A friend of mine passed a coin onto me this week.
It’s a Flowing Hair Dollar – the first dollar minted by the
U.S. government. Interesting to me, since this Holy Week we recall the story of
Judas’ betrayal of Jesus for the sum of 30 pieces of silver (read Matthew
26:14-16). The coin is a work of art. It’s beautiful to look at. It’s heavy,
and is inscribed on the edges. It represents Liberty, a national identity, the
economy, self-rule, and prosperity.
But it’s not real.
The coin is a replica. It’s not worth the amount printed on
it, except as a paperweight, or a conversation piece, or a keepsake. It’s not
legal tender.
In Christian churches, around our necks, and on our T-shirts
we see replicas – reminders of something real – symbols of the suffering savior
that came into our existence to suffer with us, and suffer for us. This week, I’ve
been thinking about the reality of Jesus’ suffering, and trying not to envision
it according to the movie portrayals of blood and violence, but as the defining
act of salvation for the whole world.
That moment, Jesus’ death for all on the cross, is the moment
of our real liberty, the source of our real identity as redeemed children of
God. How can it be real to us? Many have suffered, but we haven’t had to suffer in that manner. Many have lost everything, been victimized, felt despair, loss, addiction, and fear. yet, we can't understand persecution at the hands of a ruling empire the way early followers
of Jesus did. Most of us wake up in comfortable beds, take hot showers, and
cook meals in cozy kitchens, in an existence of relative wealth and safety.
We have to be reminded of the story. We have to live in the
darkness. We have to wait and be silent.
We cannot understand fully. We do not have the experience. We
only have faith.
Have faith that you have been united with Christ in this
violent death. Have faith that God became incarnate in Jesus, and that He suffered
and died so that you might be forgiven, redeemed, re-imagined and rewarded with
a resurrection like His. Have faith that God is with you in your kind of suffering,
knows your loneliness and isolation, your fear and loss, your grief and
despair, your sin and brokenness.
“He who saw this has
testified so that you also may believe” -John 19:35
