I think the result was the obstruction of the aims of the Galilean Therapeute.
Such a notion still suggests that evil might be something outside of ourselves, whether we anthropomorphize this, and see it in the Satan of theology ... or imagine orders and hosts of less than savory expressions of the Sephiroth: an Inverse hierarchy, which the Gnostics symbolized, but which was also interpreted far too rigidly in the past 20 or so centuries.
My own belief is that Jesus was crucified owing to a negative karma, if we want to frame it this way, which *all men* carry within their own heart and soul, equally as they/we hold within us the true Seed of Awakening, [Spiritual, not bodily] Resurrection and Eternal Life.
In this, I do believe in what a Christian calls `Original Sin,' yet as a student of Theosophy I must defer to a fairly concise explanation which Nick {the Pilot} gives ... in which Humanity descended from a more Spiritual state, both bodily and otherwise [psychologically and morally], into the current world, "trammeled by matter." Again, Gnosticism helps, but not any more than anything else if we miss the symbolism.
A duality had to be recognized and appreciated, but now, even 2000 years after the scapegoating and murder of Jesus of Nazareth ... people still cling to matter. Rather than gamble {a la Blaise Pascal} that there is indeed an Eternal `something' behind all outward manifestation, people would rather grab as many toys, fancy cars, fast/loose women and cheap thrills as they can. `Live fast, die young!' might as well be our [collective] motto of recent decades, or centuries. The pace of life seems to quicken, and where is the Wisdom and prudence to accompany our technological & scientific breakthroughs?
The Christ I believe in, must begin with something so ABSTRACT ... that its Foundational Aspect substand the rising and falling of the Cosmic Drama, or Interplay between the Seven Logoi, this mathematically NECESSARY expression of a more Primary THREE [again, a mathematical NECESSITY, for ONE cannot manifest as Two ... without also becoming THREE!]. One may fathom that Cosmos, with its hundred of billions of galaxies, each with its hundred of billions of Suns, and these with their combined Myriad of inevitably-inhabited planets ... all sprang into Existence [however so] for the Pure Poetic PLAY of some amazingly-Sublime, PERFECTLY Divine ~Being~.
I buy that ... whether or not we accept that God, too, reincarnates. The implication is a slightly better COSMOS, built upon Seven, built upon Three, built by and upon the ONE, yet varying in an upwardly moving fashion - as, after all, Deity is ~ DEITY!
But if it's a one-time deal, and if this Divine Interplay is simply a cascading unfolding of the Sublime to the hidden, to the mundane to the ... lost and forgotten, I can still find amazement that we are, and that we are even able to *contemplate* it (All, or `Him' ... or `The Gods,' expressions of The One, the Three, the Seven, the 49 Fires, etc.). Yeah, the Ancients have been Teaching us all about it for a few million years, and as is pointed out elsewhere, generations of Sages have devoted their lives to verifying what has been handed down, sometimes written, more often via oral Tradition.
It has also been pointed out that if we do not already LIVE our philosophy, our morality, our Code and our Conscience, we really don't have much room for throwing stones, or sharp & biting criticism, or even much besides putting our proverbial nose to the grindstone ...
... and as long as we have not utterly forsaken our Ideals, however high & Mighty, lofty and unlikely [in any ONE, given lifetime, at any rate], I am sure - from my own, ever-present experience - that we are *not forsaken, or abandoned, or hopeless*. Some people feel this way, on whatever level and to varying degree, individually and psychologically ... and this, too, I understand. But when HUMANITY, in whatever segment, to whatever degree or however prematurely - *loses FAITH* - we have a serious challenge on our hands.
And some will push and shove, mostly because their days of vainglory and worldly power are coming to an end, and they know it ... but also just because of the same old human greed, selfishness and nescience which as yet characterize our little planet.
I think we have a glorious future, and NOTHING UNDER HEAVEN [to quote the Upanishads, and their Commentators] will arrest our collective - AND individual - progress as we move forward. But this does not mean that a backlash, and sometimes a harsh blow, will not be felt. So if the STARS of the Heavens *did* somehow find a way to SHINE brightly before Men, revealing the same FAITHFUL and Trustworthy PATH(s) BACK TO GOD as have always been available [however seldom and feebly answered, until recently in Humanity's history] ... why should it be so mysterious or unusual that Jesus of Nazareth might have demonstrated `what it takes' {if only the U.S. Army could touch the Hem of THAT Garment}, and done his best to share that Divine Example with the rest of us?
We will hear the theologians try and justify what they themselves certainly cannot understand, for at least it is accurate to say that these are subjects - if ANY Truth exists in them at all - which as yet, NO ONE among us fully understands, or has plain insight into. Jesus could not finish what was started, but for this, we cannot fault him, nor God, nor one select group any more so than any other ... for if there was ANYTHING special and worth observing about Christ's example it was surely that a message was being delivered for ALL PEOPLE, and so that in time, we might ALL RESPOND appropriately. A shame, that this got filtered, watered down and all but totally candy-coated for the *Masses*, but then, at least the EXAMPLE itself has not been lost ... no matter what else HAS been suppressed, or discouraged. No need in speculating that ~ we, too, might so attain ... since that removes SO much of the unnecessary middle-men ... and we can see how this upsets the established ORDER(s), just as last time around.
Jesus, and a bunch of the other Beards, are as close as our own Family, but we know how delicate that can be sometimes ... so it helps to remember and appreciate that these blokes don't take shit personal. They don't wait around for evening vespers, and smile when we get our last Hail Mary or repetition of the Gayatri sung or spoken. And I'm pretty sure they really don't give a shit, God, Christ or any of 'em, whether you believe in them or not, or whether you occasionally feel a need to yap about it a little. I might be at the extreme, but I have NEVER forgotten what I have learned. Rather, I knew 20 years ago that the best my Life would and could EVER be, would be if I learned to live it in a TESTAMENT to what Christ Jesus sought to Teach, Inspire and share.
So it's clear enough to see why things may have failed back then. My question is, if we think we've learned at least a little about *what matters most* ... are we going to let the same crap happen all over again? And if not, what can we DO to help steer Humanity [in ANY capacity, large or small] from the present unrest toward calmer waters, wherein the future Vision CAN be reflected {what, God doesn't have a PLAN, a VISION, for how things should be? that WE can't access, or assist with? Really, then put me in a rocket capsule and blast me outta here man ... that really WOULD suck!}?
You really wanna know why Christ was crucified? What does it matter, if we're about to do it all over again? I know that, in part, this is unavoidable. That's just what I believe about matter, Spirit, the nature of the Cosmos ... and the `Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World' [which was a HORSE, we are told, in former cycles]. But either we CAN, and must try HARD, to steer this little rowboat, galley, ARK ... into the future. Or else, I guess we should keep a sharp lookout for the icebergs.
Namaskar,
~Taijasi
