Hill of Crosses in Lithuania
"Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ" Gal. 6:2
The Old Testament reading in Zechariah has been understood by Christians in two distinct ways as exemplified in John 19:37 as the one "pierced" alluding to Jesus, while Revelation 1:17 uses this image of being pierced as referring to the suffering of the ungodly in Christ's Second Coming and subsequent judgement (Parousia). These two seemingly divergent allusions work together in our understanding of our salvation journey as a pilgrim church, a people on the way.
Today's gospel event in Luke comes on the heels of Jesus feeding the five thousand and leads to Jesus' questioning the disciples as to who people think he must be. After a litany of prophets, Peter's confession that Jesus was "the Christ of God" suggests Jesus' identity as a servant Messiah (he just got done feeding people!) rather than the ruler Messiah, and reveals Jesus as anointed of God rather than anointed by a prophet of God. The direct and close association is unmistakable and eventually becomes the inchoate understanding of Jesus as God in the Trinity. Jesus' admonition not to reveal this understanding springs from the need to complete his mission by the ultimate expression of his servant-mission of healing: to give his life in perfect obedience to a love-stricken God. This love is brought to perfection in Christ's sacrificial love; Christ's mission could only be finally understood, and the Messiah revealed, after the crucifixion and subsequent resurrection.
As Zechariah is bringing the hope of Messiah, Jesus fulfills this great hope from engendering faith that God's love transforms crucifixion to resurrection. Jesus living and walking among humanity was God's great presence among his creation, or a parousia, which is Greek for "presence". Jesus was God's presence among his people. The Parousia (capital P) references Christ's second coming in Christianity, but also connects with a key word in Luke's gospel: daily. Luke and Matthew write from the identical source material (Mark and an unknown document, Q); however, unlike Matthew's account, Luke has Jesus telling his disciples that anyone who wishes to follow him must "take up his cross daily." It is in this word that we make the connection to the Parousia allusion from Zechariah recorded in Revelation, but instead of Christ return at the end of time, the daily parousia is our mission.
In this sense, we make present Christ as we "take up our cross". We know there is no shortage of crosses. Very often we look to some immediate burden we didn't ask for as our cross, but I would like to suggest we look beyond the crosses we bear not by choice and the single cross we are asked to bear. After all, Christ didn't say we must take up our crosses, but rather our cross. The cross of Christ is the cross of our neighbor.
Paul, in Galatians, references "bearing the burden" of others as that which fulfills the law of Christ. What is the law of Christ? Jesus' commandment to love one another. When we bear the burden of our neighbor, the loving presence of Christ is made present. Parousia is made real now, not some distant time in the future, and what brings people to worship God no longer is fear of being slung into hell, but the experience of the awe-filled experience of God's love. Christ's ultimate judgment in the Parousia may not fall on those who refuse to believe or live lives of dissipation but rest most heavily on those who know Christ but refuse to love.
The Old Testament reading in Zechariah has been understood by Christians in two distinct ways as exemplified in John 19:37 as the one "pierced" alluding to Jesus, while Revelation 1:17 uses this image of being pierced as referring to the suffering of the ungodly in Christ's Second Coming and subsequent judgement (Parousia). These two seemingly divergent allusions work together in our understanding of our salvation journey as a pilgrim church, a people on the way.
Today's gospel event in Luke comes on the heels of Jesus feeding the five thousand and leads to Jesus' questioning the disciples as to who people think he must be. After a litany of prophets, Peter's confession that Jesus was "the Christ of God" suggests Jesus' identity as a servant Messiah (he just got done feeding people!) rather than the ruler Messiah, and reveals Jesus as anointed of God rather than anointed by a prophet of God. The direct and close association is unmistakable and eventually becomes the inchoate understanding of Jesus as God in the Trinity. Jesus' admonition not to reveal this understanding springs from the need to complete his mission by the ultimate expression of his servant-mission of healing: to give his life in perfect obedience to a love-stricken God. This love is brought to perfection in Christ's sacrificial love; Christ's mission could only be finally understood, and the Messiah revealed, after the crucifixion and subsequent resurrection.
As Zechariah is bringing the hope of Messiah, Jesus fulfills this great hope from engendering faith that God's love transforms crucifixion to resurrection. Jesus living and walking among humanity was God's great presence among his creation, or a parousia, which is Greek for "presence". Jesus was God's presence among his people. The Parousia (capital P) references Christ's second coming in Christianity, but also connects with a key word in Luke's gospel: daily. Luke and Matthew write from the identical source material (Mark and an unknown document, Q); however, unlike Matthew's account, Luke has Jesus telling his disciples that anyone who wishes to follow him must "take up his cross daily." It is in this word that we make the connection to the Parousia allusion from Zechariah recorded in Revelation, but instead of Christ return at the end of time, the daily parousia is our mission.
In this sense, we make present Christ as we "take up our cross". We know there is no shortage of crosses. Very often we look to some immediate burden we didn't ask for as our cross, but I would like to suggest we look beyond the crosses we bear not by choice and the single cross we are asked to bear. After all, Christ didn't say we must take up our crosses, but rather our cross. The cross of Christ is the cross of our neighbor.
Paul, in Galatians, references "bearing the burden" of others as that which fulfills the law of Christ. What is the law of Christ? Jesus' commandment to love one another. When we bear the burden of our neighbor, the loving presence of Christ is made present. Parousia is made real now, not some distant time in the future, and what brings people to worship God no longer is fear of being slung into hell, but the experience of the awe-filled experience of God's love. Christ's ultimate judgment in the Parousia may not fall on those who refuse to believe or live lives of dissipation but rest most heavily on those who know Christ but refuse to love.
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