“Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son my glorify You.” (John 17:1)
Our sojourn through Great Lent and this week of our Lord’s passion now reaches its climax upon the most somber and solemn day of the liturgical year; a day in which we experience a deafening silence, confused chaos, and uneasy emptiness. For the Church painfully directs our attention to both, the awful and awesome voluntary suffering endured by the Son of God for our sake and our salvation.
Christ told His disciples, “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to Myself” (John 12:32). “Lifting up” was a Roman euphemism for crucifixion: one of the most hideous forms of torture and death ever conceived. Not only was it savage by nature but also shameful and humiliating, because victims were nailed to the cross naked and on public display. Therefore, because of this, Roman citizens were exempt from crucifixion. This was a fate reserved for all other peoples whom Rome considered as inferior and “subhuman.”
Reading of Christ’s crucifixion, how could one even begin to describe such an incredible sight? The Son of God’s brutalized Body, grotesque and naked, devoid of dignity, hanged on a shameful gibbet while His creatures stand by mocking and jeering. Yet, in utter humility Jesus fulfills His Father’s will; He completes His purpose, His task, His ministry with the greatest dignity, enduring the anguish and embracing its inevitable outcome. And as He does, the Creator is abandoned and rejected by all His creatures, only the elements of His creation are the left to protest and lament: The sun hides its rays, the clouds gather and swirl, the winds howl and blow cold, the depths groan, the earth shutters, the ground quakes, and rocks split.
So how can our Lord speak of “glory” and “glorifying the Father” amidst such a shame-filled moment as the Cross? The shame of being “sold,” betrayed, abandoned, arrested, judged, falsely accused, mocked, beaten, stripped naked, scourged, forced to wear a crown of thorns…and the greatest indignity of al, the Cross itself: The Author of Life being unjustly sentenced to death by His Own living creatures.
It is interesting to note that the Scriptures never once emphasis the pain our Lord went through; endured for us, they only speak of the “shame” of this event. Yet, it is in the midst of this shame that Christ’s glory is truly revealed; because if he could endure all of this – making the ultimate sacrifice by laying down His life for us – paying the ransom for our sins – showing us an example of true, God-like love, in so doing, He reveals Himself to us within this great act of love, submitting even unto death for our sakes and our salvation.
Thus, Jesus transforms the Cross from an object of shame, into a symbol of victory, hope, and forgiveness. This instrument of execution goes from being a “life-taker” to a “life-giving” tool in the work of our salvation. The Cross becomes the “key” which unlocks not only the very mysteries of the Kingdom of God, but also Truth, Wisdom, Light, Life, and Love!
Therefore, as we approach and prostrate before the One Who endured this unfathomable shame, indignity, and suffering – giving all of Himself up for us – let us show true thanksgiving, gratitude, and worship by giving all of ourselves to Christ.
