The Scandal of the Cross
April 14 * Good Friday
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~"Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation..." Hebreys 5:8-9

Speculation that Jesus must have been born with the greatest imaginable human capacities comes and goes. Medieval Spanish theologians outdid each other in claiming Jesus was the greatest at everything: perfect solider, perfect scienteist, the greatest artist, the perfect poet, the greatest sailor. Similarly, there seems to be a common assumption that, in His Passion, Jesus must have suffered the greatest pain anyone in human history has ever suffered. That notion was reinforced widely by Mel Gibson's graphic treatment of Jesus' Passion in his recent movie.

Does Catholic doctrine demand the conclusion that Jesus endured the greatest possible human suffering? No. The scandal for theology is that Jesus suffered at all. The shock comes in realizing that even the pain of one hangnail on Jesus' little finger would have been enough to redeem the world.

For me, this deepends the mystery and makes me appreciate Jesus' pain even more. By comparison, the need to rank His suffering at the top of an all-time list almost as if it were an athletic feat seems trivial.

-- James E. Adams

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Isaiah52:13--53:12*Psalm31:2,6,12-13,15-17,25*Hebrews4:14-16,5:7-9*John18:1--19:42