THE LIGHT NO DARKNESS CAN OVERCOME
There is Jesus, the One who provoked such hope and humility in
others, the One whose love reached across social chasms to embrace
sinners and outcasts, to bring peace and salvation to the ill. There
is Jesus, on the cross, dying and forsaken.
Is this the end or the beginning? The utter darkness of death or
the deep darkness before dawn? Is the One who brought light and life
about to be extinguished? Or is there more?
I write these words with images of the aftermath of the Indian
Ocean tsunami fresh on my mind. The death and devastation defy
description. A man on television says that one out of every ten
people in his village was killed, including his wife and two
children. I watch the news and hear the stories but must turn off
the television. The suffering is too great for the comfort of my
life: more than 160,000 people killed in such a brief period of
time. I don’t know their language, but I hear them say, “God, why
have you forsaken us?”
It is of no little significance that Jesus in his suffering cried
out to God, to my God, when all others had fled from the
cross. Like suffering Job of old, Jesus speaks with truthfulness
from the depths of his soul. And yet “my God” is an
affirmation of trust. He still belonged, he was still the Beloved to
whom the Voice had spoken in the River Jordan. Through his death,
our merciful God brought forth life and light eternal.
Good Friday proclaims we ought never to despair, no matter how
heavy the burden, how painful the guilt, how wearying the struggle.
The One who has gone before us is the Light no darkness can
overcome. For us and for our salvation, he endured suffering and
death. By his resurrection we are given life and light eternal.
O God, sometimes the darkness seems unbearable, the days so long
and wearying. Help us to know and love Jesus, your beloved Son, who
goes before us and gives us the victory of the cross. Amen
Bishop Gerald Mansholt, Central States Synod, ELCA
