“We think of the victory of the cross in terms of toughness and endurance. But Jesus is not doing so. Herosim is only another kind of human achievement. And the point of the cross is not that it is any kind of achievement. It is not heroic, it is absurd … he is going to be defeated, going to fail, going to be humiliated…
“We try to avoid thinking this. We are always trying to find ways in which Jesus wins. If we can’t see him as politically successful, then we think of him as spiritually successful. If he wasn’t a conquering hero, then he was a heroic martyr who triumphed over his persecutors by his calm resignation in the face of suffering. But he didn’t, of course. He broke down and wept and sweated with terror in the garden of Gethsemane. He wasn’t a spiritual success either. By the end he had no disciples left. They had all deserted him. Jesus was an outstanding failure. And that is how he shows us the meaning of God.
“…. Jesus died of being human. What was outstanding about him was not that he was something more than human, that he was a superman or superstar. It was just that he was more intensely human, more intensely one of us than we dare to be. He lacked the illusions and deceptions by which we try to protect ourselves from our humanity, try to protect ourselves from our failure. He was like to us in all things but sin, in all things but self-deception. He shows us God simply by showing us the reality of being human. And it is not at all the reality we like to think it is. Really being human is not at all what humanists believe in their simple-minded way. Really being human means being in the kind of muddle and mess that Jesus was in. And that is where God is.”
Herbert McCabe, from “Transfiguration” in God, Christ and Us (London/New York: Continuum, 2003), pp.141ff.
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Joel 03.16.10 at 10:25 pm
Kim,
I’m reminded that in so many church displays for the Easter season, Jesus’ cross is shown both as substantially higher and/or bigger and more prominent than the two other crosses. Sometimes his cross is made of finely sanded and polished wood. And for many, the one swallowed up in rejection, suffering, doubt and rejection must be portrayed as tall, with finely sculpted features, toned muscles, straight nose, blue eyes, and an abundance of flowing, long and always freshly washed hair. His finger and toenails must be neatly trimmed, maybe even with a “manicure” look. There’s no possibility of a squeaky voice, or nasal-tone speech. If his feet are shown as dusty, there still must be no grime, and the dust must look almost as if it were carefully applied “makeup” dust.
I will always remember my former Bishop, now retired, Bruce Blake asking us to follow in the African tradition, which required/invited us to leave many of our “I” songs or hymns and turn them into “We” hymns.