A Brief Meditation on the Cross and Resurrection
Prompted by the third chapter of Job
Job’s cursing of his own birth betrays an anger and despair at his circumstances turned inward rather than outward. Job refuses to curse God, but it does not stop him from cursing himself. Grief has overwhelmed him. He is immersed in suffering – and yet God does not censure him.
Joy should not, indeed it cannot, be discovered by denying reality, but by transcending it! At its heart, Jesus’ resurrection illustrates this principle. Jesus experienced the depths of human suffering – mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually (Hebrews 4:15). He did not shy from it. He never once shielded Himself from the ugly terror of sin, death and hell. On the contrary, Jesus “became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:8).” The cross was a form of execution cruelly designed to magnify not only physical suffering, often stretching the death process out for days at a time, but mental anguish and public humiliation as well. It was not by escaping this reality that our Lord rescued us, but by graciously entering it. Only then did the Father raise Him in victory, “exalting Him and bestowing upon Him the name that is above every name (Philippians 2:9).” All of this Jesus did “for the joy that was set before Him (Hebrews 12:2),” but He did not avoid our misery. In freely entering our brokenness and suffering, Jesus ultimately transcends it – and in Him, so can you and I.
Hebrews 12:2).” Only in this way can we know the true heights of transcendent joy – when we join our Savior in embracing the bitter experience of authentic suffering with those around us.