Here is the third of four installments of the blog for this week, by guest author Willow Brook Chaplain, Adam Metz:
I have probably used Ignatius’ imaginative prayer more in reflecting on the cross than any other passage of Scripture. We even have an old spiritual that helps with this exercise: “Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they crucified the Lord? Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.” It’s pretty hard to do this without trembling.
Authors often describe things or places that “smell of death,” and perhaps it was never more true, and visceral, then the smell of death that hung over the infamous hill of Golgotha, which means, “the place of the skull.” What a stunning contrast from the jubilant entry into Jerusalem mere hours ago. The palms have been bloodied. Chants of “Hosanna!” have become, “Crucify him!” Each of the four gospel accounts describe the scene with such haunting detail. The flogging. The sign. The lots. The robe. The crown. The pierced side. The cries. The pain. The criminals.
Can you hear the screams of agony? Can you smell death? Can you taste the antiseptic thrust into his mouth? These relentless descriptions insist the authors’ desire for us to see the humanity of Jesus. There was no appearance here. While we often associate Incarnation with Jesus coming at Christmas, Jesus’ true humanity is on display on the cross. That is why we need the visuals. That is why no description was spared.
In the face of this horror, how could one maintain any kind of hope?
By all accounts, nobody really had any hope left. Everyone had taken off. The disciples, on their way to Emmaus, admitted Jesus wasn’t who they thought he was. Game over. Hope over.
