THE PATTERN OF THE CROSS – Part 1 of 2

Jesus said, “The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life -- only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.”  (John 10:17-18 NIV)

The pattern of the Cross means that the world’s glorification of power, might, and status is exposed and defeated. On the cross Christ wins through losing, triumphs through defeat, achieves power through weakness and service, comes to wealth via giving it all away. Jesus Christ turns the values of the world upside down. As N. T. Wright, in his book “Simply Christian,” says: “The real enemy after all, was not Rome but the powers of evil that stood behind human arrogance and violence… [On the cross] the kingdom of God triumphed over the kingdoms of the world by refusing to join in their spirit of violence. [On the cross, Jesus] would love His enemies, turn the other cheek, go the second mile.”  

-- Timothy Keller (1950-2023) in “The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism” 

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THE STORY OF OUR LIVES - Part 2 of 3

The biblical story reminds us that the difficult chapters are never the final chapters of our story. Think about just a few of the many stories in the Bible that include adversity and pain but ultimately end in triumph.

Joseph, when he was in prison, could not see that one day soon he would become Pharaoh’s right-hand man (see Genesis 39-41). Naomi, while mourning the death of her husband and sons, could not see that the children of her daughter-in-law Ruth would start a family line that would one day lead to the greatest king Israel would ever know, and that Naomi’s mourning would be turned to laughter. The Israelites, while being led away from the promised land by their Babylonian conquerors could not see that within fifty years their children would return home singing. And the disciples, as they watched Jesus crucified, could not know that on the third day He would rise from the dead. 

-- Adam Hamilton in “Why? - Making Sense of God’s Will”

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THE ULTIMATE TRIUMPH OF GOD’S WILL

Ultimately, hardship and suffering, evil and sin, will not have the final word… Isaiah 51:11 captures this well when God promises the Jewish exiles living in Babylon, who had absolutely no human reason to hope for a return to Zion, “The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.” To those who had no hope, God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah, “I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.”  (Jeremiah 29:11)

We may not always live to see this hope fulfilled. The Jews were in exile for fifty years in Babylon, but they died with the hope that their descendants would return to Zion -- and they did!

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. concluded his final sermon, preached on the night before he was shot to death in Memphis, Tennessee, by drawing upon the biblical picture of Moses, standing on the mountaintop looking over the promised land just before his own death. King told his audience that he had been to the mountaintop. He, like Moses, had seen the promised land -- for King that was a land of freedom and equality for all people. But then King, in a prescient moment, told his audience that he might not enter the promised land with them. But he was not afraid. He was, in fact, happy because, “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!” That’s what faith in the God who will ultimately triumph looks like!  

-- Adam Hamilton in “Why?: Making Sense of God’s Will”

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CONQUERING OF THE WILDERNESS

“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days He was tempted by the devil.”  (Luke 4:1-2a NIV)

When sorrow comes, let us accept it simply, as a part of life. Let the heart be open to pain; let it be stretched by it. All the evidence that we have says that this is the better way. An open heart never grows bitter. Or if it does, it cannot remain so. In the desolate hour, there is an outcry; a clenching of the hands upon emptiness; a burning pain of bereavement; a weary ache of loss. But anguish, like ecstasy, is not forever. There comes a gentleness, a returning quietness, a restoring stillness. This, too, is a door to life. Here, also, is a deepening of meaning -- and it can lead to dedication; a going forward to the triumph of the soul, the conquering of the wilderness. And in the process will come a deepening inward knowledge that in the final reckoning, all is well.

-- A. Powell Davies in “Life Prayers”


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OUR TOUGH GOD

“Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My victorious right hand.”  (Isaiah 41:10 NRSV)

We have a tough, problem-confronting, problem-solving God. He does not retreat from either the problems we have brought on ourselves or the problems life has dished out. And He wants to make us much tougher people. He wants to give us a new perspective on our problems, exercise our prayer muscles, and strengthen the fiber of our souls. Instead of wringing our hands in consternation or running away in panic, He wants to make us people He can use.

…He wants to transform our approach to problems. He wants us to think of ourselves as being men and women of valor because of His might at work in us. And He assures us that His abiding presence is available to help us tackle every problem with His strength and direction -- confident that problems are not a sign of His absence.

…We all have problems. That’s life. But we also have a Lord who not only helps us grow through our problems, but gives us the power to triumph over them.

-- Lloyd J. Ogilvie in “If God Cares, Why Do I Still Have Problems?”

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THE MEANING OF EASTER

Easter never fails us. Even in the worst of times, amidst destruction, death and despair, Easter arrives as surely as daybreak, boldly proclaiming the message of renewal and hope.

…Biblical accounts of the first Easter Sunday have proven to be a powerful source of inspiration and transformation. The world was never the same again. The blood stained linen wrappings and the empty tomb ushered in a radically different era of brave new beginnings. The message of love, faith and hope still resonates across the globe…

Fyodor Dostoyevsky once said in “The Brothers Karamazov”: "Without God, everything becomes permissible." But Easter declares: "With God, everything becomes possible." That means hope -- hope that transcends our limitations and triumphs over our worst fears. Easter epitomizes the kind of tragic optimism that cannot be crushed by all the forces of darkness, including death. This is the true meaning of Easter!

-- Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D., C.Psych., Trinity Western University

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