Lenten Reflections on Jesus' Last Week 7

 

Why?  Mark 15:20-47

Paul called the crucifixion of Jesus a stumbling block and foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:23).   Christians down through the centuries have struggled to make sense of it.  Sometimes we are left with questions but no answers; with mystery. 

Some people find solace in the idea that Jesus died for my sins.  Others find that idea ridiculous or even repugnant.  They reason that although they are not perfect, their sins don’t require torture. They ask to whom is Jesus “paying the price” when he died in “my place”?  Why does a God of love require such a ransom?  The Christian church has been teaching the idea of substitutionary atonement for about 1,000 years, only half of its life.  It has become the dominant way of talking about the cross in our culture and in our hymns.  

There are other ways to understand the cross.  Jesus sacrificed his life for the cause of justice and righteousness (like Martin Luther King and Gandhi).  Christ endured the punishment of the state that was meted out as a result of his preaching the rule of God.  He was faithful to the Way of God even though it meant death on a cross.  On the cross Jesus is in solidarity with all those people down through the ages who have suffered unjustly when they have challenged the evil systems of their own time.  On Friday it looked like evil had won, but that was not the end of the story.

Good Friday is a day for questions, not answers for no answers are adequate.  We are simply called to sit with the questions.  Why does God allow suffering?  Why doesn’t God just fix things?  Why do good people suffer and bad actions go unpunished?  Why does God choose to work through us human beings?  Does human freedom necessarily mean human suffering?  Why do good people sit by and let the evil ones have the power?  Why are good people blind to the evil systems in which they operate?  Mystery.