Chocolate Jesus

From TIME Magazine - NEW YORK - "The Easter season unveiling of an anatomically correct chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ, dubbed My Sweet Lord   by its creator, has infuriated Catholics preparing to observe some of their holiest days of the year.
The 6-foot sculpture by Cosimo Cavallaro was to debut Monday evening, four days before Christians mark the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday. The final day of the exhibit at the Lab Gallery inside Manhattan's Roger Smith Hotel was planned for Easter Sunday.

'This is one of the worst assaults on Christian sensibilities ever,' said Bill Donohue, head of the Catholic League, a watchdog group. "It's not just the ugliness of the portrayal, but the timing,  to choose Holy Week is astounding."

The gallery's creative director, Matt Semler, said the Lab and the hotel were overrun with angry telephone calls and e-mails. The gallery was considering its options, he said.

'We're obviously surprised by the overwhelming response and offense people have taken,' said Semler, adding that the Holy Week timing was a coincidence."

Well, friends, the pressure worked. The display was cancelled by the hotel on Friday.

What an irony for Bill Donahue, the head of the Catholic League, to claim that the "loin-clothless" candy Jesus was one of the "worst assaults on Christian sensibilities ever". This coming from a man whose religious persuasion has killed and molested more people in the name of their religion than perhaps any group in history. In addition, Donahue went on to ask how would people feel if a naked, candied Martin Luther King, Jr. was portrayed that way on his holiday/birthday or one of Mohammed on Ramadan. This, of course, exposes what Donahue actually feels about Jesus, the He is somehow in the same category of people as the civil rights leader or the prophet of Islam.

He is not! Jesus did not start a movement or found a religion. He is Lord of Lords, King of Kings, The Redeemer of the entire human race, regardless of belief or how stupid people act.

In addition, WHEN JESUS WAS ON THE CROSS, HE WAS NAKED, stripped of all dignity, beaten and bloodied to a pulp! The typical crucifix has a few drops of blood dripping down a blond, blue-eyed Jesus' brow covered by a Tarzan-like loin cloth. Talk about an assault on the Truth. But the truth about the Truth has never, and will never, be able to fit into any religious context. It is like trying to place "new wine in an old wineskin". Religion cannot contain the righteousness of Christ.

However, Jesus, having successfully handled the ultimate humiliation of the Cross and temporary separation from the Father, is more than big enough to deal with being memorialized in chocolate or even in the hideous way He has been represented by Mr. Donahue's religion and all of Christianity throughout history.   

Just some "food" for thought. Enjoy your weekend and your redemption in God,

Glenn Klein