I got a bittersweet present in the mail
last week. A long-lost friend from my days in high school Lutheran
youth group wrote me a letter. Yup. An actual letter. Remember
those? You wrote with a pen on a piece of paper in your own
handwriting—sometimes even employing complete sentences with
punctuation and everything—and then sealed it in an envelope, put a
stamp on it, and sent it to someone via the United States Postal
Service. Quaint, don't you think?
Anyway...this
missive from a friend of forty years ago was, for the most part, a
pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, said epistle—although filled with
much good news—also made mention of the death of one of our
contemporaries. This is now the third time in the last year that I
have lost someone who was close to me in my younger days. It makes me
wonder if I am now entering that time of life in which such news will
become more and more commonplace. Inevitably, some day the news will
be that I have passed
on. I may not like to think about that, but there it is.
The
dark subject of mortality is the light of the lessons the Revised
Common Lectionary assigned for the fourth Sunday in Lent. In both the
Hebrew and Greek scripture lessons we are confronted with the paradox
that seeing death brings us life. In the gospel (John 3:14-21), Jesus
tells Nicodemus,
“And just as Moses lifted up
the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” (John
3:14-15)
In
this Christological discourse, Jesus' death on the cross is likened
to the tale in Numbers 21: 4-9 in which the Israelites, wandering in
the desert and whining about the rotten food, are punished for their
sniveling ingratitude by being bitten by poisonous snakes. In order
to heal the repentant complainers, Moses fashions a bronze serpent
and puts it on a tall pole. Any snakebite victim looking at the
bronze snake on the pole will be healed.
We
could take this story as just a fluffy magical fairy tale and an
indictment against the hyper-critical among us, or we could see its
darker allegorical side. What is it about this bronze reptile which
brings about healing? I'd say that, first off, the snake is an image
of the peoples' sin. How do these critters kill? With poison
from their mouths. What is the
sin of the people? Poisoning their fellowship with their despairing,
self-centered, and contemptuous talk. Serves 'em right, don't you
think?
But
the snake is also a symbol of death itself since snakes are what are
killing the people. Confronting their finite lives should bring the
people back to a deeper sense of their purpose, a deeper gratitude
for being alive, and a deeper awareness of how good God has been to
keep them going up to this point. The knowledge of death brings them
back to real, authentic
(as opposed to shallow) life.
But
what do we see when we see Jesus lifted up on the cross? Have you
ever thought of what it would be like to die by crucifixion yourself?
Just ponder that for a
moment. Can you feel the nails piercing your hands? Can you
contemplate the utter state of helplessness? You are impaled,
trapped. You are in pain but can do nothing. You are naked to the
world but cannot hide. You can't shield your eyes from the sun or
even swat away the flies that now feed on your festering wounds. You
soil yourself. You scream for help, but no help comes. Onlookers view
you with disgust. Your only desire is to die.
Think
about that. About dying in such a way. And realize that for millions
of people in hospital beds and nursing homes, impaled with IV needles
and trapped in restraints, this is exactly the way they will
die—alone. You yourself might also die in such a way.
We
may think of this as a dark subject, but it leads us to the light of
understanding. To see Christ lifted up on the cross is to understand
the depth of his love for us. It is to be grateful for the blessings
with which God showers us every moment of our lives. It is also to
live in the faith that
“...if we have been united with him in a death like his,
we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”
(Romans 6:5)
Seeing
the crucified Jesus calls us to
believe.
In the Greek the word for believe (pisteuo)
does
not mean simply to assent to a dogma. It means to have confidence in
this, to trust in this. The Old English word from which believe
derives actually means to have desire for something. In the Son of
Man lifted up we are to trust in both our mortality and our
immortality. To shun this image is to escape into the blindness of
our own comfort zone—a very feeble refuge from fear. We can't make
John 3:16 into a bumper sticker slogan, forgetting the depth of the
word “believe.” We are called every day to look to Jesus
crucified. We cling with confidence, trust, and desire to this image.
It is God with us in death and in life.
Thank
you again for stopping by. I hope you're all having a wonderful Lent.
Please remember the poor in your prayers and in your giving.
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