Our Co-Suffering Christ
Major Mat Badger invites readers to look beyond the familiar imagery of Easter and confront the deeper, often uncomfortable reality of a Messiah who enters fully into human suffering.
I love the work of surrealist artist Salvador Dalí. I have a number of copies of his works hanging in my office—one of them being, Christ of Saint John of the Cross. It depicts Jesus Christ on the cross, suspended in the darkened sky and hovering over a body of water, and if you look closely, you can see a fisherman in the boat below. It is a stunning piece of artwork, and it is an image that The Guardian newspaper’s art critic Jonathan Jones described as, ‘…probably the most enduring vision of the crucifixion painted in the 20th century’.
The sanitised Messiah
However, as a theologian, I like this masterpiece for reasons beyond its aesthetic cleverness. It is a reminder to me that if we are not careful, we can sanitise both the events and meaning of Easter. Although Dalí depicts the crucifixion, there are no nails or thorns. There is no blood and we can’t see the face of Christ. The cross itself is removed from creation, and we get the impression that the ascension is happening with Christ still on the cross. As clever as the artwork is geometrically, it unfortunately sanitises the brutality of what Jesus endured on the cross. To me, Christ of Saint John of the Cross is a reminder that Passion Week is a good time for us to re-examine our expectations of who God is and why the cross was necessary.
Dr Jordan Petersen says that, ‘Our expectations are the strong beliefs we all hold for what should happen. And when we have expectations, we place a high degree of certainty that something will take place within the framework we create in our minds.’ This principle applies to the way in which we think about God, in that whether we realise it or not, everyone either has cognisant or subconscious expectations of Him. We see this play out in the actions of people during the Passion Week.
On the day we now celebrate as Palm Sunday, Luke 19 describes Jesus riding on the back of a donkey while the people wave palm branches, sing and proclaim Him as King. But the same people waving palm branches at the beginning of the week would be yelling ‘Crucify Him!’ at the end of the week. Why? The reason for this was their unrealistic—and unmet—expectations they had of their long-awaited messiah. Who they thought Jesus was, and who He would turn out to be, was totally different—at least in that moment in time.
The misunderstood Messiah
Many were expecting a Messiah who would be a great military and political leader—someone who would turn up and put the Roman bully boys in their place. It’s easy to welcome that kind of leader, especially when you are oppressed. But this Jesus, by the end of the week, would not be leading an uprising. Rather, He would be hanging on a cross in agony. And people would be angry and disappointed.
If we are not careful, we too can fall into the same trap. Especially if we let our experiences define our truth without looking through the lens of Scripture. Maybe because of a sickness we have, or pain that we carry, or because of some kind of injustice we have endured. We tell ourselves that God doesn’t care, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
The compassionate Messiah
In Exodus 34:5–7, God describes Himself to Moses as One who is compassionate, merciful, faithful and over-abounding in steadfast love and kindness. He is also One who forgives. Notice that the first word He uses to describe Himself is ‘compassionate’. The word ‘compassion’ in English comes from two Latin words. The first word is con which means with. The second word is passio which means suffering. So, when God describes Himself to Moses, He starts by saying that He is One who is a co-sufferer.
One of the things that is unique about the Christian worldview is that the God of the Bible stepped off His throne in eternity into humanity and experienced brokenness, abandonment, pain, abuse and suffering firsthand. Ultimately, He experienced being murdered in the most brutal and agonising way possible. It is because of this that the God of the Bible is not distanced or aloof to the pain and suffering that we experience. He can relate to it—He’s been there. As the second person of the Trinity entering into humanity, He understands what depravity is because He can relate to the pain, suffering, hurt and turmoil that we experience in this world every day. He’s a co-sufferer. So, we can expect Him to relate to anything we are going through.
Our expectations of the Messiah
As we come into Easter, the time in which we recall the events surrounding His unjust suffering and death, it is a good time for each of us to re-examine our expectations of God. Romans 8:28 says, ‘And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them’. This text makes it clear that if we love God then we have a calling on our lives. And everything, including sickness, pain and every injustice that we face, will work together for our good. While the things we go through won’t necessarily be good, God will use them for our long-term good, as He holds both the long term and eternal view. One day, we will be able to look back and, if we are faithful, it will all make sense.
But in the meantime, as we head into Easter, remember that for those who are in Christ, God is not removed from us in some kind of Salvador Dalí-sanitised way; He is with us every day as a co-sufferer. If we hold this reality at the core of our expectations of God, then we can have the most abundant hope.
