Surprised by joy

Behold the man

Easter Sunday
16th April 2017

There was a moment today when I was surprised by joy.

Really, it should come as no surprise that on Easter Sunday, of all days, we are utterly bamboozled by the wonder of the

good news. Yet, great is the mystery of faith and great

is the surprise too.

 

The moment came as the choir sang with such triumph the joyful cantata Behold the Man. I was giving bread to

Irene in the pew. She had not been to a church service 

for several years due to illness. Yet here she was, flanked 

by her daughter and her son. This was a resurrection

moment (unexpected, never thought it would happen,

not even on the radar of hope). 

And I had to get the words out quickly before I was 

overcome by the utter joy of the anthem. 'The body

of Christ, broken for you, Irene,' I said, just as the choir reached the climax of the cantata:

Behold the Man, 

King of kings 

and Lord of Lords.

Through all creation,

Jesus Christ is Lord.

He is Lord. He is Lord. He is Lord

And in that moment, when hand holds out the broken body of Jesus to hand, the wounds of Jesus and the wonder of the resurrection came together. Jesus' wounds never disappear, even from his risen body. But they are transformed by his risen body. He is clothed anew.

We so often feel defined by our wounds. And sometimes

we feel trapped by our woundedness, like it has the last

word. And often we feel like we can't let go of our guilt

or shame or hurt, perhaps especially the hurt. And so we 

go round and round in circles, maybe believing fervently   that Jesus is Lord of all, yes of course (just not believing that Jesus can be interested in my guilt or shame or hurt). 

But the good news of today is that when we are in Jesus,

we are a new creation. Even though we have these 

wounds, it is as if we are clothed by Christ. We are 

offered a new wardrobe of clothes, clothes of maturity, 

clothes to fit a mature you and I rather than the childish

you and I.

Through Holy Week we focus in particularly on Jesus

the Man who is wounded and bruised, despised and 

rejected, whose face we hide from in shame. We hide

our shame too, for all this suffering seems too costly, 

to incredibly hard to bear, and we do not believe we can

possibly be worth dying for. 

But on Easter Sunday, we discover that we (and all 

creation) is so utterly precious to God. And that we are 

being called to grow into the image God has of us. We are

called into maturity, a maturity which is able to accept 

both God's healing and God's discipline.

Oh praise be to the God and Father of us all, whose Son

Jesus is not far off but very close, who comes to us and

meets us with the wounded hands of forgiveness, to 

make us whole - even now, a new creation. 

Here are the inspiring words of the cantata by Jimmy

Owens, Behold the Man:

Behold the Man,

wounded and bruised, crowned with thorns.

He was despised, rejected.

Behold the Man,

a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.

We hid our faces from him.

We did not know that it was for our sins he died;

that for us the Son of God was crucified;

that in love he bore our sorrow and pain,

and in love he willingly suffered.

Behold the Man,

suffering in silence, bearing our shame,

We hid our faces from him.

We did not know that this was God the Father’s plan;

born of love to bring redemption down to man,

that in love he gave his only Son

so that we might be forgiven.

Behold the Man,

risen in glory, coming to reign.

By the Father exalted, crowned with glory and honour.

Behold the Man,

King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Through all creation

Jesus Christ is Lord. He is Lord.