Beyond the Pain

Imagine Jesus’ exhaustion from being up all day and all night till three o’clock the next day, together with the abuse he endured during that time. No wonder he did not have enough strength left to carry the cross all the way up to Golgotha. In the soldiers’ mockery and mistreatment, he felt the sting of rejection from the very people he was trying to help. His feeling of abandonment by his closest disciples and even by the Father himself, issued in the cry from the cross, “Why have you forsaken me?” Such lesser aspects of his last temptation add to the physical suffering that rivets our attention on his final day.

Undercurrents like these work against anyone’s resolve. We may not face the agony Jesus faced. More likely, our weaknesses show up in how we handle lesser things: stress, rejection, abandonment, ridicule, shame, frustration, insecurity, disappointment, and plain old exhaustion. Emotional temptations affect how we treat those close to us. Such feelings slip in unnoticed to take their toll before we realize the impact they are having on us.

In taking this unleavened bread and fruit of the vine, let’s deliberately connect with the power that carried Jesus through the “downers” that accompanied his last act of devotion to the Father.