PASSION OF THE LORD
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9
John 18:1-19:42
Children are always asking “why?” Why is the sky blue? Why do I have to eat vegetables? Why can’t I stay up until 10 o’clock? Of course those “why” questions might change over time but seeking a “why,” seeking a reason, looking for an explanation for the way things are going is perennial in the human condition. Why do bad things happen to good people? Why does my family act like they do? Why am I such a mess? Then there are the cosmic questions. Why is there something rather than nothing? Why can’t we all just get along? Why do I have to die? There is one “why” question that the Bible answers: why Jesus came. He tells us. “For this I was born and for this I came into the world: to testify to the truth.” Maybe the reason belief in Jesus is waning in today’s culture is because our devotion to the truth has waned. If the truth does not matter, if my opinion regardless of the facts is all that matters then Jesus doesn’t matter. On this Good Friday, when we remember that Jesus died for the sake of the truth, it might help us understand the “why” of the cross by thinking of the truth that Jesus testified to.
The truth is that God is love and whoever abides in love abides in God and God in them. Everything we do in Church, as Church, with Church must keep coming back to this foundation.
The truth is that God made man and woman in the divine image and likeness, male and female he created them. Every single human being you will ever encounter in life is, in fact, an icon of God if you have the eyes to see.
The truth is that there isn’t anyone out there who isn’t brother and sister and mother to me. Since we all have the same divine origin all of the ordinary differences we see of culture and race and nationality and language pale to insignificance compared with the fact that we are all the children of God.
Those are truths that Jesus testified to with his life.
The truth is that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the word was God and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. God is not somewhere out there but among us.
The truth is that God so loved the world that he sent his only-begotten son and the son so loved us that he gave his life for us.
The truth is that the Virgin conceived and bore a son and named him Jesus for he saved his people from their sin.
Those are the truths Jesus testified to with his life.
The truth is that in Christ we have a great high priest who is able to sympathize with our weakness since he was tested in every way that we are.
The truth is that it was our sufferings that he bore, our infirmities that he endured.
The truth is that no matter the trouble or difficulty, no matter how desperate things seem, the cross proves that love is stronger than death.
Those are the truths Jesus testified to with his life. Those are the truths worth dying for. Those truths are the “why” of the cross.
