Matthew's account of Jesus' crucifixion in Matt. 27:45-54 includes the following dramatic and frightening happenings:
"At noon, a darkness fell over the whole land..."
"...the curtain in front of the Holy of Holies was ripped in half..."
"...the earth quaked"
"...boulders were split"
"...tombs were opened"
"Many bodies of holy ones who had fallen asleep were raised."
"(Those) standing guard over Jesus' body were terror-stricken at seeing the earthquake and all that was happening..."
Jesus' solidarity with those on the fringes of society resulted in his crucifixion; the impact of this radical face-off with man-made hierarchies and barriers caused the earth to quake in response. His refusal to bow to the oppressive religious and political powers made possible a new community of equals on earth; this new community was birthed out of the terrifying confrontation between Humility and Dominance, resulting in the Seed of humility dying and falling into the ground to bear fruit, and in the upheaval and ineffectiveness of the systems of dominance.
The prophet Isaiah alludes to this by declaring that the splendor and beauty of God will be seen when the systems of inequity and hierarchy are leveled/disrupted - the low will be raised and the high will be brought low:
“Clear the Lord’s way in the desert!
Make a level highway in the wilderness for our God!
4 Every valley will be raised up,
and every mountain and hill will be flattened.
Uneven ground will become level,
and rough terrain a valley plain.
5 The Lord’s glory will appear,
and all humanity will see it together;
the Lord’s mouth has commanded it.” (Isaiah 40:3-5 CEB).
In Jesus' crucifixion we see the splendor of God (his humility, compassion, solidarity with society's 'undeserving') on full display.
In our world today, the expression of the splendor of God is wherever a community of equals demonstrates compassion, humility and solidarity with whoever society labels as undeserving.
May his Common Society come, and his will be done on earth as in heaven... Amen.
