THROUGH UNTRUE

During Holy Week, we meditate on the life story of Jesus, which some may call "A Biography of a Failure." It seems that Jesus was born to suffer and fail. Unreceptive and unbelieving crowds ignored His claims as the messiah. Those who listened to Him and benefited from His miracles were nowhere to be found when He was publicly humiliated and scourged. When Pilate conducted a survey on who should be granted freedom, an overwhelming majority rejected Jesus and voted for Barabbas.
Yes, His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday had a semblance of victory. But only a few days later, the same people who welcomed Him turned into a riotous mob who wished Him dead. His closest friends abandoned Him when He needed them most. Judas sold Him for 30 pieces of silver, and Peter disowned Him three times. If any of these things happened to us, we would not likely consider ourselves a success.
Of course, we do not want to view Jesus as a failure. We believe that his resurrection vindicated Him. St. Paul wrote, "If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is worthless, and so is your faith" (1 Corinthians 15:13-14).
But is that it? Did Jesus's resurrection make His failures a success? If that were the case, then all His sufferings would be meaningful only when seen in the context of the resurrection. I believe that Jesus is worthy of our belief and emulation not only because of his victory over death but also by the way he embraced suffering and failure.
In his book "The Orthodox Heretic," Peter Rollins tells a provocative but insightful story. He describes a group of unknown disciples who left Jerusalem after Jesus's crucifixion and settled in a faraway land. They lived as a Christian community for over a century, remaining faithful to Christ's teachings even though they did not know about His resurrection.
One day, a small band of Christian missionaries happened to pass by their community and told them about the resurrection. The community was overjoyed and held a lavish party, but their leader withdrew to a secluded place and wept. When asked why he was weeping, he replied:
"For many years, our community had faithfully adhered to the teachings of Christ, even though we believed that death had defeated Him and would eventually conquer us too. We regarded Jesus as wholly deserving of our devotion and discipleship because of his unwavering love for God and others, and His willingness to lay down His life even for His enemies. We tried our best to live like Him, who was faithful to His mission, even if this entailed unspeakable suffering and death on the cross. Now, I fear that my community would selfishly follow Christ because His resurrection assures them of their personal salvation."
The story challenges the notion that the suffering and death of Jesus are meaningless without his resurrection. It also makes it easy for us to relate to Jesus. We all have our own failures, and constantly face insurmountable obstacles, trials, and problems in life. We do not make sense of these by thinking we shall resurrect one day. Jesus offers us hope, purpose, and meaning by the way He embraced His suffering. Like Him, we can transform our daily crucifixions into instruments of grace and salvation.