the scandal of the Cross

Christianity acknowledges that we are sinners; we are all sinners. It is a belief that God, in Jesus, “did not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17). Jesus did not merely come to call sinners – he spent all of his time with them. He ate with them (cf. Mark 2:15-17); it was, you could say, his mission.

“’Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house… For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost’” (Luke 19:5, 9-10).

If we are Christian, and if we are truly honest with ourselves, we must admit that we are all sinners, and that the “righteous” that Jesus did not come to call do not – quite frankly – exist. Yet many Christians seem to be tempted to see Christianity through the lens of a perfect holiness. They are even tempted to point out the lack of holiness, the unholiness, of their brothers and sisters. How unfortunate. Such a temptation seems to miss, I would say, the more concrete reality that the holiness we desire is not human holiness, but the Lord’s. What seems to scandalize many Christians, however, is the fact that God himself has chosen to give this holiness – His holiness – to the “unholy hands” of men. In the final analysis, this is what theologians through the centuries have called, ‘the scandal of the Cross’.

A well-known theologian and author, Joseph Ratzinger, has expressed it this way:

“We come up here against the real mark of the ‘New Covenant’: in Christ, God has bound himself to men, has let himself be bound by them. The New Covenant no longer rests on the reciprocal keeping of the agreement; it is granted by God as grace that abides even in the face of man’s faithlessness.”

This comes from a book written several decades ago titled, Introduction to Christianity. He continues:

““Let us go a step further. In the human dream of a perfect world,
holiness is always visualized as an untouchability by sin and evil, as
something unmixed with the latter; there always remains in some form
or another a tendency to think in terms of black and white, a tendency
to cut out and reject mercilessly the current form of the negative
(which can be conceived in widely varying terms). In contemporary
criticism of society and in the actions in which it vents itself, this
relentless side always present in human ideals is once again only too
evident. That is why the aspect of Christ’s holiness that upset his
contemporaries was the complete absence of this condemnatory note – fire did not fall on the unworthy, nor were the zealous allowed to
pull up the weeds they saw growing luxuriantly on all sides. On the
contrary, this holiness expressed itself precisely as mingling with
the sinners whom Jesus drew into his vicinity; as mingling to the
point where he himself was made ‘to be sin’ and bore the curse of the
law in execution as a criminal – complete community of fate with the
lost (cf. 2 Cor 5:21; Gal 3:13).

Many people, indeed many Christians, like to criticize the Catholic Church for her “many sins”. But hasn’t the problem of “sin” been the lot of all of humanity?

In the Old Testament, we follow the story of God’s Chosen People, his Holy Nation, Israel. Here, we see the notion of “holy” to be used in it’s proper context, assigned by God; “holiness” means to be “set apart”. The holiness, then, is truly a grace from God; it is the holiness of God, and not of the people of Israel. Indeed, following the story of Israel, we see unholiness abound. They were sinners; sin was their lot, too. Yet no Israelite would deny that they belonged to God, that they were His Chosen People. The Israelites truly knew themselves to be set apart. The Church, which is Catholic and founded by God in Jesus (cf. Matthew 16:17-19; 28:19-20), is also “set apart” in this way.

“For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (Isaiah 43:3).

Not all that long ago, a growing Protestant community was thriving in the United States. Many faithful and dedicated souls flocked to this church each week to hear the inspiring messages of their pastor, who spoke passionately about the saving work of Jesus Christ. And then, tragedy struck. The pastor had been arrested and convicted of murdering his wife – and the man whom his wife was having an affair with.

Did you hear about this story?

I have not shared the details, the names of those involved, or the location of the church. It was, however, in the news – but not much. Instead, scandals in the Catholic Church flourished in the news and headlines. The Catholic Church is the largest body of Christians in the world; perhaps this makes scandals in the Church “easier” to cover. However, all things considered, I would argue that the real scandal is a failure to understand Christianity – indeed, a failure to understand the life and mission of Jesus himself, who came to dwell with us sinners.

I must admit: I find a certain comfort in knowing that God, through Jesus, continues to choose to dwell with us, who are unholy, sinners and often times faithless. While it is unfortunately tempting to be scandalized by this – indeed, even for Christians – it is also a source of comfort and joy; it is, finally, an invitation to “repent, and believe in the good news” (cf. Mark 1:14)!

Thank you, Lord, for coming to dwell with us, and to save us poor sinners. Please help me to not be judgmental of my brothers and sisters. I am a sinner, Lord; help me to not “throw stones” at other sinners (cf. John 8:3-11).