The serpent initiated our fall from paradise by puncturing the tank that holds the knowledge of God here on earth. He muddied the waters . He separated us from the knowledge of God.
The tank sprung a leak. The knowledge of God faded from the Valley of Tears through the hole in the tank. God became a stranger to us. Nobody follows a stranger
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Jesus came to plug the hole and to refill the tank .
Jesus had many options by which he could reveal God to us. Each option would give us a glimpse of God from here on earth - a peek at divinity. Therefore, the option he settled upon is most interesting.
What was the option that Jesus settled upon? What was the revelation?
We tortured and killed him. He forgave us .
The jump from forgiveness to love is a short jump. A tree is known by its fruit . Forgiveness is one of the blessed fruits of love. Love begets forgiveness. Forgiveness is the child of love. Love has other offspring but forgiveness is its first child.
What did the revelation tell us?
We tortured and killed him. He suffered and died. Yet, he did not stay dead and he did not stop loving us. He emerged from the dead still alive and still in love with us. That he emerged from the dead still alive revealed to us his power. Nobody emerges from the dead. He did. That he emerged from the dead still in love with us, however, revealed to us something more significant about divinity than power. Our conception of divinity as power is incomplete. Divinity is also love - a mysteriously intransigent, inexplicably persistent and radically stubborn love
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The detail about God that Jesus disclosed to us on the road from the Crucifixion to the Resurrection is forgiveness. It is a detail of consequence. Forgiveness is the rock to which the wise anchor their understanding of God . With the disclosure of the detail, God ceased to be an enigma. No longer was God a stranger to us. Who are you, God? Identify yourself! Friend or foe? The detail about God that Jesus disclosed enabled us to reach the conclusion that, despite all of the evidence to the contrary, God is our friend not our foe. He is for us not against us. He is a philanthropist not a misanthrope.
Forgiveness is the earthquake at the epicenter of Christianity. The earthquake reset the foundation of the world onto a new foundation - a foundation of love.
The position of prominence in the showcase of Christianity belongs to the story of forgiveness that took place on the road from the Crucifixion to the Resurrection. It does not belong to the Mass, the other sacraments, morality or anything else Christian.
Our God is the God who forgave us for the brutal evil that we did to him. Wow! Rejoice and be glad. The good news of great joy does not get any better than that!
