Image and Suffering (Lent 26, 2023)

It is entirely possible to see Jesus, walk with Jesus, learn from Jesus, and still not recognize Him and the Very Image of God He displays. Two men walking on the road to Emmaus learned that by experience, telling their conversation to Jesus, they said,

Luke 24:21 We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”

25 [Jesus] said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.”

Suffering seems to be at such odds with the Image of God and yet, somehow faithfulness to God amid suffering shows the Image of God like rays of sun bursting through a dark and cloudy sky. For Jesus, suffering came first, then glory. Without understanding the need for Christ’s suffering, we will not see Him for who He is. It’s sacrificial love; and His body broken for us is what made Him recognizable as God’s Very Image.

Focus for Lent: Embrace suffering that comes our way as sacrificial love working to perfect our salvation.

Questions for further thought:

What about His giving thanks, breaking bread, and giving it to them revealed His identity (as God’s Very Image) in a way His mere physical presence did not?

Why did He disappear after their eyes were opened?

If Jesus (God’s Very Image) suffered and then entered His glory, what about us? As His Image-bearers, why would we be any less likely to suffer before entering the glory of eternal life? (See John 15: 17-27)

Prayer: Father God, thank You for our Lord Jesus Christ, how He suffered and died, leaving us an example to follow. Thank You for the gift of Communion to remind us of what Jesus has done so we may recognize Him always as Your Very Image. While it’s easy to see Your pattern has always been suffering followed by deliverance, we ask, Lord, that You would keep our hearts in Your care so we might be found faithful even in suffering. We love You, Lord. Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2023 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014.
Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations. We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17.
ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ. It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.
Last year’s devotionals, Revelation in 40 offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.