One very significant lesson the Holy Week teaches us, Christians, is the meaning of suffering. Really, suffering is the message of the faith taught by the Son of Man. He himself suffered and suffered much – from that lowly manger in Bethlehem to that accursed hill in Calvary. Born to a poor family, he endured the privation of the poor – a humble house, simple meals, simpler clothing and an unceasing struggle to survive.
More than these, there was the ever present danger of persecution. For even as a very young child, he must have acted in a manner beyond what an ordinary kid would do. Or he must have spoken something “otherworldly” which even adults could not have understood. Recall what happened when Herod ordered all newborn kids beheaded. Did not the holy family flee in fright to a safer place? Journeying across an inhospitable landscape on a donkey’s back – what difficulties must have been undergone by the infant Jesus! Later, as an adolescent in the workshop of his foster father, did he not hurt himself as he worked on the saw or the chisel? As he labored for hours, perhaps even in the evening, to finish an urgent order, did he not feel tired and worn out?
Still later, when he began his ministry, was not his life a litany of frustrations as he confronted a disbelieving people who taunted and ridiculed him to the point of accusing him as in league with sinners and even Beelzebul? But these were nothing compared to the ire of the chief priests and the scribes who felt threatened, an ire which later turned into a murderous plot. Thus, the stage was set for the most painful death a man ever experienced. Thus the Passion of the Lord Jesus Christ became a historical reality.
The Passion is suffering made distinctly palpable. From Gethsemane to Golgotha every step of the way was pain of the sharpest kind, pain in the heart and pain in the senses, a feeling which must have smothered the tender heart of the Lord as he saw the very people be trusted betrayed or disowned him. Crucify him! they shouted. They whose illnesses he wiped out, they whose erring ways he straightened, they with whom be lived and laughed – why have they turned away from him?
The scourging hurt to his very bones as the metal-tipped lash pealed off the skin of his back. The crown of thorns pricked his head like a dozen needles. The cross weighed him down like a lodestone. And when they drove the nails right through his wrists and feet, he almost fainted. Yet all these were bearable to the Lord. What was perhaps hard to bear was the ingratitude, the disloyalty, and the hardness of heart. As the Lord hanged upon the wood his severest pain must have been seeing the approving gesture of the crowd, the glint of joy in their eyes, the air of triumph among his torturers,
As we revisit the Passion of the Lord during this week, the more perceptive among us are inclined to recall his entire life-time if only to discover once and for all the meaning of suffering. This is important because suffering is inevitably a part of our lives. No matter what our lot is suffering tags along like a stubborn shadow and unless we understand it we are likely to get smothered by its weight.
On a number of occasions Jesus spoke positively of privation and sufferings. “Fortunate are you who are poor, the kingdom of God is yours. Fortunate are you who are hungry now for you will be filled. Fortunate are you who weep now for you will laugh.” Being poor and hungry can indeed make a person weep. But these circumstances are only transitory experiences because if these are accepted in the name of God a time of fulfillment and laughter will surely come. These words of Jesus therefore imply that one’s difficult state in life is a pre-condition to a better and happier life in a land where there is “neither sorrow nor crying.”
As we reflect on the life and sufferings of Jesus, we come to believe that our trials and tribulations in this world are God-given gifts designed to prune us like a vine so that we will bear much fruit. Far from making us sad these should make us more patient and more open to finer things such as love and compassion, generosity and genuineness.
Take heart therefore in the throes of troubles and frustration. These, according to G.K. Chesterton, are but the shades of His hands extended caressingly.
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