By A. Ibrahim
A most unusual time lies behind us. Diana, the People's Princess, died on 31st August 1997 in a horrendous car crash in Paris. The people of Great Britain and many other parts of the world were shocked and deeply grieved over what had happened. A few days later her Majesty, the Queen, spoke on TV to the nation, "there are lessons to be drawn from Diana's life and from the extraordinary and moving reaction to her death."
What made her so special is the fact that she was prepared to leave her life of comfort temporarily, in order to help the dying and the destitute. During those times the Princess was ready to enter the miserable existence of Leprosy and Aids sufferers, and of land mine victims. Her concern was so real that she dared to touch them emotionally and even physically. She fought for their cause and the nations loved her for this. They yearn for those of great power and influence to compassionately reach down to them and to help by identifying with their pleas. Here is revealed the climax of the ultimate lesson for all of us to learn: God did all this in a perfect way! In the first chapter of the Gospel of John we read:
"In the beginning was the one who is called the Word. The Word was with God and was truly God. ...The Word became a human being and lived here with us..."
(Verses 1, 14)
The Almighty God, the King of kings, came among us in Jesus for two reasons: Firstly, to show us that God is absolutely Holy and therefore can not accept any kind of evil. It has become evident in the life of Diana that even good people have great weaknesses. Earl Spencer, Diana's brother, said in his tribute to her at the funeral, "Diana explained to me once that it was her innermost feelings of suffering that made it possible for her to connect with her constituency of the rejected."
Diana's suffering was partly caused by her parents' and her own break up of marriage and by unhappy love affairs. She looked for guidance by consulting her personal astrologer rather than God in prayer. Elton John sang at Diana's funeral the beautiful song "Candle in the wind." However, the line, "Now you belong to heaven" can be misleading. Not our good works alone bring us into heaven but faith in the good work Jesus did on our behalf!
That brings us to the second reason why God, the King came among us: To reveal the wonderful good news that God, the creator of the whole universe loves us! His Holiness and his Justice demand the punishment and consequently the horrendous eternal separation of the sinner from him. But his unspeakable Love demands the forgiveness of those who have in rebellion gone their own ways. In Jesus he met both, the demands of his Holiness, his Justice, and of his Love at the cross! There he took the punishment for our sins upon himself and died on our behalf so that we might have life everlasting!
The playlet entitled 'The Long Silence,' which describes the last day of judgement, underlines the uniqueness of the one and only God who revealed himself in the Bible.
"At the end of time, billions of people were scattered on a great plain before God's throne. Most shrank back from the brilliant light before them. But some groups near the front talked heatedly - not with cringing shame, but with belligerence. 'Can God judge us? How can he know about suffering?' snapped a pert young brunette. She ripped open a sleeve to reveal a tattooed number from a Nazi concentration camp. 'We endured terror...beatings... torture... death!'
In another crowd, a pregnant schoolgirl with sullen eyes. 'Why should I suffer' she murmured, 'It wasn't my fault.'
Far out across the plain there were hundreds of such groups. Each had a complaint against God for the evil and suffering he permitted in his world. How lucky God was to live in heaven where all was sweetness and light, where there was no weeping of fear, no hunger or hatred. What did God know of all that man had been forced to endure in this world? For God leads a pretty sheltered life, they said.
In the centre of the plain they consulted with each other. At last they were ready to present their case. it was rather clever.
Before God could be qualified to be their judge, he must endure what they had endured. Their decision was that God should be sentenced to live on earth - as a man!
'Let him be born a Jew. Let the legitimacy of his birth be doubted. Give him a work so difficult that even his family will think him out of his mind when he tries to do it. Let him be betrayed by his closest friends. Let him face false charges, be tried by a prejudiced jury and convicted by a cowardly judge. Let him be tortured. At the last, let him see what it means to be terribly alone. Then let him die. Let him die so that there can be no doubt that he died. Let there be a great host of witnesses to verify it.' As each leader announced his portion of the sentence, loud murmurs of approval went up from the throng of people assembled.
And when the last had finished pronouncing sentence, there was a long silence. No-one uttered another word. No-one moved. For suddenly all knew that God had already served his sentence."
Having pondered over all this, how can we learn the ultimate lesson in the present from the past for the future? Jesus rose on the third day from the dead and now calls upon all mankind:
"If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest. Take the yoke I give you. Put it on yours shoulders and learn from me.
(Matthew 11:28-29)
Will we come in prayer to the God who suffered for us in Jesus? Will we apologize to him for going our own selfish ways and are we then willing to turn around and follow in His selfless ways? Will we ask him to come to live in us through his Holy Spirit as he promised he would? Only then, with His help, will we be able to please God and to become a truly compassionate people.