Jesus wept.     (John 11:35)
 
I have not seen the movie The Passion of the Christ,though I know many people found it deeply moving. One reason is my belief that the physical pain of the flogging and crucifixion was not the worst part of Jesus’ suffering. The worst part for sinless Jesus was being made sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21) as he hung on the cross and then being forsaken by his holy Father. No movie can depict that.
 
Lately, it has occurred to me that Jesus’ whole earthly life was one of suffering. After all, he knew the Garden of Eden, that perfect place where the first human beings lived before the Fall. In contrast, during his earthly life, he lived in a world where tragic accidents kill or maim, where women die in childbirth, where disease causes suffering and cuts life short, where children are left orphans. He was aware of murder, assault, stealing, oppression of the powerless, lies told to avoid consequences or gain favor. He witnessed bullying, mean-spirited gossip, selfishness, loveless marriages, sexual lust, child abuse, cruelty to animals, greed, self-aggrandizement. All around him, every day, he saw the festering wounds of sin. No wonder he wept. Perhaps on those occasions when he withdrew to a solitary place for private prayer, he cried out, “Father, it’s not supposed to be like this!”
 
This Holy Week, in quiet times alone with the Lord, keenly feel the loss of Eden along with him. Imagine Jesus spending a day in your world – reading the newspaper over breakfast, spending time in workplaces, walking through the mall, watching prime-time TV, observing people interact with one another as family members or friends or strangers. What consequences of the Fall would he witness in your world, in one day? Would he weep?
 
Address the part of the pollution that is your fault – that is, your sin. Confess your besetting sins, the ones that get the best of you over and over. Confess what Jerry Bridges calls “respectable sins,” sins that don’t appall us because so many “good” people commit them. Confess the hidden sins that only you and God know about.
 
Meditate with appreciation on what Jesus did on the cross for you. He who was without sin and lived out God’s law perfectly, took on your sin, paid the price for it, and triumphed by rising from the dead. Let your heart fill with relief and amazement and gratitude. Praise your Savior, as David did:
 
[The LORD] turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of mud and mire;
He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. 
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. 
Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.   
(Psalm 40:1-3)
 
Pray for someone you know who still lives in exile in the slimy pit. Ask the Lord to convict him (or her) of sin. Pray that he (or she) will stop denying or minimizing sin and seek the only remedy that exists. Offer yourself to the Lord as an instrument to point the sinner in the right direction, if He chooses to so use you. Ask Him to anoint Calvary’s (and other churches’) Good Friday and Easter services with power to rescue many through the gospel message.
 
Finally, look ahead with hope and rejoicing to Jesus’ second earthly sojourn, when Eden will be restored. Human life will be “very good” again, the way God intended from the very beginning. No more tears, no more death, no more pain, no more sin.

In Christ,
Carol Gilbert, Prayer Chair
Calvary Community Church of Brea