In order for God to express his ultimate love, his divine love, in a way that we can understand and actually grasp, in our freedom, is when he strips himself of all of his power and authority. Because God is all powerful, all knowing, and all authority, he still lays those aside. He meets us at our level, in our world, in our understanding…this is the story of the Bible, the story of Jesus!
Jesus was born to poor teenagers. His mother was pregnant outside of marriage. He’s born in a stable among animals, straw, and dung (not a typical Christmas pageant set-up I’m sure) and placed in a feeding trough. His brothers and sister think he’s out of his mind, and after his first sermon in his hometown, the people he grew up with form a mob and try to kill him. He identifies with the outcasts, the people of the land who aren’t good enough, clean enough, or wealthy enough. He’s invited to eat with the elite and the rich, which he does numerous times, but he also eats with the lowest of the low and he enjoys it. He enjoys them. He touches people with infectious diseases, he lets questionable women touch him, he lays hands on dead bodies, he engages in conversation with the promiscuous women alone in the middle of the day. (obviously doesn’t happen in that culture)
His entire life is about the stripping away the power and control. Jesus always chooses the path of love, not power! He chooses inclusion, not exclusion. Connection rather than rank and hierarchy. Touch rather than distance. Compassion rather than control. He comes on a donkey not a horse. Weeping and broken, not proud and triumphant. Jesus chooses day after day to walk this path. He is God, he could own all the kingdoms of the earth, he could turn stones into bread, he could jump off of temple roofs and command angels to save him. But he doesn’t (Matt. 4:1-11), that’s not why he’s there.
Jesus is always in conflict with those in power. A conflict between love and controlling power. The further Jesus walks, the more conflict he finds himself in with the religious and political leaders. The message of love he’s sharing is threatening their power, control, wealth, and manipulation. He’s eventually put on trial for offences he didn’t commit and asked to perform miracles. At the snap of a finger he could perform these wonders but knows that it’s not part of the path he’s on. It’s not part of the eternal plan. He’s then beaten, flogged, and nailed to a cross to die there. Alone. Vulnerable. And he doesn’t say or do anything to rebuke those who put him there. He asks the Father to forgive them (Luke 23:34a) out of love for them. He knew he was paying with his life for their freedom.
When we look at the cross, we remember Christ and what he did for us. The cross is a symbol of the freedom we have. The cross represents a new life. A second chance perhaps.
But have you ever thought of the cross as a symbol of God’s suffering? God’s pain? God’s broken heart? The cross as God making the first move and then waiting for our response? Have you ever given yourself to someone and found yourself waiting for their response, exposed and vulnerable, left hanging in the distance? You know how God feels. The cross is God’s way of taking away all of our accusations, excuses, and arguments. This is the God who holds out his hands and asks, “Would you like to see where the holes where the nails went? Would that help?”
This is where we find we’re not alone. We meet the God who keeps going. Who keeps offering. And he’ll continue to offer…even when we accept!
