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We now approach a profound mystery.
Some say that Jesus died to pay the penalty for sin, as if God, demanding the vengeance of retributive blood, cared more about his rights than righteousness. But there is something deeper here concerning this lightning-strike of incarnate love against the power of evil. Jesus, claiming to be one with God (rather than the representative of some divine tritheistic committee), took it upon himself to deal with that very unfashionable concept, sin; to deal with the power of evil. To conceive of the death of Jesus as somehow taking place unilaterally is to miss the point. Here Father, Son and Spirit—those divine ‘persons’ who are one—were colluding to defeat evil; to neutralise the inexorable pull of self-will towards autonomy (for we all wish we were gods), giving us the freedom—if we want it—to ‘repent’; the freedom to turn and be reconciled, re-embraced by our true Father, the source of our being, the God who is light. Only the embrace of the true Father is the answer to the orphan-cry of the human heart.
It is, of course (especially in the ‘light’ of Auschwitz) easy to point the finger of blame at others or to shake a fist towards God, but do we not all carry the mark of Cain? —a Nietzschean ‘will to power’?
‘Let him,’ said Jesus, ‘who is without sin throw the first stone.’
The ‘Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’ gives us back the gift of personhood, of free will; for his refusal to use the ways of empire (that pervasive will to power), his disdain of selfishness, even to the point of death, resulted in the defeat of empire—the unravelling and emasculation of evil. His gift is the capacity to choose goodness and defeat evil in our own lives; to be reunited, forgiven, and embraced by the God of light who is without shadow.
And so we pray for mercy: Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
There is hope for the hopeless, and love for the loveless. Where light shines, shadows die.

lyrics

Radiation cloud
Poison in her breath
Invisible as love
East of Eden wind
Such a cold caress
So intimate this kiss—
Of death

Agnus dei qui tollis Lamb of God who takes away
Peccata mundi miserere nobis the sins of the world, have mercy on us
Show your mercy to our world
We cry out to you to be healed

Antidote for poisoned blood
Saving transfusion from your deep wound of love
Oxygen in fallen veins
Immunisation from death’s acid rain

Show your mercy to our world
Only you can set us free
Save us from this misery
We cry out to you to be healed
Fever burning, HIV
Dying millions, rising sea
We need mercy Lord for our world
Only you can make us free
Save us from this misery

The mark of Cain—blood on our hands
Eating the fruit of our rebellion
Even a child could understand that something’s wrong

I look at you, you look at me
I wonder if you really love me?
The enemy is not out there, he’s in my heart
And more and more we talk of war
The sacrifice of someone’s children
We live the myth that even death will bring us life

Hope for the hopeless, love for the loveless
We need your mercy in our world

credits

from The Rock Mass, released February 4, 2014

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John de Jong UK

I grew up with a slightly schizophrenic interest in both English and American folk-blues and traditional English hymns. I've always been passionate about the acoustic guitar, but in recent recent years my tastes have expanded somewhat. The Rock Mass is evidence of this. Hope you enjoy the music! ... more

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