The way Christians celebrate the same church holidays every year could get stale, but for myself and many I talk to, some new or fresh aspect often reveals itself in the familiar passages. Today on Good Friday, as I am thinking about Jesus' voluntary offering of himself to undergo this terrible death experience on our behalf, the idea that He chose to give up his rights is what is on my mind.
Jesus defended others. He urged us to fight for justice. When it came to himself, however, he sacrificed. The portrait of Jesus in the gospels is of someone who sought everyone else's healing and restoration. We are not presented with a picture of a person who was concerned about his own rights, fulfillment of his own needs, etc.
Honestly, I spend an awful lot of time chasing my own desires and comparatively little on others' healing and restoration. Jesus' example looms as drastic and unrealistic - if we did that everyone would step on us. They put him to death, after all. But if most of us lived like Jesus, there would be a whole lot less oppression in the world. Most oppression occurs in pursuit of one's comforts and desires.
Everyone needs to hear different messages, and that is the beauty in the complexity of the gospels. You many need to concentrate on a different aspect of the crucifixion story today. I encourage you to do that. I know, however, that I need to reflect on the sacrifice part.
No comments:
Post a Comment