Wednesday of Holy Week - April 13, 2022

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Isaiah 50:4-9a      Matthew 26:14-25

Like many people, I have experienced great sorrow in my life and will likely experience more. Today’s reading from the Book of Isaiah speaks so clearly to me having encountered tragedy, but also as someone who has been lifted out of the trenches by faith and community. One lesson I draw from the text is that being a human is hard. But, as followers of Christ, we do not suffer alone and we do not suffer in vain.

When I read, “The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue so that I may speak to the weary a word that will rouse them,” I understand that those of us who have suffered are blessed. Blessed because we can, perhaps, more deeply empathize with others and are best equipped to comfort others or listen without judgment as Jesus did. There are gifts in suffering with Christ, but they don’t make the hard times painless. If it were up to me, I would rather have not needed these gifts. But I see now we are not shielded from “bullets and spitting,” rather given hope amid the pain.

If Jesus came here to live the human experience–sharing, suffering, dying and then rising–then what are we to fear? Maybe the human experience is supposed to be hard. If even the son of God suffered, then why should we expect not to? And if we all should expect to hurt and be heartbroken, then why not open ourselves up to God? Why not extend that openness to others so that we share the burden? I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but I know ultimately there will be peace in the end. Easter is coming. Because “the LORD is my help; who will prove me wrong?”

Q: Will I try to suffer with Christ and not on my own?

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