This quote highlights how Jesus, in his suffering and death, stands in solidarity with any human being who suffers, especially the poor, the forgotten, and the powerless:
It's important to note that [according to the world's standards] Jesus' death was an obscure one … [In the world's eyes] Jesus dies like a migrant worker who suffocates in a freight container, like a garbage-picker caught in a slide, like a child with an infected finger, like a beggar the bus reverses over. Or, of course, like all the other slaves ever punished by crucifixion, a fate so low, said [the Roman philosopher] Cicero, that no well-bred person should ever even mention it. Some people ask nowadays what kind of a religion it is that chooses an instrument of torture for its symbol … The answer is: one that takes the existence of suffering seriously.
Editor's Note: Christ's death was completely planned and purposeful, not random or accidental. This quote merely highlights that at the Cross, Jesus completely identifies with the agony of the migrant worker, the garbage-picker, the unknown child, the beggar, the slave, and every other human being who has ever lived.
