"No Cross, No Crown"
We Catholics seem to love suffering, or so my Protestant friend is fond of saying. I very often retort "No cross, no crown", which brings a raised eyebrow and suggestion to change the topic. But, I must admit that it as easy for Catholics to mistakenly evolve a spirituality of suffering for suffering's sake as it is for Protestants to evolve a "gospel of prosperity" where financial gain and material wealth are the goals of being a Christian. Both views are distortions of Jesus' mission.
In the first reading is Abraham's almost-sacrifice of Isaac. Of this parable, early Judaism focused on the element of God testing Abraham, but with time, shifted focus to see the sacrifice in light of Isaac's willingness to submit to the will of his father and offer himself as a type of sacrificial lamb, a theme later picked up by the early Church's understanding of Jesus' Christhood. The Pascal Lamb, as you recall, was the sacrifice for the deliverance of the Jews in captivity from Egyptian oppression where the blood of the lamb was sprinkled across the lintel of the door as a sign for the Angel of Death to pass over and spare the household. What began as an understanding of Isaac's sacrifice simply as an act of blind compliance evolved into a deeper, more mature meaning of giving of oneself for the sake of others.
This notion was picked up in Isaiah's Suffering Servant and is the character Jesus most closely aligned himself and his ministry around. This understanding of Christ's mission as a servant who suffers for humanity is the foundation of Mark's gospel, which sought to counter the tendency of the early Gnostic-Christian communities' focus on Jesus' divinity revealed in the Transfiguration as the pinnacle revelation of God to humanity, not the suffering on the cross and resurrection; for the Gnostics, Jesus' divinity eclipsed his humanity and made the cross a distraction on the way to the crown. That is why in Mark's gospel, Jesus continually cautions his believers not to reveal his Christhood, because it is only in light of his suffering and resurrection that his mission has significance; he is the Suffering Servant Messiah, not the Warrior King messiah also portrayed in Isaiah.
"But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that made us whole,
and with his stripes, we are healed."
The suffering of Christ was suffering in the service of reconciling us to God, of bringing everyone into communion. Jesus didn't seek this suffering out though; he prayed "Let this cup pass from me" while his disciples slept in the Garden of Gethsemane. But Jesus also added to his prayer "nevertheless, not my will but yours be done." Suffering, to some extent, is always a mystery; however, some suffering is completely beyond our comprehension. If we suffer and cannot discern its origin, or it is out of our hands, we should pray for the trial to pass and include our willingness to submit to God's will. We must, however, also not shy away from suffering in the pursuit of justice and love. In the face of injustice, ours is not a retreat into Quietism, into a passive acceptance of the suffering of ourselves and our neighbor, but to face the suffering that will come when we face the oppressor and the rejection that will come when we give our hearts away to the love of our enemies. The Crown only has ultimate significance in light of the love from the Cross
We Catholics seem to love suffering, or so my Protestant friend is fond of saying. I very often retort "No cross, no crown", which brings a raised eyebrow and suggestion to change the topic. But, I must admit that it as easy for Catholics to mistakenly evolve a spirituality of suffering for suffering's sake as it is for Protestants to evolve a "gospel of prosperity" where financial gain and material wealth are the goals of being a Christian. Both views are distortions of Jesus' mission.
In the first reading is Abraham's almost-sacrifice of Isaac. Of this parable, early Judaism focused on the element of God testing Abraham, but with time, shifted focus to see the sacrifice in light of Isaac's willingness to submit to the will of his father and offer himself as a type of sacrificial lamb, a theme later picked up by the early Church's understanding of Jesus' Christhood. The Pascal Lamb, as you recall, was the sacrifice for the deliverance of the Jews in captivity from Egyptian oppression where the blood of the lamb was sprinkled across the lintel of the door as a sign for the Angel of Death to pass over and spare the household. What began as an understanding of Isaac's sacrifice simply as an act of blind compliance evolved into a deeper, more mature meaning of giving of oneself for the sake of others.
This notion was picked up in Isaiah's Suffering Servant and is the character Jesus most closely aligned himself and his ministry around. This understanding of Christ's mission as a servant who suffers for humanity is the foundation of Mark's gospel, which sought to counter the tendency of the early Gnostic-Christian communities' focus on Jesus' divinity revealed in the Transfiguration as the pinnacle revelation of God to humanity, not the suffering on the cross and resurrection; for the Gnostics, Jesus' divinity eclipsed his humanity and made the cross a distraction on the way to the crown. That is why in Mark's gospel, Jesus continually cautions his believers not to reveal his Christhood, because it is only in light of his suffering and resurrection that his mission has significance; he is the Suffering Servant Messiah, not the Warrior King messiah also portrayed in Isaiah.
"But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that made us whole,
and with his stripes, we are healed."
The suffering of Christ was suffering in the service of reconciling us to God, of bringing everyone into communion. Jesus didn't seek this suffering out though; he prayed "Let this cup pass from me" while his disciples slept in the Garden of Gethsemane. But Jesus also added to his prayer "nevertheless, not my will but yours be done." Suffering, to some extent, is always a mystery; however, some suffering is completely beyond our comprehension. If we suffer and cannot discern its origin, or it is out of our hands, we should pray for the trial to pass and include our willingness to submit to God's will. We must, however, also not shy away from suffering in the pursuit of justice and love. In the face of injustice, ours is not a retreat into Quietism, into a passive acceptance of the suffering of ourselves and our neighbor, but to face the suffering that will come when we face the oppressor and the rejection that will come when we give our hearts away to the love of our enemies. The Crown only has ultimate significance in light of the love from the Cross
—Fr. Todd
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