GOOD FRIDAY God’s Suffering - Man’s Liberation

  

GOOD FRIDAY 

God’s Suffering - Man’s Liberation

God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all. 

Suffering and liberation are both central to the Exodus story, which tells of the (re)birth of the Israelites and their freedom from slavery. While suffering may not be the first thing to the notions of freedom, expansiveness, and liberation, the Exodus event teaches us that these experiences are often intertwined. The Zohar is a Jewish mystical text, a central work of Kabbalah commenting on the Torah, delves into its mystical and symbolic meanings. Egypt (mitzrayim) and the word for “narrow straits” (m’tzarim) are metaphors for any personal or collective experience of suffering, constriction whether physical, emotional, or spiritual slavery. The Israelites were brought out of Miztrayim (“the narrow straits”) and into a new existence through the waters of the Sea of Reeds. In this sense, Egypt becomes a metaphorical womb or birth canal out of which the Israelites are “birthed,” and God becomes the midwife!

A mother who gives birth to her baby undergoes the pain and suffering just before the baby’s delivery, and that is the moment she feels too hard to handle. Similarly, the moments just before the liberation of Israel were the most terrifying and plunge into the darkest despair. It was only after the plague of darkness and after losing his beloved firstborn son that Pharaoh finally let the Israelites free, though he later changed his mind and went after them. The Israelites found themselves trapped between the sea and the pursuing Egyptian army, death and drowning. Wondering at the Red Sea, no Israelite was willing to step into the waters of the sea.  In this moment of despair, Nahshon, son of Amminadab, a figure in the Midrashic writings, stepped into the waters first, refusing to lose hope. Yet, we could imagine suffering in his faith. His prayer, at that time, must had been, “Save me, God; for the waters are come in even unto the soul. I am sunk in deep mire, where there is no standing…let not the water flood overwhelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up” (Ps 69:2–3, 16). 

At that time, Moses was prolonging his prayer. And El Shaddai said to him, “My beloved ones are drowning in the sea, and you prolong your prayer to me? Moses answered, “Master of the Universe, but what can I do? Elohim said to him, “Speak to the children of Israel that they go forward. And you, lift up your rod and stretch out your hand” (Ex 14:15–16; Sotah 37a). This midrash has a powerful story about how to deal with the fear that arises when we believe all hope is lost. There is a well-known song inspired by the words Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, which says, “The whole world is a very narrow bridge, and the most important thing is not to be afraid.” Nahshon did not freeze out of fear in the narrow place; he stepped forward in faith and called out in prayer. This opened a new path forward and made the way for liberation and life. Nahshon’s actions teach us the power of both faith and action in times of our drowning in the sea of suffering. Liberation requires prayer and action when all seem to be impossible.

The Exodus also reminds us that liberation should not be achieved at the expense of ignoring the suffering of others. The story of the Exodus does not exist in a vacuum. The pain of one cannot be divorced from the suffering of another. The Egyptian oppressors also experienced agony. The very force that brings freedom to one people results in the pain of another. Just as God mourns and suffers with all those who suffer, so we too are invited to look back on our suffering to acknowledge the pain of others. The God of Israel fully experiences human suffering. God saw the suffering of the Israelites, heard it, and knew it in an embodied sense. God’s empathy is not restricted to the Israelites alone but extends to all God’s creatures, human and non-human (Ex 3:7). The Talmud says that God rebuked the angels when they began to sing in joy at the drowning of the Egyptians, saying, “How dare you sing for joy when the work of my hands is drowning in the sea?” (Sanhedrin 39b). This chastisement reminds us to remember the suffering of others, even in moments of our suffering and liberation.

The embodied acknowledgment of the suffering of others is also built into the Passover of Christ. The Exodus event invites us to reflect on the cost of freedom, not just for ourselves but for all who suffer for liberation. May we learn to pray for liberation not only for those we love but for those who stand opposed to us as Christ did on Calvary. In the end, only shared humanity can bring true liberation to the whole groaning universe.

 

Jesus Christ showed his love for us and freed us from our sins with his life’s blood.