Christ’s humiliation consisted in His being born and that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; in being buried, and continuing under the power of the death for a time.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism Q. 27
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:6
Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent when Christians around the world will begin a 40 day time of reflection and remembrance as we approach Easter Sunday. A time to do some serious review of the things we value, or even worship in life.
Many will give up their favorite things. That’s where the tradition of Mardi Gras began, essentially eating up all the good stuff before Ash Wednesday on what some call Fat Tuesday.
I’ve been wondering if there’s something I can or should give up this year. To be honest, I feel like I’ve given up a lot over the last few months.
I’ve also felt like I’ve had my share of humiliation.
If you’ve been through an extended health challenge, you likely know of what I speak.
No privacy. No secrecy.
I told my wife over the weekend that I long to be able to take myself to the bathroom and take care of my personal needs.
There are no secrets.
No. Secrets.
This week, just to make it more special, high school students in a nursing program have been on site.
“This is how you take him to the toilet.”
“This is how you wash his bum.”
Sigh.
In the beginning, I just felt humiliated. Nurses or aides would apologize. I finally got to the point of telling them it no longer matters. I’ve accepted it.
Mostly.
But I still want it to be over.
In those early weeks I thought about my own humiliation.
Then I thought about Christ’s humiliation.
Not quite in the same way. But he was stripped and beaten.
And he carried our sins to the cross.
All of them.
There is nothing we have experienced or faced that he was not confronted with in those horrible last hours.
My humiliation. He knows.
If I’m being honest, over these last few months, I’ve not really felt his presence. I know he is there. I know he cares for me. I know he is healing me.
I’m just not feeling it.
But I believe it.
I believe he understands every bit of pain or humiliation or frustration that I have experienced since this whole ordeal began.
None of it has surprised him. None of it has caused him to turn his face away.
I’ll be thinking and praying about that through the days of Lent.
Maybe in 40 days I’ll be walking again. Maybe not.
I would love to be back in church on Easter Sunday. Even if it means rolling in in my chair.
Either way, I know he will understand. I know he will be there.
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Praying you’ll be walking into church on Easter.