Holy week is so hard for me.
It happened again. I
have a stack of papers to correct and several papers to write. ‘Tis the season in the teaching and learning
semester. While these papers pile up, I
find myself in the midst of Holy Week angst.
Like last year, my mind keeps churning away on the cross. Ugh! What does it mean?
Here’s what God has challenged me with this year: The cross
is not about the need for violence, but
instead about the need for understanding.
So much of current Christianity is obsessed with violence. This week, we will hear how our sins nailed
Jesus to the cross. We will hear how our
sins need violent punishment and how Jesus took the punishment for us so we don’t
have to experience it. We apparently are
so bad that violence is required to be used against us. On Friday, we will be urged to think about
how the nails were made for us.
But what if violence isn’t required to conquer that which keeps me separated from God? What if the cross isn’t about satisfying a violent punishment? What if the cross is instead about understanding?
As I read the Gospels, I find it funny how Jesus is always trying to get people to understand—a single person, a small group, or a crowd. “Com’on people, a different kind of Kingdom exists.” Jesus knew he was at risk for spreading this message; he knew what was coming; he knew he would be broken if he continued. He predicted it all. But he spread it anyway. He spread it because we need to understand. We need to imagine the kingdom.
Jesus calls from the cross, “Forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” We don’t know. We don't understand. That’s our sin—that’s what put Jesus on the cross.
In order to help us understand, God jumped into our human experience. To once again convince us of Divine love, God crossed the boundary, refusing to be separate, helping us to realize that God lives here and now, in us, amongst us. God calls to us to understand it, to experience the kingdom--a different way of doing life… and death… and life again.
But what if violence isn’t required to conquer that which keeps me separated from God? What if the cross isn’t about satisfying a violent punishment? What if the cross is instead about understanding?
As I read the Gospels, I find it funny how Jesus is always trying to get people to understand—a single person, a small group, or a crowd. “Com’on people, a different kind of Kingdom exists.” Jesus knew he was at risk for spreading this message; he knew what was coming; he knew he would be broken if he continued. He predicted it all. But he spread it anyway. He spread it because we need to understand. We need to imagine the kingdom.
Jesus calls from the cross, “Forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” We don’t know. We don't understand. That’s our sin—that’s what put Jesus on the cross.
In order to help us understand, God jumped into our human experience. To once again convince us of Divine love, God crossed the boundary, refusing to be separate, helping us to realize that God lives here and now, in us, amongst us. God calls to us to understand it, to experience the kingdom--a different way of doing life… and death… and life again.
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