Thursday, May 22, 2008

The movie Amadeus tells a story of Salieri who is bitterly jealous of Mozart. Much of it may be fictional, but it is a great film. Salieri is angry at God for making him so mediocre compared to Mozart; he rebels against God and becomes his enemy.
At the end of the film, years after Mozart's death, he mocks God saying to a priest, " Your merciful god. He killed his beloved (Mozart) rather than let a mediocrity share in the smallest part of his glory" (he Salieri was "the mediocrity")

All he wanted was just a small part of his glory and he didn't get it.

That comment speaks to what sin is all about - wanting God's glory for ourselves.
The gospel irony of it all is that our God did kill his beloved SO THAT WE MIGHT NOT ONLY SHARE A SMALL PART BUT ALL HIS GLORY. Had God wanted to keep us from sharing His glory he would have killed us, not His Beloved.
God killed His Beloved in order to give us His glory. No other God is like this.
Jesus is willing to give up glory so that we might receive it.

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