Sacrificial Celebration

Jesus was crucified. He hung on a cross by the bones of his wrists and his ankles, the nails placed closer together than the natural shape of his body would allow, bending him into a convex and uncomfortable position, forcing his body into shapes that were never meant to be.  By putting his weight on his legs, he could make just enough space in his chest to allow breath to enter his lungs. When his legs gave out from the strain, his wrists held him in agony, burning the breath from his lungs, the flesh from his hands, and the life from his body. It is a long process of humiliation and torture- most of us are at least familiar with the basics by now.

This is the physical pain he was in that is well described in the gospels. What is harder to explain is the mental and religious anguish.

According to his words on the cross (as reported by Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34- interestingly, in slightly different tenses), Jesus is abandoned by G-d, who, he notably does not call Abba at this point.

His relationship with G-d is strained or gone. For this moment, he is an exile. He is fully alone and abandoned- he is human.

I spend much of my time calling “eloi, eloi, lema sabachthanei?” I feel as if I am hanging in torture, and abandoned by the only thing that gives purpose and meaning to the pain. This quotation is left in the Aramaic by Matthew and Mark, making it more probably a direct quote.  In Aramaic, the loss and abandonment of Jesus is translated into Greek for the listeners of the New Testament, but Jesus’ disillusionment on the cross is the deepest connection I feel to divinity.

Passover was last week- the celebration of salvation for the Jewish peoples. In it, we narrowly escape the punishments of the wrathful G-d of early Judaism by sacrificing a lamb and marking the doors of our homes with proof of our sacrifice. We celebrate this today with symbolic Seder meals that provide hours spent contemplating and celebrating the opportunity given by G-d to spare the first born in Jewish homes. Judaism has a strong basis in disaster and finding ways to avert it- from exile to exile, we are the chosen people- chosen to be shaped by the fire of pain, loss, and sacrifice.

Jesus’ exile is ideological, and the Jewish exile is political. Jesus’ exile is personal as the Jewish exile is collective. Is this a side-effect of the tighter focus we have been building in our lives? Is this the first step toward Twitter and Facebook?

Being given the opportunity to be spared because of being chosen- whether as an individual or as a community- is an incredible celebration! We are spared because we follow the law, follow the traditions, and re-enact the salvations of the past. In Passover as with Easter, we are saved from a certain death by our relationship to G-d.

According to the Christian traditions, instead of following a law to achieve salvation, we simply need to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. He came to show us the way- beyond the laws and traditions (which had been building up then and are exponentially larger now)- and into a new world of compassion and understanding for our enemies as well as our loved ones and the members of our tribe.

We all have the opportunity to make sacrifices on the road to salvation and redemption. Perhaps making important sacrifices in our own lives IS the road to salvation and redemption.