X. Jesus is stripped
Jesus was stripped. The soldiers threw dice to decide which of them would have his garment. Nothing was left to him. He, the image of the unseen God, the first-born of all creation, was being stripped of all power and dignity and exposed to the world in total vulnerability. Here the greatest mystery of all time was revealed to us: God chose to reveal the divine glory to us in humiliation. Where all beauty is gone, all eloquence withdrawn, there it is that God has chosen to manifest unconditional love to us. Jesus bore our suffering. The stripped body of Jesus reveals to us the immense degradation that human beings suffer all through the world, at all places and in all times. Life is an increasing call to let go of desires, of success and accomplishment, to give up the need to be in control, to die to the illusion of greatness. The joy and peace that Jesus offers is hidden in the descending way of the cross. There lie hope, victory, and new life, but they are given to us where we are losing all.
Excerpt from Henri Nouwen’s Walk With Jesus, Orbis Books. Posted with the kind permission of the publisher.
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August 15th, 2008 @ 5:38 am
Jesus is God. ‘God’ was not trying to show us anything by allowing Jesus to be stripped. God is not other. God becomes other when we lack the recognition that God is all and live our lives accordingly.
The stripping Jesus went through was our doing not God’s. As long as we do not see ourselves as part of the fullness of creation, we will continue to humiliate anyone who appears different than us.
Jesus knowing full well what reaction his teaching would bring forth. His life of teaching was his purpose and how the world responds to messages of love and compassion nothing he controlled. His Silence in the presence of Pilate
March 13th, 2008 @ 10:51 am
The image of the women confined to the hospital against her will brings to mind the problem of the old and typically poor who end up in the medical system where they are often given less then optimum care. For those who are looking for a “mission” being an advocate for the non- represented among the poor as it relates to hospital care seems like a good fit.
March 13th, 2008 @ 7:19 am
I believe being stripped is a sign of God’s love and how He views us in Jesus in His mission for the universe.
Being called through poverty is what might have to happen for me to understand what it is for God’s mission for my life is.
As I think back on my journey in all the ways that my sins have caused me calamity, my faith wouldn’t have been formed thus far for His transforming plan for my life. Looking at Henri’s life and all the places he traveled in his journey, I believe were necessary in God’s plan for His life.
Living on the street, preaching on a corner, and not owning one thing is not my calling, not because I wouldn’t want that, but feel that Jesus is leading me from where I am now. I pray for the Grace to continue to follow Him and to grow the faith to say yes, if being on the street is where He leads me to, with “Stripping,” being the effects of my own delusions of His true calling. Stripped is a good description metaphorically for the removable veneer that I have in all the attachments that I believe can make me more acceptable to those around me.
Being naked(stripped)and nothing else mattering to God is(was)necessary for me to know in my walk of faith in Jesus Christ. Thanks for your encouraging and honest heart felt comments in this forum.
March 12th, 2008 @ 8:40 am
I really don’t understand this write up - “Jesus is Stripped.” In some ways, it appears that Henri Nouwen is suggesting we go to “poverty on purpose.”
If he is saying that when we observe poverty in others, either spiritual or financial or any other type, we have a calling, then I understand.
Thoughts on what he means?
Hi Bruce - As the moderator for this blog discussing, WALK WITH JESUS, I am very appreciative of comments and participation. Thanks for your question. Let me tweak what you observed slightly. I think that Nouwen would suggest that the poverty is not in others, it is in us. (Parenthetically, Pogo said the same thing: “we have met the enemy and he is us”). Jesus reconciles us to God by becoming nothing. He “undoes” what Adam and Eve did. He obeys God; they rebelled. He endures the public shame and humiliation of being naked and dying like a common criminal because He trusted the love and faithfulness of the Father; Adam and Eve hid themselves from the Father and sewed together fig leaves to blend in with the environment and hide from the God who loved and created them. Do we have a calling to the impoverished? Yes. But it is not a calling from our self-centered self-righteous, holier-than-thou position of education, privilege or money. It is from the identification with Jesus and a faith in God. And doesn’t Henri’s life - Yale/Harvard/Notre Dame…..and L’Arche Daybreak demonstrate that very thing?
Does anyone else have an observation about this spiritual challenge?
March 11th, 2008 @ 7:14 am
Being Stripped is an ongoing work in process for me and I am very grateful for God’s patience in the process–as Henri says, “we have to let God find us.” It’s when I am alone with God in silence that has the most impact on the war within for the need to be popular, great, and cool.
Blending in with the community is not following Jesus for me or being truthful with God about who He is telling me that I am. Being honest to God by giving up to the fact that He is in control and letting go, is truly walking with Jesus.
When you look at our leaders today in our communities that have fallen from Grace in their need for power and control, it makes following Jesus so much more important to His calling. Our ministries are hollow if we’re not allowing God to shape us into who He has made us to be.Being beloved first and then stripped. Peace and Grace to you!
March 10th, 2008 @ 10:01 pm
My Pastor tells me I’m too hard on myself. My teacher who is teaching me to design and sew for people who use wheelchairs also tells me I’m too hard on myself. I’m hard on myself because I don’t like to make mistakes and so stand out from my community–be open to criticism, etc. If I could meet everyone else’s standards it always seemed I could blend in best with everyone. It’s sort of a social conformity but it doesn’t work and, thankfully, trusted people are giving me some feedback on this and bit-by-bit I’m changing into a more loving person, even of myself and I believe more effectively of others. I enjoyed the explanation of Adam and Eve’s fig leaves.
March 10th, 2008 @ 3:21 pm
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)
Vulnerability is when we are closest to God. Vulnerability – the faith Peter exercised when he stepped out of the boat to walk to Jesus on water – was the moment of faith. Adam & Eve were naked with each other and God, open and vulnerable, and unashamed. After they separated themselves from God, then clothed themselves in fig leaves, an attempt to “blend into” their surroundings and denying their role as unique God made creations . Jesus was willing to be stripped to restore us to our original, sin-free relationship and the freedom to be naked and vulnerable before the God who created us. What social forms of fig-leaves – blending in with your community – do you need to be stripped of to be the open, honest, vulnerable person God has designed you to be?