The scandal of Christianity is that the infinite God condescends to become Man for our salvation. That is, God willingly chooses to live in the mess of humanity because He is aware of how desperately we need Him. This completely flips the script that other religions preach; while most preach man searching for God, Christianity preaches the God who seeks out man. And yet, strangely, man rejects the very God in whose image we are made. The Gospel of John clearly preaches this:
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own,[c] and His own[d] did not receive Him. (John 1:10-11)
Jesus Himself later explains why He is rejected by mankind in St. John’s gospel:
19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (John 3:19-21)
And mankind, in their smallness, isolation, and unwillingness to see the Light of the world, decide to torture, mock, and crucify the uncreated God. God does not resist, but rather willingly accepts the shame and suffering for our sake. He is questioned, falsely accused, beaten, spat upon, and insulted, yet responds not to His accusers. And, in the fullness of time, He is led unto His crucifixion, forced to carry His own cross. It is as the prophecy of Isaiah states:
He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb is silent before his shearers, so He opens not His mouth. In His humiliation His judgement was taken away, and who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth… (Isaiah 53:7-8)
God chooses to suffer, die, and enter into hell for our salvation. In doing so, He fills up all suffering Himself. And now there is no place where God is not. In the depths of our own hell, when we feel alone and isolated, Christ too is there, for He descended into hell and abolished it for us. When we are weak, the One who made Himself weak is also there with us. When we suffer, the Christ who suffered is also present.
May God comfort us in our sufferings and grant us salvation and the Kingdom to come.
