“For
you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for
your sake he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich” (2COR
8:9).
In the genius of
the blessed Trinity, our cruel rejection
of Jesus became the way of our
adoption; our bitter abuse became the way of the Father’s embrace and the dwelling of the Holy Spirit. For how
could our unfaithfulness and contempt and treachery, or the enslaving lie of
the evil one, or death itself break the love and oneness and life of the
blessed Trinity? In dying at our
hands, Jesus brought his life into our death, his relationship with his Father
into our gnarled pathology, his anointing by the Holy Spirit into our twisted darkness.
Out of his boundless love “he was dishonored that he might glorify us,” (Gregory
Nazianzen, Orations, I.5.) “he
endured our insolence that we might inherit immortality”( Athanasius, On the Incarnation of the Word of God, §54).
Suffering our abuse to give us grace, he met our cruelty with his kindness, our
rejection with his merciful acceptance, and our dead and despairing religion
with his joy. By accepting us at
our very worst, by submitting himself to us in our great darkness, he entered
into our world with his, thus transforming the shack of Adam’s horrid fall into
the house of his Father and the temple of the Holy Spirit.
In a variation
on St. Paul’s great statement we might say, “For you know the stunning grace of
the Father’s Son: that though he was rich in the shared life of the blessed
Trinity, yet for our sake he became poor, suffering our wrath to meet us, and that
now through his suffering we who were so poor have been included in Jesus’ own
rich relationship with his Father in the Spirit.”
11 comments:
and so, if i may be so bold as to paraphrase, the Gospel is black and white, and we tend to live in shades of grey. And then by his light greyness gives way to the certainty of his bright light. But we still go on living, for some part, as if we could hide in greyness.
As I viewed Baxter's excellent posts and comments, I'd like to contribute my own observations. If I view Jesus' crucifixion from a relationship point of view (Jesus is a friend of sinners, I'm a sinner, therefore I am his friend). I see my friend up on the cross saying to me (and everybody else), "I (God) am not a threat to you, never have been and never will be. So throw your worst at me, my friends, even kill me and see what I do about it." When he arose three days later, he didn't hunt down those who stole his clothes, whipped him, etc. My junk, along with every body else's, was left in the grave. That act of love bound me to my friend in an unbreakable way.
Doug, Your Comment is well stated. I like where you went with it.
Baxter, this is my first time on your blog and I really like it. I will be subscribing and dropping by oftem.
My website is http://thecloudofunknowing.com
Thank you!!!
Bill
He chooses not even to REMEMBER what they did to Him! That's GRACE!
Very interesting material! I look forward to reading more!
Baxter,
Not sure if you get a chance to respond on here much but I had a question. I'm drawn to what you have to say about Trinitarian theology, and tend to feel the anxious tension in my heart relax a bit when I read what you have to say about God.
I am a Seminary student at a Wesleyan school of Theology and the emphasis there is strong upon the ethical quality of Jesus' life, death and resurrection, and how this story forms a "story formed community" called the church. The church then forms, through the empowering grace of God, a peculiar kind of people that are an alternative culture or polis.
So my question for you, is, within the traditions that emphasize Trinitarian theology; would it be fair to say that they typically lack a strong ethical impulse? If it is not unfair to say this, can you point to examples in the contrary?
Hi Baxter! Sorry for the off-topic comment but I wasn't sure how best to contact you. Mike Morrell and I really appreciate your blog, and think you'd be an excellent candidate for our Speakeasy Blogger Network. Do you like to review off-the-beaten path faith, spirituality, and culture books? Speakeasy puts interesting books in your hands at no charge to you. You only get books when you request them, and it's free to join. Sign up here, if you'd like: http://thespeakeasy.info
You're not on any contact lists, I promise; if you don't respond, that's it, and the invitation is open as long as you're actively blogging. Hope you join us!
Go ahead Doug
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