Friday Focus: The View from the Cross
As it does every spring, our scriptural journey
towards Resurrection brings us first to the cross. And in this account of that ultimate
crisis, the Jesus of Luke’s Passion is very distinct from his persona as
presented by the other evangelists. In Mark and Matthew, a very human Jesus is
abandoned and battling despair. In John, a divine Jesus is self-possessed and
in total control throughout his ordeal. In contrast, the Jesus of Luke’s gospel
is clearly the Son of God become our brother, struggling then triumphing over
doubt and fear. In this week’s gospel, our brother Jesus is tested and
tormented while he preserves his serenity by clinging to his mission to serve the
will of the Father.
C.S. Lewis captured this duality when he described
the Passion as: “The perfect surrender and humiliation were undergone by
Christ: perfect because he was God, surrender and humiliation because he was
man.” To say this is a difficult concept to understand and accept is the
infinite understatement. Why the cross? The human Jesus clearly wished he were
somewhere else. The divine Jesus didn’t have to show up. He could have phoned
in our redemption. The answer is clearly seen in the transformational power of
the cross…from an instrument of torture to the transcendent symbol of love. For God so loved the world that he gave his
only begotten Son. What evil has
ever existed or ever will exist that cannot be totally obliterated by the
cross? What sacrilege, what obscenity, what betrayal overshadows the love that
hung Jesus on the cross? Christ crucified is the “Big Bang” of God’s grace. The
reverberations carry down the centuries to generations yet unborn.
And yet for a moment it all hung by a thread. In
Gethsemane, sweating his blood in anticipation of shedding his blood, Jesus
asks: Father, if you are willing, remove
this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done. The Father’s answer
comes in the form of an angel, who almost like a corner man in a prize fight, gave him strength. The angel helps Jesus to his feet and sends him
resolutely forward into the ordeal. While his trials, the scourging, the crown
of thorns and the cross, all await, the critical point has been passed. The
human and divine natures of Jesus are inextricably bound as one with the will
of the Father. The tested Jesus will be the tranquil Jesus, because he is the
trusting Jesus. And in the end, he is the triumphant Jesus, who can confidently
proclaim: Father into your hands I
commend my spirit
Broken in body, but
not in soul, Jesus, our brother, our God, calls us to the cross. The tool of execution has become our
ladder to heaven. Both God and Man, Christ died for us that we may have eternal
life. We are saved. We are forgiven. We need only ask and accept redemption.
Through his life and death Jesus taught us to follow him with conviction and
total commitment. And that requires that we forgive, we love and we help others
as Jesus has forgiven, loves and helps us. That’s the view from the cross. And
it’s beautiful.
posted by Joanna Depue | 12:30 AM
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