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An Insurgent Jesus

I updated this blog post on April 28, 2023 to bring greater clarity to the section, “An Insurgent Jesus”. I hope it helps.

Happy Easter, everyone!

This year, it has been on my heart to say, “Because Yeshua is risen, he can raise me (and you) from the dead!” I believe that is true both metaphorically and literally, but for some, this statement is more meaningful than others.

I mean, have you ever wondered what it is we are truly celebrating when we celebrate Easter? Something about bunnies… and eggs… and an empty tomb? Yeah…

Asking for Understanding

The answer to this question was not clear to me for years after I got saved; ten years, in fact! Over that period of time, I heard sermon after sermon about the literary facts about Easter, and even some scriptural interpretations like, “He purchased us on the cross,” but what does that mean??? Honestly, none of it helped me understand what—practically—God had done for me. I couldn’t even tell you if the cross was a good thing in my life (a source of hope because God did it for me) or a bad thing (a source of shame because I did it to God).

That’s when I began to pray, “God, help me understand the cross! What happened there? And why does it matter?” (I totally recommend this prayer, by the way. No blog of mine—or anyone else’s—is going to hit it home for you the way God him/herself can!)

The Great Exchange

It wasn’t a one-time revelation. Over the next three years, I had two or three experiences where the Easter story brought me to my face, wailing in both grief and gratefulness, but I did not understand why. My heart was being touched by the cross before my mind ever did.

Then, one day in 2017, I went to a charismatic conference in Prague. During worship, I saw a vision of Yeshua on the cross and me kneeling before him. All this black stuff came out of my body and went into his body on the cross. He moaned in pain a little as the black stuff entered him. Then, black stuff from other places—other people—also began entering him. “The cross is a fixed point in all eternity,” said God, “and when people pray in Yeshua’s name, they get access to its power.” I saw black stuff from all of eternity descend upon Yeshua’s body on the cross. I realized the black stuff could only enter his body because it had gashes in it, where he was weakened. There was so much black stuff that the sky was darkened for several hours.

“The cross is a fixed point in all eternity,” said God, “and when people pray in Yeshua’s name, they get access to its power.”

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Then, Yeshua died. Since the black stuff was stuck inside his human body, it went into the grave with him, underground. There, Yeshua took the black stuff out of his body, locked it up in a jail cell, and ascended above ground in a clean body, again. “His body takes into it all that hurts you,” said God, “and his life, which is in his blood and spilled into the ground, replaces your hurts. It’s the great exchange.”

His body, his blood. The Holy Communion. The Great Exchange.

A Reverse Nuclear Bomb

One day, as I was sharing the understanding I had received about Yeshua on the cross to a friend, it came to my mind to describe it as “a reverse nuclear bomb”. “Whereas a human nuclear bomb explodes outwards and destroys everything in its wake,” I said, “Jesus is a reverse nuclear bomb that sucks into itself everything that hurts us in all of creation: whether physical, psychological, or spiritual.”

That’s why Yeshua had to die. He didn’t just blow up the bomb, he WAS the bomb.

A Man On A Mission

You see, Yeshu was a man on a mission—a military mission—on behalf of the Commander of Angel Armies, Father God. At some point, Yeshua may have been only a spirit-being, but once he was sent from his homeland (in the spiritual realm) to enter our land (in the physical realm) his spirit animated a human body, and he became a human-being (now having both a spiritual nature and a physical one.)

He came as a baby to come clandestinely, because some people (or spirits controlling those people) were trying to kill him upon entry. That’s why he came as a baby conceived out-of-wedlock to two, faithful nobodies who had their baby while on the road, far from what little family and friends they had left after being accused of having pre-marital sex. Talk about an isolating experience, but that isolation was what protected Yeshua from being recognized and killed as a babe.

Then, he quietly grew up in Egypt, hidden amongst the enemies of the very people he came to save in Israel, until he was strong enough to be seen, known, and fulfill his ultimate mission: to detonate a reverse nuclear bomb.

An Insurgent Uprising

Merriam-Webster Definition of Insurgent

In the process of getting to the detonation site—ground zero—Yeshua built up a following from amongst the rejected and marginalized to overthrow the government of the ruler of this world, the Accuser (Satan). These groups included rejected boys, girls, the unclean, and the disloyal.

In Hebrew society back in his day, fifteen year old boys who showed promise were selected by a rabbi for further study of the Torah, while those rejected went on to work in their family business like fishing—like almost all of the 12 apostles. This meant that he only selected disciples who were rejected by other Rabbis. Meanwhile, Hebrew girls were not allowed to study the Torah, no matter how young or old—but he taught and showed value to women (even demonized, divorced, or prostitute women). These women ended up supporting his ministry more faithfully than many of the men. Next, Hebrew sick, lame, and demonized people were as-a-matter-of-course outcast from all acceptable society—yet they were the ones Yeshu most blessed (through miraculous healing) and sent out to spread the good news of the Kingdom of God. Finally, rich Hebrews who worked with the Romans were considered the lowest of the low by their Hebrew community—yet Yeshu dined with and raised up several tax collectors to be his loyal followers. That’s who Yeshua chose—the people no one else wanted—to overthrow the very government that rejected them. Sounds like an insurgent leader to me!

As one of his last human acts, he exlained his whole plan plainly to his followers and gave them link-up instructions. “Meet me in Galilee, after I blow up the bomb.” They never made it there.

Setting Off A Revolution

Merriam-Webster-Webster Definitin of

This is where many an only-human insurgent leader would find new followers, but Yeshu knew that in their own strength, his followers would never be able to do all that he needed them to do to set off the revolution of the Kingdom of Heaven. That’s why he not only personally breathed the Holy Spirit into them to help them be transformed themselves via the power of the cross (AKA salvation), but he also sent fire to rain down upon them to empower his followers with the weapons of their warfare (AKA the baptism of the spirit).

Only then did his followers get boldness, courage, miracle-working power, the ability to cast out demons, heal the sick, raise the dead, see the future, transform culture, and usurp the power of demons that control this world. Only then did they get the ability to wield the power of the cross for the world’s benefit, not just their own.

And yo! Ain’t nothing more encouraging than seeing your mighty militant warrior leader blow up a nuke—a suicide nuke at that—and somehow come back to life to teach you how to revolutionize the world for 40 days AFTER his death. Awesome!

That is how Yeshu got his 11 teenage, mostly blue-collar male followers plus at least five female followers spread the influence of Yeshua’s Kingdom across the whole world.

On The Same Team

I want to close with this final thought. Yeshua’s sacrifice was amazingly selfless and loving, and according to him, he and Father God and the Holy Spirit were all on the same team. That means that Yeshua went to the cross not to divert Father God’s anger at humanity, but to usurp the authority over humanity that Adam had given to the Accuser (Satan) when he disobeyed God. Yeshu didn’t purchase us back from an angry Father God who was about to end mankind; Yeshu became the solution to all that torments us—every thing that is NOT of Father God. Every sickness, every demon, every feeling of despair or loneliness, every lie we believe… those are all the black stuff in us that Yeshua gave us authority to send to the cross, in his name, so that in exchange, we receive his resurrection life in this world as well as in the next!

Hooah and hallelujah!

2 responses to “An Insurgent Jesus”

  1. […] course to believe in the power of the Christian faith: a good Father God, who sent Yeshua to become a reverse nuclear bomb for you, so that you can be continually filled with the Holy Spirit to lead you into a complete […]

  2. […] last supper before going to the cross, eat and drink, and say amen. But once God explained to me the purpose of the cross, communion became something I do through prayer (and often without the crackers or juice) every time […]

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