Second Easter Sunday, Year C
Theme: Through His Wounds We Are Healed 祂的傷口治癒我們
Jews believed that only Yahweh, among all gods if they ever had existed, was almighty. Heavens and Earth were the works of His hand (Psalms 19:2). He puts to death and gives life (1 Samuel 2:6). He kills but He also heals our wounds (Jeremiah 30:17). However, the most wondrous and ineffable of all is that in the form of a Suffering Servant, He took on our wounds to heal them. “He was pierced for our sins, crushed for our iniquity. He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by his wounds we were healed.” (Isaiah 53:5). It has all been foretold through the prophets and was read aloud in the synagogues for centuries. But only a handful of people were able to see that the Messiah came to deliver us all in the form of, not a warrior king like David or Cyrus, but a Suffering Servant! Let’s explore and meditate on His wounds and their relations with us.
How did the wounds of this Suffering Servant heal us? Only in those cases where God is relevant can this Suffering Servant heal us. That is my opinion and there seem to be few such cases!
First of all, our wounds are different from His. Our wounds are on our bodies, not His.
Physiologically, God created our body in such a way that it is capable of healing itself, depending on how acute and fatal the wounds are. For minor injuries, we don’t need God’s healings, do we? For fatal ones, even surgeons would throw up their hands. Only in those fatal wounds is God relevant.
Psychologically, we are responsible for wounds which we regret and have ourselves to blame. We may be careless or error-prone; or the whole incident is a pure accident in which nobody is to blame. Again, they are none of God’s business. We should be responsible for cleaning up our own mess. There may probably be some traumas which we repress so much so that they are beyond our reach. In such cases, we may seek professional helps from counsellors, psychoanalysts or even psychiatrists to heal these traumas. Nowadays, we have more resources to handle them and we don’t have to bother God.
Socially, we sustain wounds through communication breakdowns. We may be immature in communication skills and harbour some unrealistic expectations on others. We may feel misunderstood, rejected and spent; or our dignity being slighted. Anyway, we should handle them ourselves and nobody can take our place to mend the fences. Otherwise, those wounds which we sustain in interpersonal relationships would never be properly cured.
What about some sociological situations in which it is beyond our control such as racial/sexual discriminations? Perhaps it is more appropriate to hand them over to politicians and activists to deal with them. We are indifferent whether they resort to piecemeal reforms or radical revolutions as long as the activists represent the will of the majority. On our part, if we want to steer these social actions along the line of the social teachings of the Catholic Church, we are free to get involved. Therefore, these sociological wounds do not belong to God to handle …
The list above is not meant to be exhaustive. But it seems that in the minds of most people, the Suffering Servant is rather irrelevant in healing their wounds.
However, allow me to try to look at the wounds from God’s perspective.
In order to make Himself relevant to humanity, God revealed Himself to the Patriarchs and entered into covenants with them. The almighty God who is the Supreme law-giver restrains Himself, putting restrictions on Himself through the Torah which also serves as guidelines for daily interactions among men. To ensure that the Jews would attain redemption through observing the Torah, God sent prophets to teach and to remind them. Obviously, it didn’t work as expected. “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption.” (Galatians 4:4-5) Employing these terms, “born of a woman, born under the law”, Paul’s narration highlighted His humanity and His willingness to be restrained. God can be truly human and a genuine Jew. He came to honour His pledge.
From another perspective, John says, “The Word became flesh.” (John 1:14) Now, God is no longer some intangible Other on the other side of the universe. He can be seen, heard, touched and felt (1 John 1:1). He walked among us, hungry, thirsty and in need of rest (John 4), showing that He is willing and is capable of taking up our burdens. His love is extraordinary for He embraces all: Jews and Gentiles, lepers and the rich, possessed and righteous, born blind as well as intelligent scribes etc. Of course, He has never imposed His wish upon anyone of us. He only invites and all of us are free not to accept Him. At last, He was betrayed, unfairly condemned, nakedly crucified to be humiliated, died, was pierced and buried in a tomb belonging to somebody else. Yes, none of His bones was broken, nor had he ever fallen sick during His life time. But wouldn’t His Passion be accursed enough? God makes Himself relevant by becoming one of us, even a down-trodden one.
On the other hand, it is not enough just to look at the wounds of victims only. Their wounds are more visible. Even psychological, interpersonal as well as political ones are all written on the victims’ faces. The Son God bears the victims’ wounds by covering the victims and bearing the full brunt of all the attacks on them. “The insults of those who insult you fall upon me.” (Romans 15:3, Psalms 69:10) This perhaps is one of the many miraculous ways God heals us of our wounds. Then why do victims still sustain wounds? These wounds are signs and evidence of the existence of evil as well as God’s love. That further explains why the risen Lord retains His wounds even though He is able to penetrate rocks and walls without leaving a trace after His resurrection. These Stigmata are evidence of His love for humanity.
But what about the abusers? God does not abandon the abusers because both victims and abusers were created in His image. When the abusers attack the victims, they are actually attacking the Son of God. So what! Most likely, the abusers do not believe in the existence of Yahweh, their own Creator. But what are the effects of attacking the Author of Life on the abusers themselves? Would every blow they strike boomerang back on them? Or would their life energy dribble away imperceptibly? Frankly speaking, I have not read enough to be able to answer this. Perhaps it is a secret which could not be revealed. Had people known the price to pay, nobody would want to be abusers anymore! I guess the price must be so high that the abusers could not be able to pay. That’s why the good Lord prayed for the abusers while He was hanging on the cross, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) The Lord is truly merciful. Being merciful is costly but God is willing to oblige.
Brethren! Perhaps the faith of Thomas was in short supply. But who isn’t? He looked for evidence of the resurrection of his Master to ensure that his faith would not be misplaced. That was commendable. Instead, he found more than he expected: the signs of God’s love. “So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13) Among all manners of love, the greatest is to love your abusers!
God bless!
2019 Reflection
Picture Credit: artbible.info
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