29 March 2013 - good friday

29 March 2013 - good friday

Yet it was our infirmities that he bore,
our sufferings that he endured,
while we thought of him as stricken,
as one smitten by God and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our offenses,
crushed for our sins;
upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole,
by his stripes we were healed.

And now that he has borne them, what of us?  Is life now free from suffering?  We ought to know better than that.  But now all suffering is rich with meaning.


Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; 
and when he was made perfect,
he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

He takes our broken wills which rebel and choose themselves at the slightest provocation and infuses the grace of his obedience.  In this way he can be said to be made perfect insofar as he is now perfectly suited to be our savior.  Now, in the midst of trials we are able to trust.  He has gone through the very trials we face but where we fail he triumphs and shares his victory with us.


For we do not have a high priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, 
but one who has similarly been tested in every way,
yet without sin.

Let us, trust him, therefore, in the midst of the trials of our lives.



In your hands is my destiny; rescue me
from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors.”

Because he shares his triumphant cross with us, our own sufferings can now bring the light and salvation of God into this world, insofar as they are united to the cross of Jesus.  The words of Scripture about him become true of us as well:




Because of his affliction
he shall see the light in fullness of days;
through his suffering, my servant shall justify many,
and their guilt he shall bear.

By obedience Jesus testifies to the truth that the selfless love of God is greater than selfishness.

For this I was born and for this I came into the world, 

to testify to the truth.

Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

This is the truth of his kingdom so it is no wonder he is reluctant to insist of his own kingship.  Instead he draws it from the lips of those who meet him.

So Pilate said to him,

“Then you are a king?”

Jesus answered,

“You say I am a king.

His kingdom is not of this world.  It's paradigm is different.  It is a kingdom which somehow rules through service and love.  It does not send out armies to force obedience.  True life is found only in selfless love of others.  The king of this kingdom exemplifies this love and enables us all to live it.  Let us recognize our own voices as the world mocks this kingdom.  It cannot help but mock such a king.  Power, it secretly believes, means more than love.  It takes perverse delight in watching such love die on the cross.  It thinks that its point is thereby proven.  

And the world still thinks that.  But "[i]t is finished" and the third day draws near.  During this time he provides for us, not something abstract, but, in wondrous love, his own mother.

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved

he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.”

Then he said to the disciple,

“Behold, your mother.”

And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

Let us seek refuge in her mantle, guarded by her faith, protected by her "fiat," as we await the third day.