Three Lessons from the Passion and Resurrection

Every year we walk with Jesus, our faith deepens and new understandings shine forth.  This year, here are three lessons coming through for me during this Holy Week.

#1 “If Only I Could Show Them”: The Last Foolish Journey

Often, as spiritual aspirants make their ascent, they want to be of service in any way possible, regardless of personal cost.  They desire that their life be an offering to God.  

For those with a more fundamental view, a desire for penance motivates this offering.  They experience the utter love and perfection of God and want to do something to atone for their prior mis-steps.  

“If only,” they pray, “You would allow me to suffer to atone for my sins and the sins of others, so that we could all draw closer to you.”

For me, this urge to be of service shows itself a little differently.   Mine stems from knowing that no trial on Earth can separate me from the love of God.  I witness the suffering of the world that comes from the ignorance of the knowledge of God’s love and want to do anything I can to ease the pain of others.  In this, I know that I am not alone or unique.    

“If only,” I pray, “I could undergo suffering myself and walk through it in peace, perhaps then I could show the way for others to relieve their own suffering.”

Jesus’ Response

To both prayers, Jesus answers: “My child, I already did it in your place.”  Jesus already atoned for our missteps, to show us that we already had full access to the love of God.  And He already took on the ultimate suffering and walked through it in peace to demonstrate that there is nothing to fear.  Death has no power and God’s love is ever present.

The Course in Miracles states, “The journey to the cross should be the last foolish journey for every mind.  Do not dwell upon it, but dismiss it as accomplished.  If you can accept that as your own last foolish journey, you are free also to join in my resurrection.” (ACIM, IV:7)

Let us hold to our desire to give our lives in service by surrendering all, the love of God to overtake our entire being.  Let us give from the well that never runs dry. Let us eat from the Bread of Life and share that abundant bread with everyone we meet.

But let us relinquish the desire for personal “sacrifice”.  The only sacrifice we should make is the sacrifice of our personal will, allowing God’s will to reign supreme within us in all things.  There is no need to sacrifice anything else, for Jesus already did on our behalf.  May we accept Jesus’ gift of love and enter into His resurrection joy!  

#2 Don’t Hold Onto Me

One of the first Bible verses to touch me at the heart level when I was younger is Jesus’ address to Mary in the resurrection garden (John 20).  She is deep in her grief, believing that Jesus’ body had been stolen from the tomb.  Believing Jesus to be a gardener, she asks him where he put the body.

In response, Jesus gently speaks her name: “Mary.”  

It is the sound of His voice lovingly calling to her heart that pulls her from her grief to the reality of the presence of the embodiment of pure love beside her.  

Love Broadens and Deepens

Over the years, despite being deeply in love with both of my husbands (my late husband and my current one), my love for Jesus has grown to surpass any love I could feel for a human man.  Perhaps because the overpowering love and devotion I feel go beyond Jesus Himself to the Christ consciousness that resides in all things and that is also fully present in the core of my being.  I have no words to express the depths of this overpowering, all-consuming love that fills me.  

Jesus draws Mary from his earthly love for him to that broader, deeper love of what he represents, when he urges her:

“Do not hold on to me.”

This is Jesus’ plea to us as well.  Fall in love with your romantic partner, your children, your friends, the animal companions in your life, the beauty of the sunrise, the vastness of the ocean.  Then, go beyond that love to the Spirit within it all.  Fall deeply in love with Jesus, then go beyond the man to the Christ-consciousness that is within all, including the inner sanctum of your heart.  

#3 Ability to Grieve with Hope

Finally, the Resurrection reminds us that, ultimately, (drawing from the words of Julian of Norwich) all is well and all will be well.  We grieve all that is broken in ourselves, in our family, in our world at large, but in a different way.  We grieve for the suffering that need not be and simultaneously hold the knowing that even this will ultimately be used for God’s glory.

NOTHING separates anyone from God’s love.  ALL things work for good.  And so tears fall, the heart breaks in compassion, but the river of tears is accompanied by an underlying ever-present joy.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4).

He is Risen!  Jesus, the Christ, is forever before you, behind you, and within us all.  Amen.