It might be the best known story in the
world and because of that, it is possible to become desensitized to the meaning
of Jesus crucifixion. Obviously, as Christians
we see it as the turning point in the war God wages for our souls. Jesus’ actions speak for themselves. His cross defines the character of God, and
the hope of humanity. However, in
addition to asking what the cross does for us, perhaps we should also ask how
it instructs us. Maybe, just maybe, the
cross is as much about formation as it is about forgiveness.
The cross illustrates for Christians the
reality that through defeat we achieve victory.
The soldiers mock Jesus because he seems to be a defeated man. Jesus had earlier predicted that they would
see him at the right hand of God, by quoting the first verse of Psalm 110: “The
Lord says to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your
footstool”, but to human eyes things don’t seem to be going well. How can the road to heavenly exaltation run through
the suffering and death of the cross?
Even if we consider the second verse of the psalm, “The Lord sends forth
from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in
the midst of your enemies!” we rightfully ask ourselves, how can the beaten and
bloodied Jesus be seen as ruling in any meaningful sense? Little did they know that even in his
weakness, Jesus is ruling in the midst of his enemies. They beat Jesus with a reed, meant to
symbolize a scepter, in an effort to mock his kingship. And yet, Jesus is reigning in a way more
miraculous than we, or anyone else at the time, could realize. By refusing to retaliate, by refusing to call
upon the “ten thousand angels” we have sung about so often, Jesus is
transforming suffering into atonement.
He is transfiguring the hatred of his enemies, into a love than conquers
all. We read in that famous passage of
Paul’s letter to the Philippians that “being found in human form, he humbled
himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians
2:8) Jesus understood, and in the
process teaches us to understand, that victory comes not through the absence of
suffering and death, but in the presence of obedience. When we place our lives in the hands of a
loving God, despite what it may cost us, we are displaying our trust in the one
who has power even over death itself.
The cross illustrates for us that God’s
love greater than we can imagine. Sounds
like a pretty obvious statement, but consider for a moment that the amazing act
of love we see take place on the cross, was part of a plan. It was not a spur-of-the-moment, adrenaline induced
act of bravery on Jesus’ part. It was a
decision he made well in advance (to say the least), having considered the
consequences. Jesus came to this earth
knowing his fate, knowing that the cross lay before him. The word “excruciating” actually comes from
the word crucify, so that it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Jesus
lived his entire life aware of the excruciating future that lay in store for
him. Imagine living your life knowing
that you would die a tortuous death. He
knew that he was living the words of Isaiah:
“I gave my back to those who strike, and
my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and
spitting.” (Isaiah 50:6)
And the words of the psalm were possibly
running through his mind as they took the clothes off of his back:
“They divide my garments among them, and
for my clothing they cast lots.” (Psalm 22:18)
Jesus actions demonstrate love combined
with grace. Love because of the tremendous
amount he sacrificed, grace because he did it when we were still in rebellion
against God. In writing to the Romans,
Paul would sum it up in perhaps the best way possible:
“For while we were still weak, at the
right time Christ died for the ungodly.
For one will scarcely die for a righteous person- though perhaps for a
good person one would dare to die- but God shows his love for us in that while
we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:6-8
Jesus suffering demonstrates his love
for us, God’s love for us, but it is not the final word. The prophet Isaiah, when foretelling all the
Suffering Servant of God must endure, also knew that the suffering was only
temporary:
“Therefore I will divide him a portion
with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured
out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the
sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.” – Isaiah 53:12
It is clear that God’s love for us is
greater than we can imagine, especially in light of what our forgiveness
cost. However, how does the grace we
receive through God’s forgiveness affect our formation?
God’s forgiveness shapes our formation
in the fact that we are called to live grace-filled lives. In the same letter to the Romans I mentioned
earlier, Paul plainly states that this is an expectation of those who have received
God’s mercy:
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by
the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” – Romans 12:1
Because of Christ’s sacrificial death,
we are free to live sacrificial live. If
you go back to Philippians, the passage I alluded to earlier actually begins,
“have this mind in yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus…” (Philippians 2:5) In other words, we are called not just to be
thankful for Jesus’ attitude; we are called to emulate it. That’s a challenging charge for those who
would follow Christ. What it comes down
to is this; we can only truly call ourselves Christian if we are willing to
live as Christ did. In many trades and
fields, people are referred to in certain ways because their thoughts or
practices conform to a well-noted theorist.
Hence, some psychologists are referred to as Freudians, or Jungians,
because their philosophical approach to psychology conforms to the thinking of
Sigmund Freud, or Carl Jung. They call
themselves these things because they adhere to the philosophies of these
men. I wonder, do we adhere to the
attitude and philosophy of Jesus Christ in such a way that calling us Christian
would be accurate?
I was reading not too long ago about a
man named Patrick Greene. Patrick lives
in Texas, and is an atheist who sued the county to have a nativity scene
removed from the courthouse grounds.
Because of a detached retina, he was at risk of going blind in one
eye. He was flabbergasted when he
received a check from local Christians to help cover his medical bills. When speaking of the unsolicited, and in many
ways shocking act of generosity Greene simply stated, “They said they wanted to
do what real Christians are supposed to do- love you- and they wanted to help.” This group of Christians understood that the
cross is about more than forgiveness, it’s also about formation. They took to heart the words, “have this mind
in yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.”
May that mind, which is ours in Christ Jesus, lead us to perform acts
that reflect who Christ is, and who he wants us to be.
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