I am a maggot and no man: Jesus as Ninja Maggot

Seeing the worms of the wormy wood I’ve been throwing in the fire on these chilly days and nights set me to thinking…

Psalm 22, which is all about Christ being on the Cross, from beginning to end, has this in verse six — “I am a maggot and no man…”

In the Gospels, Jesus speaks of those who go to hell (see Mark 9, 48 quoting Isaiah 66,24), “where their maggot does not die…”

Those in humble thanksgiving, those who make regular confession a practice, know that in all goodness and kindness, Jesus took on what we deserve, the worst we can give out. We treated Him like a maggot, crushing Him on the cross: “I am a maggot and no man…” Those in humble thanksgiving can have a sense of the utter majesty of Jesus hanging on the cross. He’s our Ninja Maggot ! ! ! ! ! For those with “pious ears”, I might suggest looking hard at a crucifix…

Now, if Jesus is the maggot, and He speaks of those condemned to hell as those whose maggot does not die, what is it that He is saying about His goodness and kindness. Well, you see, it’s like this: if we accept His suffering on the cross as an invitation to have our sins forgiven, we go to heaven; if we think of His suffering on the cross as a mere incrimination of our sins and nothing more, we go to hell, but what follows us to hell is the goodness and kindness of Jesus. We would forever rebell against that goodness and kindness as if it were the worst thing ever, as if it were eating us alive…

A salutary thought. I think Saint Teresa of Avila would agree. Oh yes, a picture:

I apologize to those with “pious eyes”. Well, no, I don’t. Hah! I wanna be a maggot too! (as in, “Father, not my will, but Thine be done).