Word to the Wise
Wednesday, March 23, 2016 - Holy Week - Wed
[Isa 50:4-9a and Matt 26:14-25]The Lord God has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them. Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear...[Isaiah]
These words from the Book of Isaiah, one of his mysterious poems of the "suffering servant," show a preacher who is determined to bring his message no matter what happens to him, and he gives examples: I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard, my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting. It is no wonder the Christian community found in Isaiah a foretelling of Jesus' suffering.
When faced with suffering, we may be tempted to place some distance between ourselves and the one who is suffering. This emotional distance is helpful for health care professionals as long as it doesn't become cold, but for the rest of us, it negates the very word, "compassion," which means to "suffer with." When an image of suffering is common it can lose its significance. The crucifix (the cross with Jesus' body on it) is an example.
Holy Week comes every year with all its drama and invites us to enter into the experience. If we read today's gospel scripture from Matthew, what do we think when we see the words, "Surely it is not I, Lord?" How could we be complicit in the betrayal? The simple fact is that along with Judas, we are all sinners. Christ did not die just for Judas! "Morning after morning" the crucifix can remind us of Jesus' reply to Judas, "You have said it." Can we "hear" it? AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
98 ms
4
