Revolution. Blood. Death.
New life.
The greatest revolution the world has ever witnessed came about as a result of the death of one man.
"There is one God, and also one mediator between God and humans, King Jesus, Himself a human being. He gave Himself as a ransom for all, and this was testified when the time was right." 1 Timothy 2:5-6
Some of you might be wondering why, if I'm quoting Bible verses, the title of my blog seems so sacrilegious. Well, I'm glad you're wondering. Grab some coffee or tea (or beverage of your choice) and relax while I tell you a little story.
Many years ago, while my husband was away for the day, a friend and I drove to a small Roman Catholic chapel near where we live. What greeted us inside was an almost life-sized crucifix, which was not surprising since it was a Roman Catholic chapel. We looked around for a few minutes, then my friend made the comment that Jesus looked like His knees had rug burn. I looked up at Him, and sure enough, there was Jesus with red spots on His knees. In all fairness, I'm sure that the artist was attempting to depict what might have happened to Jesus' knees when He fell from the weight of the cross. My friend and I couldn't help but think that it looked more like Jesus had...well...skinned His knees. Thus, He was dubbed "Skinned-Knee Jesus." We were honestly not being disrespectful or anything like that, it simply struck us as an incredibly odd artistic choice.
I was trying to think of a name for this new blog, and the more I cogitated, the more I felt drawn to use the name my friend had created for the crucifix depiction of Jesus. And the more I thought about it, the more appropriate it seemed to the purpose of my blog. The name might be a wee bit jarring to some, but the church in the United States needs to be jarred. Something is desperately wrong. Thousands upon thousands of people are slipping through the cracks and very few people seem to know what to do about it. We've gotten so out of balance over the past couple of centuries, and it's time we emerge from the fog. We need to start boldly proclaiming the truth about everything--about God, about Jesus, about life, about people, about relationships, about food, about art, about science, about philosophy, about religion. We need to study the Word of God diligently and declare the full counsel of God (Acts 20:27). We need a little revolution.
But maybe instead of starting a new revolution, we just need to continue the revolution that Jesus began. The truth is, we who claim the name of Jesus are following a God who did, indeed, get His knees skinned. He was human in every way, and that's the glory of it all. The God of Israel emptied Himself and became human so that we could possess the life which is truly life.
So if you're interested in hearing about what it means to be truly alive and not just exist and wait to die so you can go to heaven, then stay tuned. You're in for...a little revolution!
