The Road to Emm'aus

Prophecies have a bad habit of biting you in the ass. It's funny how you never know if they are true until they've already happened. Or that they never turn out to be quite literal.

Gnostics believed that the physical is evil while the spiritual is good. It's a bit extreme but not without basis. When we think of sin, it's usually related to something physical or carnal like money and sex. Of themselves, they are not "evil" but wanting them too much or becoming obssessed with them is. Whereas denying them, much like Buddhists refrain from worldly things, is often seen as good.

The Jews of Jesus time thought that the Messiah would set them free. But because they were being oppressed by the Romans at that time, they thought it was a political freedom and not a spiritual one. Sometimes I wonder if Jesus wasn't born at the wrong time.

His deliverance of the Israelites from the Romans would have been quite apt. They were looking for a hero like Moses and Elijah - hence, the frequent references to them. But God had other plans, I think. He was more concerned about mankind's spiritual salvery, it's fear of death. After all, mortal rulers would come and go, so the Israelites would be set free again. It was only a matter of time, really. They didn't need a hero for that.

But fear of death, fear of our lives not having a purpose - that's not something people could be freed from easily. They would need more than a leader; they needed a teacher. Someone who would walk by them and give them courage as they walked the path of life.