He didn't prevent His own tragedy
Over the past year, we've seen people deeply affected by tragedy.
We have witnessed the toll taken on people who have lost their loved ones. Within a period of six months, we attended funerals of three people younger than 25. We watched the horror of the Newtown shootings unfold. As parents, we could see the pain of their mothers and fathers.
We feel that sorrow as well. Many tears have been shed in our home as our hearts ache to see good people and friends whom we care about endure deep, devastating grief. We think of and pray for our friends every day.
A question we've discussed lately is: Is it God's will? ... or ... Is it part of God's plan? We believe that the general concept of death is part of the plan of our Heavenly Father, but that's not the question.
Were these tragic and untimely deaths of very young people the will of God? Was it their time to die?
Friends who have experienced these tragedies have shared that they know this to be the case. We have heard them share their conviction in a way that brings peace to our hearts and minds.
But that conviction must be very personal. It is for those most directly affected, who are entitled to have the Lord whisper to their souls what it means for their lives.
I can't bring myself to say that I know these swift and sudden tragedies are God's will, and are happening at the right time. I also can't say that I know they weren't. I just don't know, and I don't know if I'm required to know.
I can, however, say what I believe.
I believe that some 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ was praying in a garden. He was agonizing over the brutal death he was about to endure. He was feeling all of our physical and emotional pains, suffering what all mankind would suffer. He asked his Father if that suffering could be taken away but said He would continue to endure it if it was his Father's will. He did.
I believe the very next day, Jesus was suffering that horrible death by crucifixion. People were mocking Him, and some said that if He were the Son of God, He could come down from the cross, and save Himself and the two thieves being put to death next to Him, and then those people would believe He was who He claimed to be.
There is no recorded response by Christ to what these people said. But I believe He had every right to look right at them and say, "That's not the point!"
If He had performed a miracle in freeing Himself and others from their methods of execution, then it would have been easy for everyone present to believe in Him. Just like it would be easy for all of us to life a life full of faith and free of fear and sorrow if horrendous, unfair tragedies didn't happen.
But I don't believe in Him because He came down from the cross. I believe in Him because he stayed on it.
I believe in Him because he endured unspeakable pain, and He did so voluntarily — as He possessed the power to avoid or stop it — so He could understand the pain and tragedy that we don't completely understand, and so we could turn to him for comfort, peace, renewed strength, wisdom and growth — even if we don't get answers.
I've been thinking about this as I see previews for the movie "42," which we can't wait to see, and which chronicles the bigotry and persecution Jackie Robinson faced when he became the first black player in Major League Baseball.
In the trailer, Robinson asks Brooklyn Dodgers' general manager Branch Rickey: "Do you want a ballplayer who's afraid to fight back?" Rickey responds: "I want a ballplayer with guts enough not to fight back!"
I don't want a Savior who used His power to forgo the pain he felt in the garden, or called upon it to come down from the cross. I want a Savior who used His power to endure that pain and stay on that cross.
Because I believe that his grace — the enabling power that comes from His atoning sacrifice — is the only way I'll be able to endure the pain and the crosses I bear in life.
I don't claim to know if the suffering in our lives is the will of God. But I believe that Jesus' suffering was the will of God, and it was for all of us.
That is what we celebrate this weekend, and it's why we have hope every day, no matter what tragedies we face.
Happy Easter to all.
He is Risen Video
We have witnessed the toll taken on people who have lost their loved ones. Within a period of six months, we attended funerals of three people younger than 25. We watched the horror of the Newtown shootings unfold. As parents, we could see the pain of their mothers and fathers.
We feel that sorrow as well. Many tears have been shed in our home as our hearts ache to see good people and friends whom we care about endure deep, devastating grief. We think of and pray for our friends every day.
A question we've discussed lately is: Is it God's will? ... or ... Is it part of God's plan? We believe that the general concept of death is part of the plan of our Heavenly Father, but that's not the question.
Were these tragic and untimely deaths of very young people the will of God? Was it their time to die?
Friends who have experienced these tragedies have shared that they know this to be the case. We have heard them share their conviction in a way that brings peace to our hearts and minds.
But that conviction must be very personal. It is for those most directly affected, who are entitled to have the Lord whisper to their souls what it means for their lives.
I can't bring myself to say that I know these swift and sudden tragedies are God's will, and are happening at the right time. I also can't say that I know they weren't. I just don't know, and I don't know if I'm required to know.
I can, however, say what I believe.
I believe that some 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ was praying in a garden. He was agonizing over the brutal death he was about to endure. He was feeling all of our physical and emotional pains, suffering what all mankind would suffer. He asked his Father if that suffering could be taken away but said He would continue to endure it if it was his Father's will. He did.
I believe the very next day, Jesus was suffering that horrible death by crucifixion. People were mocking Him, and some said that if He were the Son of God, He could come down from the cross, and save Himself and the two thieves being put to death next to Him, and then those people would believe He was who He claimed to be.
There is no recorded response by Christ to what these people said. But I believe He had every right to look right at them and say, "That's not the point!"
If He had performed a miracle in freeing Himself and others from their methods of execution, then it would have been easy for everyone present to believe in Him. Just like it would be easy for all of us to life a life full of faith and free of fear and sorrow if horrendous, unfair tragedies didn't happen.
But I don't believe in Him because He came down from the cross. I believe in Him because he stayed on it.
I believe in Him because he endured unspeakable pain, and He did so voluntarily — as He possessed the power to avoid or stop it — so He could understand the pain and tragedy that we don't completely understand, and so we could turn to him for comfort, peace, renewed strength, wisdom and growth — even if we don't get answers.
I've been thinking about this as I see previews for the movie "42," which we can't wait to see, and which chronicles the bigotry and persecution Jackie Robinson faced when he became the first black player in Major League Baseball.
In the trailer, Robinson asks Brooklyn Dodgers' general manager Branch Rickey: "Do you want a ballplayer who's afraid to fight back?" Rickey responds: "I want a ballplayer with guts enough not to fight back!"
I don't want a Savior who used His power to forgo the pain he felt in the garden, or called upon it to come down from the cross. I want a Savior who used His power to endure that pain and stay on that cross.
Because I believe that his grace — the enabling power that comes from His atoning sacrifice — is the only way I'll be able to endure the pain and the crosses I bear in life.
I don't claim to know if the suffering in our lives is the will of God. But I believe that Jesus' suffering was the will of God, and it was for all of us.
That is what we celebrate this weekend, and it's why we have hope every day, no matter what tragedies we face.
Happy Easter to all.
He is Risen Video
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