Do I watch Jesus suffer the same way I watch sports or an engaging show – as a spectator? Paul saw no separation between himself and Jesus: “I have been crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20). This Lent I ask myself, “How can I more identify my very being with Christ?”
Part of the answer is to realize that forgiveness has not removed my sinfulness. The first of the six traditional penitential psalms is Psalm 6. It is prayed by a man who is godly, like you and me. “Depart from me all you workers of evil” (v. 8) is something a true Christian prays, and yet this spiritual man feels his guilt, feels it deep in his being. “I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O Lord—how long?” (vv. 2-3). Here we have no spectator in the pew, but a true believer still troubled by his sin. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Note that the verse says, “fall short” – present tense, still failing, still sinning, still accountable. Shouldn’t that be troubling?
“They contemplate Christ’s passion properly who look at it with a terrified heart and a despairing conscience,” said Martin Luther in his 1519 “Sermon on the Meditation of Christ’s Passion.” (Fortress Press, “The Roots of Reform,” 172). That is more than looking on as a spectator. It’s desperation focused on Christ, an obsession to know His love for me. “Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love” (v. 4). Do you, as a believer, still pray this way?
“Depart from me all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping” (v. 8). Therein the psalmist moves through the conscience troubled by sin to total dependence upon God. Luther again: “If we look at sin in our heart, it will be much too strong for us and will live on forever. But if we see that it rests on Christ and is overcome by his resurrection, and then boldly believe this, then sin is dead and nullified” (176).