My entire life, even growing up in the Church of Christ Sunday school, when I thought of Jesus’ passion and death, I have thought of him as a helpless victim.  The weak, beaten, emaciated, frail, man who was dragged through the streets of Jerusalem, taken outside the walls, stripped naked, then nailed to the cross; helpless!   This never really sat well with me; as a man I do not like to see Jesus weak, and helpless. I always winced when I read St. Matthew 15:34, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me”. My lack of understanding on this verse plagued me with great doubts about our Lord.  I didn’t know he was quoting Psalm 22…  rather, on the surface, it was a cry of desperation. Was the King of Kings really that weak? Surely not! Could he be?

The more I study the Catholic faith, mediate on the Gospels, and contemplate the life of Jesus the more I’m convinced that Jesus was a United States Marine.  Sounds strange to read that hu?  But, when I read passages like John 18:1-12 I see not a weak, helpless victim but, rather, the man that inspires me to face off with an overwhelming, armed, and highly motivated, enemy hell bent on taking me down.   In the face of just such a situation, in a Garden, our Lord went and faced off with the cohort come out to arrest him.  Unlike Adam, who also was in a Garden and faced with the real threat of an intruder, Nahash, the serpent of old (Rev. 12:9), cowered, and allowed Eve to do all the talking. Then, when confronted by our Lord, walking in the Garden, in the cool of the Day (Gen. 3:8), hid in a bush, and blamed his troubles on the Woman, whom God gave to him! This was all God’s fault! (more…)