Scripture: Mark 8:31-32
Then Jesus began to teach the disciples that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
Thought for the Day: The theologian, Jurgen Moltmann, struggled to make sense of the cross early in his faith journey. Eventually, he came to believe the suffering of God was necessary if God is love. If something/someone claims to love, but cannot or is unwilling to suffer for the sake of another, can it really be categorized as love. And for Moltmann, it was not just Jesus who suffered. It was the fullness of God (the Trinity) that was fully present on the cross and experienced the suffering of humanity. Moltmann goes further as he suggested that God chose to fully participate in the human experience, including a life that ended on the cross for the purpose of illustrating the depth of divine love and to put forth a new definition of love. The Spirit, also present in that moment of suffering upon the cross, is what allows us to touch and experience this love in the here and now. For as that Spirit comes to dwell within each of us, we come to meet and experience the fullness of that love that was revealed on the cross centuries ago.
Prayer: May the love we see in the cross, O God, be the love we seek to embody. Amen.
THIS SUNDAY
