When Roman Imperial Execution Becomes the Means of God’s Grace, Love and Healing
The historical and theological significance of the cruel cross – selected reflections through prose and poetry
The true humanity of Jesus
Jesus is a much underrated man – underrated not only by those who think of him as nothing more than a teacher of religious truth, but also by those who go to the opposite extreme of emphasising his divinity in such a way that he ceases to be fully human. When one allows Jesus to speak for himself and when one tries to understand him without any preconceived ideas and within the context of his own times, what begins to emerge is a man of extraordinary independence, immense courage and unparalleled authenticity – a man whose insight defies explanation. To deprive this man of his humanity is to deprive him of his greatness…
Pilate would have regarded Jesus as a very serious political threat even if he had known that Jesus did not intend setting up the new kingdom by force of arms – just as Herod had regarded John the Baptist as a political threat and thought it necessary to have him arrested, even though John never resorted to violence. Armed rebellion was not the only threat to Roman rule. Any popular movement that was intent upon change, especially if it was religiously motivated, would have been regarded as extremely dangerous
Source: Albert Nolan, 1976. Jesus Before Christianity: The Gospel of Liberation. South Africa: David Philip Publisher, p.117.
Philippians 2:5-13
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
5 Let the same mind be in you that was[a] in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he existed in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
assuming human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a human,
8 he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.9 Therefore God exalted him even more highly
and gave him the name
that is above every other name,
10 so that at the name given to Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.Galatians 4:4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
Jesus executed by decree of Roman Imperialism
Mark 15:22-32
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
22 Then they brought Jesus[a] to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.
25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 And with him they crucified two rebels, one on his right and one on his left.[b] 29 Those who passed by derided[c] him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Messiah,[d] the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.
I distinguish three stages in the development of the passion stories. One is the historical passion – what actually happened to Jesus, what anyone present would have seen. That he was crucified is as sure as anything historical can ever be, since both Josephus and Tacitus…agree with the Christian accounts on at least that basic fact.
Source: John Dominic Crossan 1989. Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography. San Francisco: Harper, p.145.
The imperial system that killed Jesus exploited not only the Jews, but all those living under its colonial rule. The imperial system determined the life of men and had an even greater impact on women – whether freeborn, impoverished, slave or freed women, country or city women, widows or virgins, wives or prostitutes. Jesus was not crucified because of his theological teachings but because of their potentially subversive character and the political threat to the imperial colonial system
Source: Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza 1994. Jesus: Miriam’s Child, Sophia’s Prophet: Critical Issues in Feminist Christology. New York: Continuum, pp.92-93.
The death of Jesus
Mark 15:33-34
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
33 When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land[a] until three in the afternoon. 34 At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”[b]
See: https://rogerarendse.substack.com/p/the-forsaken-jesus
The Cross Arms flung out, Embracing all, Brokenness and healing, Sorrow and joy, Shadow and light, Death and life; Body pierced in vulnerability, Drenched in the blood of forgiveness, Spirit in anguished abandon, Thorn-crowned head lifted up, Heaven’s glow received, The Father’s voice; Affirming love and grace, The reverberating cry of victory, Echoing through all space and time, The boundary walls torn down, Arms held out, Embracing all! © Roger Arendse 20161001
1 Corinthians 1:18
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Christ the Power and Wisdom of God
18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Ephesians 2:13-18
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us, 15 abolishing the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, 16 and might reconcile both to God in one body[a] through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.[b] 17 So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, 18 for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.
Romans 5:6-11
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. 9 Much more surely, therefore, since we have now been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God.[a] 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. 11 But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
The Grace of God
Ephesians 2:4-10
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
4 but God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ[a]—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places[b] in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them.
Grace! The vast ocean in every drop, Eternity in each breath, Abundance in my daily bread, Forgiveness in a touch, Loved, held in the everlasting arms. The festive dance of Creator God’s rejoicing, The serene presence of Incarnate Love, Spirit’s abiding companionship, The laughing, lightness of the Universe, Loved, secure in the everlasting embrace. Gift, unmerited and undeserved, Riches, Heaven’s sparkling treasure-trove, Accepted, wholehearted and unconditional, Connected, unbroken friendship, Extravagance and extraordinary, the everlasting flow. © Roger Arendse – 20160906
For Jesus, compassion was more than a quality of God and an individual virtue: it was a social paradigm, the core value for life in community. To put it boldly: compassion for Jesus was political. He directly and repeatedly challenged the dominant socio-political paradigm of his social world and advocated instead what might be called a politics of compassion. This conflict and this social vision continue to have striking implications for the life of church today.
Source: Marcus J. Borg 1994. Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus & The Heart of Contemporary Faith. San Francisco: Harper, p.49.
Gracious and Generous God Gracious and generous God, Gracious beyond measure, Giving, and giving and giving again, Generous in lavishing gifts, so freely Upon your children, deserving and undeserving, Pouring out your sunshine and rain, And a myriad blessings, day upon day, On us, without number, freely and undeserved blessings, O Gracious and Generous God, Gracious beyond measure. Forgive us that we receive Your grace and generosity so often with closed hands, Failing to open up to them, and to Experience your touch and love, Forgive us that we turn away with closed minds, Shutting out your Spirit’s daily presence with us, Your bountiful provision for us, Your creative power at work, all around us, O Gracious and Generous God, Gracious beyond measure! © Roger Arendse- inspired by reflections on Proverbs 2 in The Message, especially the verse, “God gives out Wisdom free”. Sunday, 30 May, 2004.
