The Cross

Have you ever asked yourself, "Was the passion necessary? Could God have saved us another way?" Since we are talking about God, I'm sure the answer is yes. After all, nothing is impossible for God. The fact is, however, He did choose to take our humanity and He did choose to die on the cross. The questions we have, while they may be worthy of thought, may be better asked in this way: "Why did God take on our humanity, and save us by the cross?" This question leads to an understanding of who we are, and it has a definitive answer. In short, the humanity of Jesus and His passion gives us the ability to approach Him, because in these acts, He makes Himself look like us.  

In order to comprehend this, we must go back to the beginning. When "God created man in His image; in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them" (Gn. 1:27). He originally made us with complete freedom, in unity, and with a perfect ability to be open to Him and each other. These gifts, now lost due to original sin, can be attained once again. This is why the Son of God came and offered Himself. When we look through the lens of the way we were created to be, the original man, as Pope John II called us, then we can understand why God chose to save us in the way He did.  

In the beginning, "The man and his wife were naked, yet they felt no shame" (Gn. 2:25). Understanding their nakedness should not focus on the physical element of their situation; rather, we should focus on the transparency they had with one another. Their ability to be intimate with each other, and with God. The original sin changed all this. What was the original sin? What was its effect?  

Did it really have to do with eating an apple? Probably not. But we do know it had to do with disobedience. We know that the Lord gave Adam this order: "You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden, except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; when you eat from it you shall die" (Gn. 2:16-17). Apparently, God did not tell Adam of the trouble in Heaven in regard to the rebellion of Satan and his angels. Certainly, a knowledge that God would have revealed in time.  

The order to Adam was given prior to Eve's creation, and we know he taught her about the forbidden fruit, from the account of the temptation in the garden. The serpent approached Eve with the question, "Did God really say, 'you shall not eat from any of the tress in the garden'?" "The woman answered the snake: 'We may eat of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said'. 'You shall not eat it or even touch it, or else you will die'" (Gn. 3:1-3).  

Next, we hear the first recorded lie. "But the snake said to the woman: 'You certainly will not die! God knows well that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, who know good and evil'" (Gn. 3:4-5).  

We know how the story ends, but did they actually die? Well, physically no-- at least not right away. There was, however, an immediate death, the loss of innocence, which created a separation from God and caused the original wound. After the Fall, we read: "When they heard the sound of the Lord God walking about in the garden at the breezy time of the day, the man and his wife hid themselves from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. The Lord God then called to the man and asked him: 'Where are you?' He answered, 'I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid'" (Gn. 3:8-10). Now the sin grows from disobedience to lies. Eve blames the serpent who tricked her, and Adam blames the woman that the Lord put in the garden with him (Gn. 3:12-13). Their excuses are as familiar as any four-year-old who gets in trouble.  

It is clear to see the effect of sin on relationships. The natural gift of intimacy was gone, and other consequences included toil, labor, birth pangs, suffering, and death. An effect that is not so clear is the damage sin causes to our heart and soul. We suffer internally but cannot see it. Our hearts are cut and bleeding from the injustices in life, some which we inflict upon ourselves. These consequences have tarnished the unspeakably great gift of being created in God's image, both inside and out.  

So, what does this all have to do with the life, passion, and death of Jesus? What can we learn?  

Jesus told Sister Faustina, "The bride must resemble her bridegroom." When He spoke these words to her, she described Him as being in the midst of His passion: stripped naked, his body bloodied, bruised, with whip marks, His face swollen and spit upon (Diary 268). As the bride must resemble her groom, Jesus is the groom, and we are His bride. In our current state, we are incapable of making ourselves look like Jesus, like what we had in the state of original man. Therefore, Jesus took the form of our humanity, to match what we look like on the outside. He then stooped even lower and through His passion experienced: torture, humiliation, abandonment, crucifixion, and death in order to look on the outside the way we look on the inside as a result of sin, which has bruised and battered our inner self. He has made himself a perfect match. We need no longer to hide out of fear of our shame being exposed. Let us come to God as we are. After all, nothing is hidden from Him.  

As Saint Paul says, "No creature is concealed from Him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must render an account. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace for timely help" (Hebrews 4:14-16). Allow ourselves to be raised with Him in His Resurrection as we unite ourselves with His death.