Was He Not Ashamed?

Good Friday morning! The date makes me feel a ten-ten today. And I have no idea what that is supposed to mean. This morning as I walked I thought of Jesus, the Son of God, and how the soldiers volunteered a man from the crowd to help Him carry the cross. In that moment, Jesus proved that He suffered fully as a human. He didn't exercise His godly power to make the burden any easier. He didn't call down some pain medication from Heaven's pharmacy, or bring down those 12 legions of angels to scatter the mockers. Choosing to suffer as only a human, our Lord did not make Himself less than God. He was meek to His Father's command. By His forbearance, He was gentle to those who harmed His body and mocked His apparent lack of God-sized action. Why did Jesus choose to suffer this way?

I believe that we seek that very answer in our suffering, and the answer is the same - a larger purpose and a bigger prize. Jesus walked underneath the cross to save the world, that's us. We are His bigger prize and His higher purpose. Was He not ashamed as the man, Simon of Cyrene, was called forth to help? (Mattt 27:32) Surely the Accuser was there to tell our Lord that He should be ashamed to have a mere human helping out. That method of shaming and self-pity mongering has not changed even today. Yet, Jesus bore the burden of His humanity just as He bore the affliction of our sins. Jesus did not suffer the cross from a perverse nature, for that belongs to us fallen sinners. Jesus did not cry out like David because He was God, but because He was one of us, suffering the wages of sin and death.

Wait, we say, I have never cried out that the Lord has forsaken me. Oh? Is not asking the Lord why He didn't provide this thing when we thought we needed it at that exact time, asking that very thing? When we expect a miracle and don't see one provided, do we not ask God in different words why He has forsaken us? Do we dare for a moment think that God in His great love would not rush to our aid with all that great and matchless resource that belongs to our God? Unless, there is a higher purpose that only God can see, and we do not yet have the vision and wisdom to see it too. However, there is also an end to suffering.

God's purpose is achieved, His justice satisfied, and His glory revealed in the due time. Jesus died, the suffering of His body ended when God's justice was satisfied. Our suffering will end when God's higher purpose is achieved. We like our Lord Jesus will not suffer forever. God has not forsaken us, the time will come when we too will be called up and taken home. We have no need for any shame, for our suffering has its better purpose. It is difficult to bear, and we may need help from other mere humans.

Jesus looked down from the cross and told the Father to forgive, not because He was one of us but because He is God. In that moment, Jesus probably looked like the weakest being in all creation. No way He held the authority to grant anything from that cross with a body nearly spent and all power dying out. But, He said it, and that, my friends, was the God-sized action that they missed back in the day. Dying on the cross, He forgave. Rising from the grave, He lives!

Bucky