You took on a body,
made yourself susceptible to pain.
You felt every lash,
every thorn digging into your scalp,
each crash of the hammer
as the nails bore deeper into your hands and feet.
You could have fought back when they slapped and punched
and spat in your face.
You could have called on the angels,
bid them come down and put an end to your suffering.
You could have stopped it.
You could have avoided it altogether.
Instead, you let it happen.
You took on a body,
made yourself vulnerable to heartbreak.
You felt anguish and disappointment,
rejection from your closest friends.
You endured the humiliation,
the lies spoken about you,
the name-calling and mockery and taunting.
You could have shot back with insults of your own.
You could have justified yourself
and defended your own honor.
You could have stopped it.
You could have avoided it altogether.
Instead, you took it all silently.
What kind of god does that?
A God who is willing to suffer with and for his people.
A God who will take the crap heaped upon him
if it means that the futility and powerlessness and hypocrisy
and the evil of human corruption will be exposed.
In your silent endurance of unjust torment,
you showed us what we’re capable of –
mere humans who have the audacity
to mock and torture and kill God himself.
In your inconceivable endurance of unjust torment,
you showed us what you’re capable of –
self-giving love that knows no bounds
and mercy without end.
Featured Image by Wim van 't Einde on Unsplash