VAST LOVE
Good Friday
14th April 2017
Is Christ Jesus defined by his wounds? The Gospel writers devote upwards of a third to a half of their accounts to the passion of Jesus, in particular his last week and, especially, his last day and hours. By contrast, the resurrection stories are like fragments of memories. Blood and bones give way to Jesus of a different dimension.
So, yes, the Gospel of Jesus is defined by the cross - for it subverts everything expected about God. Yet, without the Third Day, which we now wait for with deep longing, the cross is utter defeat. And the Third Day subverts everything we expect of our earthbound life.
Yes, of course, Jesus is defined by his wounds. But he is also defined by so much more. We focus in on the wounds on Good Friday, naturally and with trembling. The particularities of Jesus' suffering move us to tears and hit home to define also our personal response. How often, we hear, it is the death of Jesus (not the resurrection) which effects deeply and converts our hearts and shapes our lives.
But tonight, Good Friday night, we enter into a vast space. We enter into the mystery of a God who dies. And we get ready for a God who cannot be contained by the grave. The black hole of death is about to be exploded by the power of the resurrection.
The vast love of God cannot be constrained or contained by the brutality of the cross or the sealing of the tomb. Vast love begins with wounds but does not end with them. In the end, the wounds don't define Jesus, the wonder does.
So, yes, the Gospel of Jesus is defined by the cross - for it subverts everything expected about God. Yet, without the Third Day, which we now wait for with deep longing, the cross is utter defeat. And the Third Day subverts everything we expect of our earthbound life.
Yes, of course, Jesus is defined by his wounds. But he is also defined by so much more. We focus in on the wounds on Good Friday, naturally and with trembling. The particularities of Jesus' suffering move us to tears and hit home to define also our personal response. How often, we hear, it is the death of Jesus (not the resurrection) which effects deeply and converts our hearts and shapes our lives.
But tonight, Good Friday night, we enter into a vast space. We enter into the mystery of a God who dies. And we get ready for a God who cannot be contained by the grave. The black hole of death is about to be exploded by the power of the resurrection.
The vast love of God cannot be constrained or contained by the brutality of the cross or the sealing of the tomb. Vast love begins with wounds but does not end with them. In the end, the wounds don't define Jesus, the wonder does.
Without Jesus' suffering, he is a God who is too mighty and aloof to understand his people. It is his suffering that binds me to my faith, and his resurrection that gives me hope for the future. How would it be possible to hold onto faith if we had a God who has not been tempted, or who has not suffered?
ReplyDeleteHeb 4:15
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are- yet he did not sin.
At our Good Friday service I was profoundly moved hearing how alone Jesus was in his death. Feeling totally alone is a dark place to be. Yet nothing would stop Jesus from loving us to the end.
ReplyDeleteThe wounds of the nails and the spear in his side are all wounds that remain on the body of the risen Jesus, who invited Thomas to look at them to help him know the identity of Jesus. Our wounds shape us and mark our lives but our identity is more than them.
Death is something we understand in as much as it is an experience of all humanity. But resurrection is something so utterly new and different. No wonder the disciples were bewildered at first. Resurrection is greater than any words can express. How might we help one another express joy and wonder when words are so inadequate?
I write this on Holy Saturday, when we remember Jesus' burial. This morning I sat in the church alone for one hour, in silence. Already there is what feels like a rumour of life, a mighty power waiting to be released, a divine energy and strength rumbling, beginning to move. God's vast love is waiting to break through the tomb.