In entering human history God shattered all previous conceptions of who God is and what people are meant to be. In the New Testament we are presented with a God who suffers crucifixion, a Supreme Being with spit on his face. What He went through in His passion and death is meant for me too; the invitation He issues is, "Don't weep for Me! Join Me! The life I have planned for Christians is a Christian life, much like the life I led. I wasn't poor so that you might be rich. I wasn't mocked so that you might be honored. I wasn't laughed at so that you could be lauded. I was revealing the Christian picture of man and woman, one that is meant to include you, too." Paul wrote to the Colossians, "We are meant to fill up what is wanting in the suffering of Christ."
We get so used to the ultimate Christian fact - Jesus stripped, flogged and crucified - that we no longer see Him for what He actually is: a living injunction to strip ourselves of earthly cares and worldly wisdom, all desire for human praise, greediness for any kind of comfort, spiritual consolations included; a living summons to let go of every kind of worldliness - including that which prefers the more attractive duty to the less attractive, which prods us to put more effort into relationships with the people we want to stand well with. Even the last rag we cling to - the self-flattery that suggests that we are being rather humble when we disclaim any resemblance to Jesus Christ - even that rag has to go when we stand face-to-face with the crucified Son of Man.
The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus by Brennan Manning
