Lent Midweek 2022 (3)

“Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into Hell.”

Today our topic is the Good Friday topic, In Christian Dogmatics it is referred to as the Passion of the Christ - the Suffering - Pascho in greek - of Jesus. However, His suffering did not just begin with Pilate.

As we began to talk about last week, the suffering of God began at the incarnation and travelled all the way through His death. Paul states it succinctly here:

English Standard Version Chapter 2

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

This is where we left off last week - God knew that we could not achieve the status of God so God took on our status.

I’ll never forget the deeply challenging moment when we went in for a regular visit with the OBGYN before Paul was born and the doc did the Ultrasound and said ‘Well you’re low on amniotic fluid. Looks like you’re going to have a baby soon, we will send you over to the hospital and get the induction started.

It was terrifying. He was initially safe in his mothers womb but now that wasn’t working and he now has to enter this fragile world? Which is worse? Staying in an unsafe place or coming out to join us in this world of change and decay?

Everything about Jesus is simultaneously associated with Kingship, God, Authority while also still being about the weak, lowly, humiliated.

Jesus was born into atrocities. Jesus fled Israel as an infant. Jesus was born in the sticks of Galilee. He washed dirty feet and hung around tax collectors and lepers and stinky fishermen. His family at times showed embarrassment that they knew him and even His death was not in private but was purposely and intentionally public.

What I want to focus on briefly is the public scorn that Jesus suffered.

Psalm 31:11–13 ESV

Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach, especially to my neighbors, and an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me. I have been forgotten like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel. For I hear the whispering of many— terror on every side!— as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.

For anyone that has ever been in middle school, lonely at the lunch table or embarrassed at work Jesus - your king - personally knows your hurt.

Often at the end of life people induce what is called Palliative care. It is care that specifically reduces physical pain. It’s a vast field of practice, filled with drips, pills and patches. When I visit folks on Palliative care they often seem physically comfortable but I always wonder - what is going on in their mind. What gives rest to their souls?

You and I know what to expect in all of life - nothing is unknown or needing to be discovered for the Christian Life. Whereas others fear major life events; birth, suffering, death Christians have already seen the course and the outcome.

Further we embrace the difficult things. We embrace the cross and stand firm in the face of difficulty because the purpose of our life is to defy death, to triumph over evil, and this is accomplished by our supreme trust in the resurrection.

Just as Jesus was born to a sinful human and utterly relied on and trusted in her for his livelihood in his infancy how much more can we rely on the sinless and immortal God in our last days?

We don’t placate the trauma of life - Christ has overcome it, so we wade through this present swamp of suffering.

We’ll sing shortly:

I fear no foe with Thee at hand to bless; ills have no weight and tears no bitterness. Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory? I triumph still if Thou abide with me!

Amen.