The Familiarity of Suffering

As the resounding, triumphant echoes of Palm Sunday give way to the hallowed resonance of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, we are invited to remember the suffering of our Savior upon the cross. Anamnesis is the Greek word for remembering. Of the many songs that are often sung during the services recalling the suffering of Christ, “Were You There” invokes the bitter tones of anguish most poignantly. From the throes of despair upon the discovery of betrayal and the humiliating mockery of justice in the court of Pontius Pilate to the pleas of mercy that Jesus proffers from Golgotha, our conceptualization and gaze of the cross are examined by the simple, repeated question, “Were You There?”

Because of our identity as followers of Christ, we are there. Among the curious crowds of onlookers, the ones who deny knowing Him, the ones waiting for the violent war to be waged and the ones who hope to benefit from our proximity to His innocence, we are there. The prophetic words of Isaiah reminding us that Jesus was despised, rejected and acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:1) expose our presence and familiarity with the suffering of Jesus. Holy Week requires us to go with Him through the valley. Holy Week also requires us to remember when Jesus has come to us in the depths of our sufferings and acknowledge the pain He has endured for us.

Between Palm Sunday and Easter lies a bitter, yet familiar pathway that strengthens our faith as we recall the cross upon which our Savior died. Whatever suffering we may experience, it is neither unique nor isolated. Let us remember the lessons of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday as we worship together at 7:00, respectively.

In Christ,
Jon McCoy