Hidden Mystery

     A disfigured human body hangs like an old rag doll. Badly beaten and torn, the grueling torture strangled him with asphyxiating grief. Nevertheless, he exhaled beautiful words born of sacrificial love, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing." Then, in an excruciating moment, Jesus was abandoned… Somewhere deep within, he felt it; a frightening hollowness gripped his soul. A quiet moment passed. In terrifying anguish, Jesus forced the lonely words through his parched lips, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?!” Overwhelming pain squeezed powerfully. With one last breath, yet in a tone of absolute authority, Jesus asserted, “It is finished!” Dropping his head, he died.

     The sweetest, most wise man who ever lived was brutalized on behalf of those who rejected him. If anyone desired to experience the depth of intimate fellowship with another, it was Jesus. To maintain a warm, vulnerable posture while enduring overwhelming agony attests to his sweetness. His suffering literally transcends the boundaries of our understanding. To consider the wisdom of the crucifixion and the suffering Jesus experienced leaves us pondering a mystery far too deep for our simple minds to handle.

“If God is to be found in the cross, then he is hidden in the mystery; if human experience is illuminated by that cross, then the experiences which are illuminated are those of suffering, abandonment, powerlessness and hopelessness, culminating in death. Either God is not present at all in (the cross), or else he is present in a remarkable and paradoxical way.”

- Alister McGrath

“I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.”

- Isaiah 45:3