OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT

One of the mysteries of our Christian faith is the victory of Jesus on the cross of Calvary. His death between two criminals is at the heart of the Gospel. But for many, even for some Christians, that is bad news. He could have chosen to flee rather than spent countless hours sweating with blood in Mt. Olives. His apostles could have whisked him away to the hills of Hebron or the coasts of Joppa, as some disciples protected Paul during his many dangerous missionary journeys. But the cross is the story of forgiveness. God Himself in the person of Jesus did not inflict pain on somebody else but endured the humiliation on the cross and died for the sins of the world. We are aware of some primitive deities who demanded their devotees’ flesh and blood to appease their fury. Jesus is God Himself who came in the flesh, and in the words of Timothy Keller’s The Reason for God, “offered His own lifeblood in order to honor moral justice and merciful love so that someday he can destroy all evil without destroying us.” Jesus’ crucifixion offers not only a picturesque example of how it is to love and to sacrifice, but also to find a way out of debt that we should pay ourselves. We have transgressed, so we must pay the penalty of sins, but John 3:16 clearly explains that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” It was so easy for God who created the world and the fullness thereof, to simply destroy the world as in the time of Noah, or a city as Sodom and Gomorrah. But God is so full of grace, and the Scripture makes it clear that “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” (John 3:17) Some might deny this theology of atonement, that the narrative of the cross is no longer necessary. All that it takes is just to teach about God’s love for justice, for the poor and for the environment. Without the cross, the narrative is without the God of love. For the parents among us, we gave up a great measure of our own independence and freedom in order to raise our children who were completely dependent on us in their growing years. We sacrificed our own comfort. We limited our free time. We covered our children’s needs. But we loved growing with our children, and suffering with them. By coming in the flesh, Jesus both suffered for us and with us. For our sake, he honored justice; with us, He identified with the oppressed, rather than those who oppressed. This is very inspiring, if not edifying. As Keller resonated with the Scripture: “This pattern of the cross means that the world’s glorification of power, might and status is exposed and defeated.” Yes, our faith is replete with paradoxes notably Jesus’ triumph by His death on the cross, and all authority was given to Him through His weakness during His bogus trial and silent submission in Calvary. But the supreme paradox is that the God against whom we transgressed was the same God who ransomed us. Many Jews refused to believe because all those years since the prophets, they were expecting a reigning Messiah geared up to liberate Israel from the yoke of captivity. But Jesus, the true Messiah, had to come first as a suffering Messiah in order that the world, not just His chosen people, might be saved from their sins. When He comes for the second time, He would deliver the world from the forces of evil and darkness, and we, His saints, will reign with Him forever and ever (Dan 7:18, 27; Rev 22:5). If the cross is all about love and forgiveness, Jesus’ resurrection is about hope and the kingdom of God. If Bible scholars and the people along the streets of Jerusalem agree on the historicity of Jesus and His death on the cross, His resurrection is equally unassailable. Paul in 1 Cor 15:3-6 wrote: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.” Jesus’ resurrection is a solid story. It was evidenced by the empty tomb of Joseph of Arimathea with the folded linen used in Jesus’ burial, it was also corroborated by witnesses. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all narrated that the first who saw the risen Christ were women. At the time, women’s social status was rather low, and it would not help the cause of documentation if the witnesses were women unless they had truly seen the Lord. Their testimonies were not admissible in court. But theirs was the truth. Jesus’ resurrection affirmed His seven last words on the cross: that our sins are forgiven, that we shall be with Him in paradise, that we must be concerned with our family, that God’s love was indeed sacrificial, that Jesus bore the pain as He thirsted for water, that the curse of sin was broken forever and that we have the assurance of the Father’s love. This is the transformative key to knowing and accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We are called to experience the progressive transformation of our hearts. We don’t just sit out our own salvation, waiting for our departure for heaven or for Jesus’ second advent. Jesus wants us to occupy until He comes, to preach the Gospel, to make disciples of all nations, to baptize and to teach everything that He has taught us. He wants us to be the agency of His kingdom so that righteousness, peace and joy will prevail in the land (Rom 14:17). Only when we transcend the world view that God’s creation is considered accidental that our advocacies for justice, and against poverty and oppression, exploitation and corruption, and destruction of the environment can make real sense.

*“If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” 1 Cor 15:19

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