The Judas Experiment

[audiofool]

I've got the blood of Jesus on my hands
I am just a stranger in a God-forsaken land
I came to witness the power on display
he demanded everything so I simply walked away

I've got the blood of Jesus on my mind
a model citizen I try hard to be kind
I built this temple made of sweat and stone
how can you tell me that my life is not my own?

kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall
seeing the truth underneath it all

I've got the blood of Jesus in my heart
in your eyes we're worlds apart
I realize what remains to be done
cast yourself down if you're God's only Son

I've got the blood of Jesus on my hands
gone awry all my best laid plans
30 pieces for my trouble and my time
you've got your cross to bear and I've got mine.

[shellspace71]

[audiofool]

Thanks, shellspace.

[Bruno]

Reminds me of some of the old time spirituals that used to be sung, the kind which sometimes questions the ways of God to man or at least complains about it! It fits perfectly having both the rhythm and the content. Very well written.

[audiofool]

Thanks for your comments, Bruno.

[DarleneG]

I'd rather have a cross to bear (which I do) with Him, than without Him!

[thief of dreams]

Fell in love with the last stanza. Great emotional description in a visual context.

[audiofool]

Thanks, Darlene.
Thank you, thief of dreams.

"Yes, there are two paths you can go by."

[bags123]

If Jesus were alive today I think he'd deplore what became of his church. His teachings were anything but dogmatic. He was against all the artifices of institutionalized religion. The Jesus most people grow up worshipping today is largely a figment of our imagination. Created gradually over the centuries
both by the church and the powers that be. There's a great book, called "Jesus Through the Centuries" , I forget who the author is,...but it shows how Christ has been percieved and taught about differently through the ages by Christians, and the Church depending on the politics of the period. Your poem reminded me of a program I watched recently about the fragments of "The Gospel of Judas" that was discovered not too long ago. In it,...Judas is Christs closest disciple, and treasurer for the group. Christ asks Judas to turn him over to the Romans in order to complete something that Christ thought needed to be
accomplished by his capture. ( Personally,....I think Jesus expected a much larger gathering of supporters to gather at the Garden of Gethsemane. I think
he imagined this group overpowering the Romans who Judas escorted to them, and starting a war that would eventually rid Judea of the Romans,...and establish himself as rightful King and Messiah of the Jews. I could be wrong though.

[audiofool]

Hi, Bags.

I have a copy of "Jesus Through the Centuries" by Jaroslav Pelikan. I just might get around to reading it one of these last days. Thanks for the suggestion.

He's good for a quote or two. Here's one: “Tradition is the living faith of the dead, traditionalism is the dead faith of the living. And, I suppose I should add, it is traditionalism that gives tradition such a bad name.” ― Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, The Vindication of Tradition: The 1983 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities

[bags123]

Hi, Bags.

I have a copy of "Jesus Through the Centuries" by Jaroslav Pelikan. I just might get around to reading it one of these last days. Thanks for the suggestion.

He's good for a quote or two. Here's one: “Tradition is the living faith of the dead, traditionalism is the dead faith of the living. And, I suppose I should add, it is traditionalism that gives tradition such a bad name.” ― Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, The Vindication of Tradition: The 1983 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities

Wow! Glad you're familiar with it. Jaroslav Pelikan is correct sir! I think there's good traditions, and bad traditions. I celebrate the good ones, and evacuate the bad ones as best I can. Traditions can be the ties that bind both in a good way, and a bad way. The trick is to not be bound so tightly that you do harm to yourself or others.

[audiofool]

"The trick is to not be bound so tightly that you do harm to yourself or others." Well said, Bags.