In the section "Passion and Compassion," Dean Brackley writes:
The strongest obstacle to goodness is not brute force or cinder blocks but hearts that are cold and unmoved. Only a love that draws near in costly solidarity can transform that obstacle. The gospel announces that God has drawn near in just this way. (183)
Jesus... chose to suffer the consequences of sin. Like us, he suffered the legacy of sin, even to death. God did not send him to die in our stead as a scapegoat to placate the divine anger. The New Testament recasts traditional sacrificial language and transforms its meaning. When it says that Jesus died as a sacrifice for sin, that means that in him God has drawn near and joined humanity's procession, shouldering the consequences of our moral failings like the rest of us. (181)
In Jesus on the cross, divinity shines forth. To say that God was in Jesus on the cross should not so much change our idea of Jesus; it should change our idea of God. (184)
How do you think of Jesus on the cross?
Were you raised, like so many of us, on the idea of atonement, of Jesus paying a demanding God the price of our sins with his life?
How do you think about it now?
Brackley offers us one suggestion above. It's not a new one. But it still shakes me every time I encounter it, whether it's from a liberation theologian or a Holocaust survivor.
Maybe the best way to say more about it is with a story. I invite you today to click on over to a post from my other blog, "Adventures Across the Border." It describes one of the most powerful experiences of my life - and a story that describes, I think, part of what Jesus is doing on the cross.
Beyond that, I leave you with a song today. In a perfect world, this would be in our worship hymnal, recommended for Good Friday. Read through the lyrics, then click on the video at the end to hear it.
Bruce Springsteen, "Into the Fire," from The Rising (2002)
The sky was falling and streaked with blood
I heard you calling me then you disappeared into the dust
Up the stairs, into the fire
Up the stairs, into the fire
I need your kiss, but love and duty called you someplace higher
Somewhere up the stairs into the fire
May your strength give us strength
May your faith give us faith
May your hope give us hope
May your love give us love
May your strength give us strength
May your faith give us faith
May your hope give us hope
May your love give us love
You gave your love to see in fields of red and autumn brown
You gave your love to me and lay your young body down
Up the stairs, into the fire
Up the stairs, into the fire
I need you near but love and duty called you someplace higher
Somewhere up the stairs into the fire
May your strength give us strength
May your faith give us faith
May your hope give us hope
May your love give us love
May your strength give us strength
May your faith give us faith
May your hope give us hope
May your love give us love
May your strength give us strength
May your faith give us faith
May your hope give us hope
May your love give us love
It was dark, too dark to see, you held me in the light you gave
You lay your hand on me
Then walked into the darkness of your smoky grave
Somewhere up the stairs into the fire
Somewhere up the stairs into the fire
I need your kiss, but love and duty called you someplace higher
Somewhere up the stairs into the fire
May your strength give us strength
May your faith give us faith
May your hope give us hope
May your love give us love
May your strength give us strength
May your faith give us faith
May your hope give us hope
May your love give us love
May your strength give us strength
May your faith give us faith
May your hope give us hope
May your love give us love
May your strength give us strength
May your faith give us faith
May your hope give us hope
May your love give us love
May your love give us love
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