The Power of the Cross Of Christ To Heal

Good Friday EP Reflection 041522 (Lamentations 3; Isaiah 53) “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for one to bear the yoke in youth, to sit alone in silence when the Lord has imposed it, to put one’s mouth to the dust (there may yet be hope), to give one’s cheek to the smiter, and be filled with insults. For the Lord will not reject forever. Although he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone.” Lam 3: 25-30. “…he was pierced for our transgressions…and with his wounds we are healed.” Is 53:5 If there is any day of the year that seems quieter and darker, it is Good Friday. We remember the events that led Jesus Christ to death on the cross. The somber ambiance of the day is marked by a gruesome way of dying which led Jesus to the cross and die six hours later. This is a story that arrest us in our tracks, how can we ignore it? Modern society tries hard to remove instances of suffering from our view, just so it doesn’t make us uncomfortable. Guess what? The way of the cross does not hide to preserve our comforts, it is meant for our eyes so we can reflect for ourselves the meaning of the way of the cross in our own lives. Our sufferings no matter what they are, can be read into Christ’s sufferings! The high priest accidently prophesied saying: “Don’t you see that one man must die, so others may live?” There are so much sufferings in all corners of the world: wars, diseases, death by accident, deep misunderstandings, fallout, divorce, emotional blackmails, domestic violence and abuse, overdoses, prisons… Christ’s sufferings had a supreme purpose to redeem all sufferings. Early in the journey of Israelites, they were attacked by snakes and many were killed. The cure was unexpected. Num 21: 8 “Make a snake and put it on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” In the same way, evil has bitten us and the poison produced in us: anger, jealousy, envy…for which, we need an antidote that looks almost like the cure of Israelites: Focus on Jesus Christ on the Cross. This is the way of the cross; the way to life and healing! We need to look at Jesus sufferings instead of focusing on our own. I have noted how victims tend to focus on the object of their trauma, perhaps, they feel that they are unheard, uncared for, so they wallow in the pain deeper and deeper, which does not help with healing. The new perspective suggests that you were saved/you survived for a reason (only known by God!) God has an ultimate purpose to turn our sufferings experience into a positive experience for all. Could it be that we are all meant to look at Jesus sufferings, and ask God to sanctify our own sufferings? To help us embrace our sufferings not in a fatalistic way or masochistic way but rather an understanding that a Sovereign God who is in control of all life, knows ultimately how to turn a negative experience into a positive one. For example, victims of a Genocide or slavery might decide either to turn to their wounds for comfort. Reliving the pain of the past does not help in the long run. Can this really help? I seriously doubt it. Or the victims might decide to look beyond their own suffering and look at the sufferings of this man who suffered for the sake of others; whose interests is solely invested in others: Jesus Christ our King and Savior. By Focusing on Christ’s way of the cross we gain a fresh perspective on our own sufferings… our painful memories don’t hurt as much because they serve as a teacher to the world. We need not wallowing in our painful memories, rather we need to focus on the cure of all wounds whose words tells us that he was pierced for our transgressions…and with his wounds we are healed. There is no amount of pain that can’t be absorbed by Jesus. Every pain has a purpose in life. Without Christ, unfortunately we have no way of seeing that purpose or to live a meaningful life when we are stuck in the past. Lots of problems often ensue for us and to others as well. We need healing from Christ our Lord!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Removing Other gods From The Father's House

Image
The Passover of the Jews was near. A big deal for Jews! They rehearsed and remembered their divine rescue from Egyptian slavery, a day that is ingrained in the minds of the children of Israel. As it was customary, Jesus would be in Capernaum often teaching about the Kingdom of God. After having spent a few days with his mom and brothers, he went to Jerusalem. In the Temple, the idea was that people of God gather; pursuing holiness and purity in front of a Holy God, so that God, would come and vindicate them. Remember they were conquered by Romans, they certainly had many prayer requests asking God to intervene in their lives. As part of the Passover celebrations were the Matzah: A simple meal, made from flour and water without any yeast: a symbol of the meager rations the Jewish slaves had to subsist on during their enslavement, and a reminder of the poverty and hardship they endured. When Jesus got to the temple, it was business as usual for Israel’s leaders. The very reason to come
Read more

When the Stakes are high

Image
An Archbishop of Canterbury once wrote that we should embrace joyfully the love and forgiveness of God at all times---and allow God’s forgiveness to change us. I picture this as a journey with a destination to God’s immense love and forgiveness. Nothing in the Bible says that this journey is comfortable, but it’s the safest one. It’s fascinating that Paul’s words are painting the same profile picture of someone in the direction towards God’s embrace. What does such person look like? I don’t mean tall or short or fair skinned. God doesn’t look at that. I mean the character of Jesus’ follower. Why should we care about Christian character in our lives? What’s at stakes here? I will tell you: If our lives are not measuring up, we should know. The word of God is the plumbline. 2 e.g., of ignoring the stakes: The writing on the wall was destined to a King obstinate in his ways. Nothing scared him: it read: You have been weighed and came up short/ didn’t measure up. He died. I also thought o
Read more

A Basket of The Essential: Deny Yourself, Take Up Your Cross

Image
The study of today’s scriptures drew me to this title: paying attention to the essential. To be honest, it didn’t sound like a difficult task at first, but on close examination, you kind of realize that every day we make some choices that do not fit in the category of the essential. Is that necessarily a bad thing? In our world maybe not, I may still live okay if I don’t focus on the essential, but Jesus explains to us that we cannot get to our destination if we don’t know where we are going/ the essential is needed. You may ask: What is this essential that is absolutely necessary in the Kingdom of God? Jesus points us to a category we call “profitable”. We all have this basket inside us and we put things in it, that we think are good/profitable to us. There is a huge gap however in God’s Kingdom, between choices with focus on divine things and those with focus on human things. They don’t mix. The essential has a formula that Jesus gave to his disciples and Paul repeated it on several
Read more