Perhaps instead of satisfying a divine plot of blood in exchange for forgiveness, we can locate the atonement at the moment of God's act of incarnation. Since God became a human being, that human life had to die somehow. The cross of Jesus is the gift of a death that teaches 1/

Us the folly of rule by the power of force. The cross introduces instead the revolution of power by justice and love. The resurrection is the triumph of power by love over power by force. In other words, it is the victory of life over death, of light over darkness. 2/

I believe Jesus' death was a revelation of Truth for the purpose of human ethics. That's why he gave the greatest commandment (love) and then aligned his actions with his words by refusing to apologize or cower in fear. Love casts out fear. 3/

I believe Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God precisely because he envisioned an alternative mode of power, the power of justice and love, to reign "on Earth, as it is in heaven." Jesus' death is spiritual because it guides us in the power of love to confront fear. 4/

It is political in that it introduces an alternative way for humans to do business. And the truth of this new mode of being human is verified by the resurrection. The human life, death, and resurrection of Jesus accomplishes a revelation that we must receive and enact 5/

I do not suggest that we have the capacity to revolutionize our politics such that we bring about the kingdom of God. Rather, that the Spirit has that capacity, and through life of the Church we can abide in the Spirit by word and sacrament so as to make a contribution. 6/

And working together as the body of Christ in the world to make our own unique contributions, in the power of the Spirit, we do see glimpses of the kingdom breaking into this present darkness. 7/

So perhaps the cross and resurrection sanctify us, even if they do not justify or atone us by satisfying a bloodthirsty God. Maybe we can focus less on what the cross can do for us and more on what we can do for God's kingdom, in the power of the Spirit.

I could be wrong.

So the cross and resurrection of Jesus reveals a new truth to us. Instead of the old adage that might makes right we have a new paradigm:

Right makes might. That's the politics of the kingdom of God.