He is the Almighty
Ever-living God of all the ages
Yet He stepped down from His
Everlasting throne, set aside
Robes of eternal royalty
Surrendered His undying nature
Handed over His Omnipresence
Omnipotence, and Omniscience
Stepped away from perpetuity
Into time and space, a matter:
God vulnerable to human schemes
God naked to mortal eyes
God prone to pain and tears;
Betrayed, denied, ganged up on
God contained, in corporeal garbs
Of flesh, God with a death sentence
Hanging down His neck, God accursed
Hanging on a tree; God dying, dead
God buried, confined in a tomb;
God, corpse, grave, guards: what a God!
It is very easy to give up what we don’t value in the name of sacrifice. Human tendency is to cling to the esteemed, not give it up. Majority of the times, we suffer not because we chose to, we endure loss and pain because we have to. If we had a choice, we will choose differently; peace to distress, enjoyment over adversity, riches to poverty, power to weakness, glory to shame, the best of them to the worst of all.
Yet, one story stands out untarnished by time and events; the story of a young Man, the poor son of an unsung carpenter, in some remote location. He had no distinguished name, no certified wealth or means to His credit, no established trainings or recognized qualifications, I didn’t even hear He had muscles or six packs. He had absolutely nothing to compel our attention or differentiate Him from every other guy out there in the dusty streets of that city. Except His outrageous claim to God.
He claimed connection to the Father and as a result performed the impossible that drew the needy and irked the wealthy. He did not pander to the vanities of the establishments of the time – that won Him the poor crowd and opposition of those who felt entitled. He did not bow to the politicians and the religious – that earned Him hatred, which landed Him a death sentence. He could have lived content a country carpenter, just like His father and fellows. He could have remained silent about His God-connection or denied Him when the push came to shove.
Instead, His faith inspired courage drove Him to reach the unreached, love the unlovable, help the needy, heal the sick, raise the dead, befriend the despised, speak truth no one dared to voice, and consequently put His life in the hands of men turned terminators. He was harassed by strangers, opposed by rulers, betrayed and denied by close associates, condemned by the same crowed that hailed Him king the other day, flogged to appease politicians. He was mocked, tortured, and finally nailed on the cross to prove He is not what He claimed He was.
Through it all, even in the very depths of weakness that drew tears and pleas to the Father who could do the impossible but now wouldn’t, He knew He was God. He knew He didn’t have to take all that from His creation. He knew He could trump their dare and prove His claim. Yet He chose to surrender to the cross, bow to death, succumb to the grave, all the while loving those who were hating and cursing and killing Him. What a God!
As they gathered to celebrate that end, little did they know that it was just the beginning; that they played fully into God’s ordained plan; that their jealousy and schemes cannot stop what God had started; that God does not have to prove that He is God to anyone for whatever reasons; that God can choose the impossible and the ridiculous to accomplish His purpose. Little did they know that they did not know what they should and could know. Today and everyday, as was the case 2000 years ago, the names of the big wigs are swept away by times but the courage, humility, obedience, and sacrifice of that young Man remains the highlight of history, the turning point in the destiny of mankind. May the fruits of the suffering and death that young Man who was such a God humanity could not comprehend, like it still can’t today, not be lost on us and on our world.
Glory!