Most days, I want a powerful God to help me through the day’s stress. But when I get moments for meditation or study, a different type of God dawns on me—a Crucified God. A Crucified God changes everything.
Luke demonstrates the difference. He wove the theme of a great reversal throughout his Gospel. Mary’s visit with Elizabeth may be the best example. Mary says, “For [God] has looked on his handmaid’s lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.. . He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty” (1:46-55). The words are powerful. The setting makes them more so. In the first century, women were second-class citizens at best, little more than servants to men. Luke shows us how a Crucified God operates. At the Visitation, two pregnant women are God’s chosen agents to advance our salvation. Two expectant women, considered inferior by their culture, hold the hopes of all humankind. Luke explains the reversal in words and acts it out in time.
Today’s Gospel passage is from Luke’s Passion. He sets the scene with care. After the Last Supper, Jesus goes to the Mount of Olives. He says to his disciples, “Pray that you may not undergo the test” (22:40). Keep in mind “the test.” Jesus goes off to pray. We call it the Agony in the Garden. In the ancient world, an agony is the preparation for an athletic event, the time to pump up the adrenaline. Jesus experiences an intense agony. Why? The test! Would he continue to turn the world on its head: continue his empathy while suffering; continue lifting up those in need; forgiving the sinner; reaching out to the disenfranchised?
A long series of trials puts Jesus through a strenuous test. Jesus goes before the high priest, then to the Sanhedrin, Israel’s governing body. Next, he goes to Pilate. Pilate sends him to Herod. Herod sends him back to Pilate. Pilate delivers the death sentence. All the ruling elite get into the act. Those trials were part of the test.
After the trials, Luke revisits the reversal theme. On the way to the place where Jesus dies, Jesus engages with the women of Jerusalem. Jesus warns the second-class people to prepare for a disaster for which Israel’s leadership is dooming them. His compassion for the women means he is passing the test.
At the place of the Skull, they crucify Jesus. Lifted on the cross, Jesus speaks: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do” (23:34). The innocent victim forgives his persecutors. Jesus passes the test while suffering extreme pain.
Luke continues to contrast the people and the rulers. The common people stood by and observed, perhaps horrified, sad, maybe perplexed. The “rulers” heap scorn on Jesus. They challenge him to save himself. We readers know that Jesus had twice preached the ultimate reversal: “Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it” (17:33 and 9:24). Losing one’s life is self-giving love. Jesus is losing his life, giving of himself, to save our lives for eternity. He continues the path of the reversal.
Jesus is crucified between criminals. Luke records that Jesus saves one thief. From that time on, we offer our approval of the reversal each time we call him the good thief. In a land that celebrates private property, it’s strange to imagine a good thief. Then, Luke completes the scene. After Jesus dies, the people go home grief-stricken; the rulers seem to slink away. The women, however, are still there with him. The so-called weaker sex is the courageous one.
In the Gospel, Jesus is often called king. The angel Gabriel called him a king (1:32/3). But he was born in a stable; his first visitors were shepherds, the poorest of the poor. When he entered Jerusalem on the day we call Palm Sunday, the people proclaimed him king (19:38). And Pilate asks him if he is a king (23:3). These last two events led to the inscription on the cross charging him with insurrection. “This is the King of the Jews,” the sign read (23:38). But Jesus wanted no part in governing, judging, dominating, or condemning people. Therefore, his followers must be careful with the term king. More important, Christians must be careful whenever we are involved with politics or share in power. The Crucified God transforms power. Power becomes forgiveness, compassion, and empathy; power is self-giving love. Any disciple with power—pastor or parent, political leader or one who votes in a democracy, the police, the boss, the teacher, the preacher—anyone with power needs to pass the test and participate in the reversal. Worshipping a Crucified God means serving others in charity, treating everyone with respect, encouraging people to be themselves. Worshipping a Crucified God is knowing that self-giving love is the way to the fullness of life.