3rd Sunday of Lent

 

Christ Crucified

Expectations!

We all have them,

But sometimes things don’t turn out like we expect them to.

People have expectations of God!

They expect God to do certain things and act in certain ways.

For example if I am good, I expect God to reward me.

If I am bad I expect God to punish me.

This is a rather simplistic understanding of God.

It sounds more like a contract or agreement with an employer

than a loving relationship.

The Jews had expectations of the Messiah.

They thought the Messiah would come in power and glory,

And throw off the yoke of the Romans,

And restore the Kingdom of David,

And all the nations would come to worship in Jerusalem.

So when Jesus did not fulfill their expectation,

But offered a Crucified Messiah instead,

They found the cross to be a stumbling block to their Faith,

Those who were not Jews at the time,

The Greeks and Romans,

Believed in Zeus and Mars the gods of power and war.

So they had expectations that if Jesus was the Son of God,

He would come with lightning bolts and on winged chariots,

Not hanging on a cross.

So when Jesus did not fulfill their expectations,

They thought it was foolish to believe in such a weak god.

What happens to us when God does not meet our expectations?

Most people today want a god of,

Power, riches, and clout and Fame.

That does their bidding when they want or need something.

Who really wants one that hangs on a cross,

Bleeding and gasping for breath.

Yet this is our God!

As St. Paul said,

We Proclaim Christ Crucified.

A stumbling block to the Jews,

And foolishness to everyone else.

But to those who believe,

Christ Crucified is the power and the wisdom of God.

And God uses the suffering and apparent weakness of Jesus,

To turn the world and its ways and thinking on its head.

For God is wiser than human wisdom

Stronger than human strength.

And there is Real Power and Wisdom in the cross,

That only those who believe can see.

God Bless