God of the filth

Then Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified.
So they took charge of Jesus. He went out, carrying his cross, and came to ‘The Place of the Skull’, as it is called. (In Hebrew it is called ‘Golgotha’.) There they crucified him; and they also crucified two other men, one on each side, with Jesus between them. Pilate wrote a notice and had it put on the cross. ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews’, is what he wrote. (verses 19: 16-19)

Read John 18: 1 – 19: 42

The name of this place, ‘The Place of the Skull’, conjures up the most gruesome of images. It is the place where hundreds, maybe thousands, of the most painful of deaths have occurred. It is a place of unknowable suffering, of blood, broken bones and tears. It is a place which confronts us with the barbarity of cruel humanity and the complete helplessness of victimised humanity. It is dirty, smelly, horrid.

Yet it is the place where God does his greatest work. Through the absolute degradation and debasement of Jesus in this dreaded place, God makes possible new life for the whole world.

Put it all together, and Golgotha screams to us the reality of God who lives and works in the filth, degradation and terror of life. Life is not always pretty, not always a bed of roses. Life stinks at times. And still today God is to be found in the heart of that mess and filth. Still today – also in your life – this is where Jesus does his greatest work.

Especially when my life seems to be nothing, make me aware, Lord Jesus, of your healing, restoring presence. Amen.

by Bob Kempe, in ‘God’s Promises for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 1999)

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