The crucifixion of Jesus Christ stands as a timeless testament to the triumph of innocence over the brute force of corrupt power. Far beyond a historical tragedy, it is a metaphysical and theological pivot where divine truth, embodied in an innocent life, dismantles the illusions of human authority. John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government provides a philosophical lens: the “state of nature,” where reason governs without earthly tyranny, contrasts with the “state of war,” sparked by unjust force that fractures trust. The Sanhedrin’s orchestrated trial, inflaming a mob to demand Jesus’ death (Matthew 27:20-25, Mark 15:11), ignited such a war, thrusting Jesus into a state of nature where the divine Logos—reason incarnate—reigned. Through his unyielding innocence, Jesus defeated the transactional and punitive legalities of human systems, establishing an agape-based reality rooted in natural law, written on the heart, that transcends sin and debt, empowering personal autonomy and sovereignty.
“It behooves us to remember that men can never escape being governed. Either they must govern themselves or they must submit to being governed by others. If from lawlessness or fickleness, from folly or self-indulgence, they refuse to govern themselves, then most assuredly in the end they will have to be governed from the outside. They can prevent the need of government from without only by showing that they possess the power of government from within. A sovereign cannot make excuses for his failures; a sovereign must accept the responsibility for the exercise of the power that inheres in him; and where, as is true in our Republic, the people are sovereign, then the people must show a sober understanding and a sane and steadfast purpose if they are to preserve that orderly liberty upon which as a foundation every republic must rest.” Theodore Roosevelt (At Jamestown Exposition, April 26, 1907.) Mem. Ed. XII, 593; Nat. Ed. XI, 312.
“You cannot give self-government to anybody. He has got to earn it for himself. You can give him the chance to obtain self-government, but he himself out of his own heart must do the governing. He must govern himself. That is what it means. That is what self-government means. . . . There must be control. There must be mastery, somewhere, and if there is no self- control and self-mastery, the control and the mastery will ultimately be imposed from without.” Theodore Roosevelt (At University of Wisconsin, Madison, April 15, 1911.) Mem. Ed. XV, 548; Nat. Ed. XIII, 594.
Theodore Roosevelt’s philosophy of self-government deepens this metaphysical narrative, asserting that internal mastery averts external tyranny. The Sanhedrin, wielding religious power, orchestrated mob chaos, forsaking the “sober understanding” Roosevelt deemed vital for liberty. Their trial, a farce of false witnesses and predetermined guilt, was not governance but moral collapse, echoing Legibus sumptis desinentibus, lege nature utendum est—”when laws imposed by the state fail, we must act by the law of nature.” By dismantling the punitive legalism of their system, Jesus’ crucifixion exposed a metaphysical truth: human institutions, when divorced from reason, lose legitimacy, returning the individual to a state of nature where divine agape—selfless, unconditional love—supersedes transactional justice, freeing the soul to live by the law written within.
“And here we have the plain difference between the state of Nature and the state of war, which however some men have confounded, are as far distant as a state of peace, goodwill, mutual assistance, and preservation; and a state of enmity, malice, violence and mutual destruction are one from another. Men living together according to reason without a common superior on earth, with authority to judge between them, is properly the state of Nature. But force, or a declared design of force upon the person of another, where there is no common superior on earth to appeal to for relief, is the state of war; and it is the want of such an appeal gives a man the right of war even against an aggressor, though he be in society and a fellow-subject. Thus, a thief whom I cannot harm, but by appeal to the law, for having stolen all that I am worth, I may kill when he sets on me to rob me but of my horse or coat, because the law, which was made for my preservation, where it cannot interpose to secure my life from present force, which if lost is capable of no reparation, permits me my own defence and the right of war, a liberty to kill the aggressor, because the aggressor allows not time to appeal to our common judge, nor the decision of the law, for remedy in a case where the mischief may be irreparable. Want of a common judge with authority puts all men in a state of Nature; force without right upon a man’s person makes a state of war both where there is, and is not, a common judge.” ~John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, Chapter III, §19
Locke’s framework clarifies this cosmic shift. A state of war, he argues, emerges when force without a common judge violates right, granting the oppressed a “right of war” to reject the state. The Sanhedrin’s violence—mob rage and Roman crucifixion—constituted such a war, nullifying their authority. Jesus, embodying the Logos, transcended physical resistance, submitting to divine will and defeating the sin/debt paradigm. This “crucifixion of reason” was a metaphysical rebellion against punitive and transactional legalities, returning Jesus to a state of nature where agape, not debt, governed. By overcoming the transactional nature of law, he unveiled a reality where divine reason, inscribed on the heart, liberates the soul from debt’s chains, fostering sovereign autonomy.
Theologically, this return to the state of nature is a summons to divine communion. For Christians, “inviting Jesus into their hearts via grace” is a metaphysical embrace of this agape-based reality, where divine reason eclipses human legalism. My article “When Morality and Law are Opposed to One Another“, probing what to do when morality and law collide, underscores this: when systems betray truth, the soul must follow its inner compass, aligned with divine truth and agape’s non-transactional love beyond the false law’s reach. Jesus’ trial, a Sanhedrin-driven travesty, shattered earthly authority, inviting believers to govern themselves through faith in the Logos. This spiritual sovereignty, rooted in agape, fulfills Locke’s vision of liberty reclaimed from corrupt governance, the state of nature, enabling a non-transactional existence where agape love, not debt, defines human relations.