See further:
Choose Costly Grace where Ungrace and Cheap Grace dominate: Help us be much more like Jesus!
https://rogerarendse.substack.com/p/choose-costly-grace-where-ungrace
Jesus Christ – Superior as Mediator of a New Covenant
The Letter to the Hebrews – Part 4
https://rogerarendse.substack.com/p/jesus-christ-superior-as-mediator
The Love of God
This is Love! This is Love! The Agape that fills the world, The world so loved; So passionately and compassionately held, The infinite closeness, The immeasurable embrace, The glorious, gentle expansiveness, Of Divinity’s presence, And the promise, That All is well, All is loved! This is Love! The Agape that fills the world, The world so loved; So unconditionally forgiven and touched, These struggles of the ordinary, These sufferings of the wounded These shaky, slipping steps, These songs of the imperfect, All accepted in Divinity’s grace, And the reassuring faith, That All is well, All is loved! This is Love! The Agape that fills the world, The world so loved So broken open, released and free, The transformed mind, The illuminated heart, The conscious, courageous will, Surrendered to Divinity’s Way, And the hope, That All is well, All is Loved! © Roger Arendse 20180417
What Love is this? The son had squandered all that he had, Dissolute and lost in a far distant land, In his hell he schemed to amend for his bad, Rehearsing a return that he had so desperately planned; The long journey home to the father he left, Is mired in failure, defeat and regret, Onward he plods, of almost all peace bereft, Anxious foreboding for how he’d be met; Peering into the horizon, father sees son, He’d waited so longingly for this day to dawn, Compassion whelms up and he sets out to run, Eschewing a culture to which he had sworn; In a humiliating run, father meets son, Lavishly covering him in reconciling embrace, The son starts to splutter those words he’d begun, But exuberant kisses overcome his disgrace; So long had the father waited with forgiving face, For a son he had lost who had once wished him dead, Across the divide of the unspoken disgrace, The heart of the father beating is all that needs said; The son is stunned by such unrivalled grace, All words he prepared dissipate into air, Warmly ensconced in his father’s embrace, The son is at home in an unconditional care; The son in the best robe of the father is clothed, A prized family ring on his finger is shared, Weary feet with sandals are softly enveloped, The fatted calf for communal festivity prepared; Held in this force-field of such compelling love, The son feels a sacred healing inside his own soul, Strangely touched as though from above, By the father’s compassion that makes him feel whole; What Love is this that still calls out to us? Across separated distances of all time and space, Such liberating Love to quench our feverish fuss, And receive us completely in welcoming grace. © Roger Arendse 20200331 This poem is inspired by the first part of Jesus’ well-known Parable of the Prodigal Son as told in Luke 15:11-24 and as understood within its 1st Palestinian cultural setting. In this story, the wavering and conditioned behaviour of the returning son is met by the unexpected and unconditional love and acceptance of the father. Amazing and extravagant grace overcomes the merited disgrace. See Kenneth E. Bailey 1976 Poet and Peasant & Through Peasant Eyes: A Literary-Cultural Approach to the Parables in Luke. Combined edition, pp158-190.
Can you feel the love of Jesus?
Verse 1
Can you feel the love of Jesus moving everywhere?
Can you hear his heavy heartbeat, filling the air?
It's beating "I love you, I can't love anymore,
All earth and highest heaven is filled with love so sure.”
Chorus
Calvary need not have been a fact of history,
If Jesus did not love you and die upon the tree,
Draw near in grateful worship, receive his love so free,
Let go the chains that bind you, and live in liberty.
Verse 2
Was his suffering death in vain, was there some other way?
His execution on a cross, was this the price to pay?
Jesus we love you, your death has brought us life,
We now can claim the victory, amidst sorrow and strife.
(c) RA 20250327, amended]
The Call of Jesus the Wounded Healer
Isaiah 53:5
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.1 Peter 2:24
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross,[a] so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds[b] you have been healed.
Wounded Healers Reach out from behind your unbelief, Your cantankerous captivity to doubt, Reach in and put your finger here, Deep into the visible markers of the nails, And your hands into the gashing side, Feel how the wounds reveal the Divine Mystery; See into the depths of the cruel cross, See how it bestows the reality of the resurrection life, The piercing pains and sad sorrows are transformed, Death itself is swallowed up in victory, And the Light shines forth, With the Universal healing touch on every-thing; The Wounded Healer still walks the dusty roads, Eternally alive, And we the wounded healers too walk with Christ, Amidst its daily strife; In Christ we are the lights and bold bearers of the Hope, Sentient igniters of the ever-present and Awakened life. © Roger Arendse - 20190723 The poem is inspired by Richard Rohr’s (2019) The Universal Christ: How a forgotten reality can change everything we see, hope and believe, notably the story of what Rohr describes as “the archetypal encounter between doubting Thomas and the Risen Christ” in John 20:19-28. This story, Rohr sees as “not really a story about believing in the fact of the resurrection, but a story about believing that someone could be wounded and also resurrected at the same time! That is a quite different message, and still desperately needed. ‘Put your finger here,’ Jesus says to Thomas (20:27). And, like Thomas we are indeed wounded and resurrected at the same time, all of us. In fact, this might be the primary pastoral message of the whole Gospel.” (p.111).
The Christian Hope
The New Heaven and the New Earth
21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“See, the home[a] of God is among mortals.
He will dwell[b] with them;
they will be his peoples,[c]
and God himself will be with them and be their God;[d]
4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for[e] the first things have passed away.”
Reflection and Journalling Exercise
Why is the full and true humanity of Jesus important to understand?
Who crucified Jesus? Why?
What is the historical and theological significance of Jesus’ death on the cross?
How do you understand the grace of God?
How does the death of Jesus on the cross come to reveal God’s grace, love and healing?
What is meant by Jesus as Wounded Healer? How are we to called to imitate Jesus in this regard?
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Blessed Easter!