Dear Friends,

I will now attempt to talk about the greatest act of love the cosmos has ever seen, or ever will see.

Pray for me.

.

Yes, but the cross

When I decided to write about the Problem of Evil a year ago, I planned to use the sufferings of Christ as the climax of my argument, and here we are. After multiple posts addressing some of the worst human suffering imaginable,  I’ve been looking forward to this!

I’m deeply hurting….you’re deeply hurting…we’re all suffering through something. And in the year 2020, you can get up-to-the-minute updates on the worst suffering across a global population of billions at the touch of a hyperlink.

If you just stop there, it’s easy to reject the idea of a loving, all-powerful God. I get it.

But….but when you lift your eyes to the bloody cross, dear child of God, and the God-man Who died on that cross….that’s when you see it. That’s when you see the love of God on full, indisputable, unmistakable, unequivocal, unambiguous, inescapable, emphatic, vehement, powerful, majestic, intimate, glorious, earth-shattering, mind-altering, and salvific display. That’s when you see the love story that sets the standard for all other love stories.

Bringing the nukes

The main reason the first 60 seconds of this clip are so epic to me is that they harmonize so beautifully with The Greatest Love Story Ever Told.

I don’t recommend the film as a whole, but still, I have to wonder. Was part of the reason for its global impact (it was the global box office champ for 12 years (1)) that the sacrifice it depicted echoed the sacrifice made by the Creator of us all? How many people across various cultures, nationalities, even religions, upon whose hearts God has written His law (Romans 2:15), felt something deep inside of them, perhaps something they could not even comprehend because it contradicted their own culture, some strange voice inside of them echoing back??

I earnestly beg you to watch the Nod To End All Nods (watch the clip above for about 60 seconds). Jack assesses the situation and determines only one of them can be saved, then quietly, subtly, resolutely, briefly, nods to himself. He’s going to die…but his Rose will be safe. He’s going to freeze to death…but she will be rescued and wrapped in warm blankets. He won’t have a family….but she will get married and “make lots of babies” and “watch them grow”. How many people saw that nod and heard a voice coming from the deepest part of their being, saying “That is RIGHT!!!” And how many viewers would be horrified, offended and scandalized to see Jack lying on the door and Rose in the water?

Finally, at the 7:18 mark, he speaks to her the 6 words which basically capture a man’s highest calling and explode my mind into endless Biblical cross-references (Philippians 2:8-11, Philippians 3:10, John 15:13, Ephesians 5:25, Matthew 16:24, to name a few):

“You must do me this honor”.

He’s moved even beyond the Nod…he’s not just accepting his death anymore. Now, he’s calling it an honor. 

The undeniable majesty of this scene, which provides only the faintest glimmer of the night when the Uber-Husband Jesus Christ saved His Bride, His billions of people across the millenia and across the continents, this scene that touches so many people so deeply because it echoes the voice of their Creator to their innermost souls, the majesty of this scene illustrates why, in my rhetorical, theological broadside against the Problem of Evil, I saved the crucifixion for last.

Be afraid, Problem of Evil…I am coming for you in the name of Jesus Christ, and if God will let me use those special keys, I’m bringing the nukes.

Holy ground

Even if I can’t precisely explain my suffering or yours, I can confidently reject “God doesn’t love us” as an explanation, because this explanation, however popular it may be, does not square with the crucifixion.

I don’t know the square root of 345,273,438,149, but I can guarantee you it is not 5.

In this final section of this Problem of Evil series, let us contemplate, with God’s help, the sufferings of Christ. I’ll give you a hint….they began long before the cross.

Let us prepare ourselves…we are now treading on holy ground.

Links:

(1): Global box office records

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