Metaphysically, the crucifixion indicts collective prejudice as a spiritual and rational failure. The Sanhedrin’s manipulation, exploiting Jesus’ threat to their power, embodies Roosevelt’s warned “fickleness” and “folly.” Theologically, this mob reflects humanity’s fall into shame and sin, choosing chaos and emotional whim over divine truth, justice, and harmony. Jesus’ victory over this injustice—transcending punitive law through Logos and agape—reveals a metaphysical paradox: the system meant to eradicate him liberated him, affirming liberty as a divine gift, rooted in agape love’s eternal reason, not brute force, therefore empowering individuals to live autonomously under natural law in the state of nature—an Edenic state.
John Locke’s “state of nature,” a condition where individuals live by reason and natural law absent corrupt authority, mirrors returning to the Garden of Eden by restoring a material harmony with divine order and personal sovereignty. Escaping individual and collective shame, which reflects humanity’s fall into sin and transactional systems, allows one to reclaim this Edenic state, living in alignment with the law written on the heart, free from external tyranny.
“Whenever the legislators endeavour to take away, and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any farther obedience, and are left to the common refuge, which God hath provided for all men, against force and violence. Whensoever therefore the legislative shall transgress this fundamental rule of society; and either by ambition, fear, folly or corruption, endeavour to grasp themselves, or put into the hands of any other, an absolute power over the lives, liberties, and estates of the people; by this breach of trust they forfeit the power the people had put into their hands for quite contrary ends, and it devolves to the people, who have a right to resume their original liberty, and, by the establishment of a new legislative, (such as they shall think fit) provide for their own safety and security, which is the end for which they are in society.”
~John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, Chapter XIX, §222
Philosophically, the crucifixion challenges governance’s moral foundation. Locke’s Second Treatise (§222) asserts that when authorities destroy liberty through corruption, they wage war against the people, absolving them from reliance on their corrupt system and returning power back to the individual. The Sanhedrin’s betrayal of justice forfeited their mandate, placing Jesus in a state where divine agape judged, and not their legalities. By defeating transactional legalism, Jesus exposed the futility of debt-based systems, offering a metaphysical alternative: a life governed by the law written on the heart, where personal sovereignty flourishes through reason and agape’s non-transactional love. This shift authorizes individuals to reject punitive systems and embrace a non-transactional reality of mutual respect and goodwill.
Theologically, Jesus’ trial redefines judgment as an act of divine love. Facing a false trial, he judged the system, embodying Matthew 7:1-2: “Judge not, for to the measure you judge, you will be judged.” His submission to divine purpose was a metaphysical mirror, reflecting the Sanhedrin’s corruption. This act set a cosmic precedent: the crucifixion as a “trap” that ensnared the unjust, revealing the collective’s hollow justice as illegitimate (it seems like the ideal of democracy isn’t so beneficial or virtuous, after all). By overcoming the sin/debt system, Jesus carved a path for others to transcend legalism, entering a state of nature where agape love empowers autonomy, freeing the soul to live by divine reason rather than narcissistic whims.
This precedent radiates philosophical and theological depth. The crucifixion’s metaphysical trap—where facing injustice with poise and self-mastery liberates the just—offers a blueprint for transcending transactional systems. Aligning with Jesus, believers are able to enter a state of nature where self-mastery, guided by the Logos and agape, supplants external control. This act of grace is a philosophical reclamation of sovereignty, echoing Roosevelt’s call for internal governance. Theologically, it is participation in Christ’s victory, a metaphysical ascent to a reality where agape’s logic liberates the soul from debt, fostering a community of autonomous individuals bound by mutual care.
Metaphysically, the crucifixion redefines freedom as a cosmic alignment with agape love. Jesus’ resurrection—triumph over death—proclaimed the impotence of punitive governance against divine love. For followers, this legacy demands living by the law written on the heart, ensuring liberty rests on eternal truth rather than rebellion. The Sanhedrin’s failure underscores a universal principle: when human authority betrays reason, the state of nature, governed by agape, becomes humanity’s refuge. This is not chaos but a return to the soul’s divine origin, where love restores what the transactional nature of legalism destroys, empowering each person to live sovereignly in communion with Divine will.
The crucifixion is a timeless revelation, a summons to transcend the transactional through the power of innocence. Jesus’ triumph, rooted in unblemished truth, defeated the Sanhedrin’s corrupt power, exposing the fragility of systems built on debt and punishment. By establishing an agape-based reality, he invites all to dwell in the state of nature with Him, where the soul, aligned with the Logos and love, answers only to divine truth. This victory—innocence over power—endures as a call to forge a liberty unshackled by human failure, rooted in the eternal foundation of divine love that empowers autonomy, transforms hearts, and reclaims the world.
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