January 19 / John 19

In John 18, we saw the only Righteous One ever to be a part of our human race being betrayed by one disciple, bound as though he were dangerous, dragged from one authority to another, falsely accused, denied by another disciple, toyed with by a silly Roman governor who could pronounce the death sentence, and finally, a crowd calling for his execution instead of that of a murderous brigand.

Now John 19 is happening. An ashamed, repentant Peter watches. Later, he sums it up: 1 Peter 3:17-18 (The Message): It's better to suffer for doing good, if that's what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That's what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others' sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God.

In John 19, we see unjust, unrighteous people do cruel, unrighteous things to Jesus, making him suffer atrociously and die in official disgrace.

In the midst of this awful storm of injustice and suffering, some people stand faithful to the Righteous One. Who are they and how do they show their faithfulness? Could I have done that? Am I facing some situation where it is hard to stand up for Jesus?

Besides terrible physical suffering, what other kinds of suffering was Jesus undergoing?

Did he curse or threaten anyone? Try to “get even” with his tormentors?

I can never be the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. But I can be a witness to him as I, enabled by the Holy Spirit, deal with suffering or unjust treatment the same way he did. Peter says so:

1 Peter 2:21-25 (The Message): This is the kind of life you've been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step-by-step. He never did one thing wrong, not once said anything amiss. They called him every name in the book and he said nothing back. He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right. He used his servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid of sin, free to live the right way. His wounds became your healing. You were lost sheep with no idea who you were or where you were going. Now you're named and kept for good by the Shepherd of your souls.

Lowell