5 of 5

His rage continued when he arrived home. On the apartment wall hung a crucifix, given to him by his mother with the prayer that one day he would come to Christ. Furious, he hurled a cake topped with thick, white icing at it. The icing covered the crucifix, dripping down the face of the crucified figure. And in that moment, my words about Christ's suffering came alive to him. For the first time, he said, he saw Jesus' tears. In his apartment, he knelt in front of the cross and gave his life to Christ. And he uttered these words: "Christ is for me, not against me."

The man told me: "I don't understand many of the things that happened politically, but I know that Jesus did not forsake me. He was in pain when I was in pain. He was in tears when I was in tears. He did not experience joy when I suffered the most." Forgoing speculation as to why suffering befell him, he was now risking himself to the loving care of the Divine Sufferer. It sufficed this wounded governor to perceive in the Cross God's deepest pain and his loving scars. Thus sensing God's presence in his suffering, it enabled him to receive the gospel, and eventually to find faith.

Our compassionate God meets us in every corner of our lives. Catherine of Siena once cried out: "My God and Lord, where were you when my heart was plunged in darkness and filth?" And she heard a voice: "My daughter, did you feel it? I was in your heart." Because our Lord knows pain firsthand, we can pray with confidence that he will be moved by our cries.

How our prayers are answered is a matter of God's wisdom and sovereignty, and to these we may well submit with the assurance that he hugs us close to him as his beloved.

In turmoil and trials, Staupitz's pastoral advice to Luther speaks to us, too: "Contemplate the wounds of Christ and the blood that was shed for you." With this we can be assured in our hearts, "I am his, and he is mine! He was in agony for us on the cross; he feels for me and with me still; he cares!" And that, surely, is the best news ever.

-Dennis Ngien, preaching associate at First Alliance Church of Metro-Toronto and adjunct faculty member at Ontario Theological Seminary, is an international evangelist and the author of The Suffering of God According to Martin Luther's Theologia Crucis (Peter Lang Publishing, 1995).

Copyright © 1997 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

February 3, 1997 Vol. 41, No. 2, Page 38

first page |  5 of 5

share this page

February 3 1997, Vol. 41, No. 2