Jesus is nailed to the Cross
Luke 23:33 “When they came to the place known as “The Skull,” they crucified Jesus there, in the company of criminals, one to the right of Jesus and the other to His left.”
Here God is, hanging there with nails in his hands and feet, in solidarity with the pain of the world. Ours is not a God who brandishes his wand and magically waves the pain away. No, ours is a God who becomes one with our pain, who becomes one of us.
The Eternal One takes on a bit of our suffering, experiences a taste of our violence, bears the brunt of our sin. Richard Rohr suggests that it might work like a vaccination, giving one just enough of the disease to develop a resistance and be healed from it, and be protected against it. He says, “The very thing that was killing them is the thing that will heal them!” The cross shows us how our hatred and murderous acts are ignorant and misled, and as we stare at the cross and take in its meaning, we become inoculated against doing the same.
Listen to these words from Colossians 2:15, “Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.”
The cross disarms. The cross overpowers the powerful. The cross shows that grace is possible in the midst of violence. The cross shows that mercy is needed in the face of judgment.
Look at the cross this week. Let your gaze settle on the image. See God the Father suffering along with Jesus. See God’s heart loving us. See the Eternal One identifying with his creation. Let the image move you toward ridding your life of sin and cruelty and judgment. Follow Jesus to the cross. Follow Grace to its final conclusion. Follow Mercy to sacrifice.
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