Crucifixion of the Flesh

Yesterday I wrote of dieing to our desire to be angry. This lesson is about dieing to the temptation to hate.

Crucifixion of the flesh; we consent to this process (sometimes reluctantly) when it makes sense, such as letting anger go. But what about when it seems senseless? If the good we do seems to suffer, can we still submit to letting go of rectifying wrong situations our own way? I faced this with a friend recently. Repeated disappointments were mounting up. I remembered how to ask God for grace in exchange for my anger . . . but one day I was facing hatred. “How do I handle this?” I quietly asked the Lord. I knew I had a choice, and that Jesus would not have chosen to hate. But the repeated wrong-doing . . . well it just seemed like I couldn’t live with it anymore.

The Lord broke into my thoughts with this; “I chose Judas, knowing what he would do. It cost Me a lot, his betrayal. It ended My ministry when I could have healed more people. Do you think I could have gone to My Father, thinking I knew better than He . . . and told Him that I didn’t want Judas? I was able to die on the cross because I was crucified before I got there.”

My thoughts changed direction immediately. I wondered how far I could walk with a wayward and abusive friend, and still call them “friend” from the heart. Though I felt ashamed of my weakness and almost-hatred, Jesus had taken the time to wash me with His words. I realize now that the crucifixion that comes to us when we are innocent, yet sinned against, occurs at God’s appointment. For Jesus, it meant physical death on a cross, with a new Life awaiting on the other side. And we partake of the benefit of that new life. When our own flesh is feeling the pains of crucifixion should we question our Father’s motives? Or should we wait for the new life that is waiting on the other side of our painful experience? I’m coming to believe that our gardens of disappointments and betrayals are where our flesh is finally crucified so that new life in Christ will follow. It is a life only the committed with find, for it requires a fellowship with Jesus’ sufferings, yet also a knowing of the power of His resurrection (Phil 3:10-11).