• Who is Jesus Christ for us today?
• Where do we meet Christ in our time?
From the scriptures, we hear about encounters with the risen Christ; and some of the great “I am…” statements from the Gospel of John.
So, where do you find the crucified Christ in our world today? Where do you see suffering because of injustice and failure to recognise the value of God’s creation? Where do you find the resurrected Christ in our world today? Where do you find life and hope overpowering death and despair? The crucified and resurrected Christ are one and the same; and we cannot recognise Christ without considering both dimensions.
When we look only for a resurrected, powerful Christ whom we may celebrate with joy without remembering the pain, our Christianity will be “triumphalist”. It will forget that life in Christ makes sense only because of the journey of the life of Christ—the entry of God into the world created by God. God is with us in all of mortal life, that we might be with God in that life which transcends death. God gives life in the face of a world that deals death particularly to the vulnerable.
When we look only for a crucified Christ without remembering the gift of new life, our Christianity will be maudlin and pietistic. It will glory in despair rather than hope; and forget that we are called to participate in God’s ongoing mission in the world and for the sake of the world.
Against the orders of hate
you bring us the law of love.
In the face of so many lies
you are the truth out loud.
Amid so much new of death
you have the word of life.
After so many false promises, frustrated hopes,
you have, Lord Jesus, the last word,
and we have put all our trust in you. Alleluia.
(from Misa dos Quilombos by Pedro Casaldaligo, Trans. By Tony Graham, Christian Aid; Reproduced in Bread of Tomorrow ed. by Janet Morley, SPCK, 1992, p. 138.)
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