I just want to say how deeply grateful I am—not only for this powerful post, but for the experience of reading it AND listening to it. It gripped me, challenged me, encouraged me, and left me with an overflowing heart of gratitude for Jesus Christ.
Your vivid picture of the Esquiline Hill and the slaughterhouse brought the cross down from theological abstraction and planted it in the dirt and refuse of this world—where my Savior willingly went for me. What mercy. What love. What humiliation embraced for the sake of exalting the lowly.
As I read, I was reminded of the glorious reversal Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 1:27–28: "But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong... God chose what is low and despised in the world." And truly, “what the world sees as shame is in fact glory.”
The reminder that suffering in Christ is not meaningless but a participation in divine life (Romans 8:17) deeply stirred me. Your words have helped me treasure afresh the truth that “if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His” (Romans 6:5).
Thank you for lifting my eyes to see the glory in the wounds, the beauty in the burial, and the power in the resurrection. Christ has indeed turned the whole world upside down—and with it, my own heart too.
Thanks for this thoughtful response, Mike! And for reading so closely and with such care. Today is the first day of my sabbatical. But I'll still be posting weekly. Glad we've connected.
Helpful, thank you Jake. And what boggles my mind is those who claim to be Christ followers who disparage weakness and suffering as though such lives are unworthy!
I just want to say how deeply grateful I am—not only for this powerful post, but for the experience of reading it AND listening to it. It gripped me, challenged me, encouraged me, and left me with an overflowing heart of gratitude for Jesus Christ.
Your vivid picture of the Esquiline Hill and the slaughterhouse brought the cross down from theological abstraction and planted it in the dirt and refuse of this world—where my Savior willingly went for me. What mercy. What love. What humiliation embraced for the sake of exalting the lowly.
As I read, I was reminded of the glorious reversal Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 1:27–28: "But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong... God chose what is low and despised in the world." And truly, “what the world sees as shame is in fact glory.”
The reminder that suffering in Christ is not meaningless but a participation in divine life (Romans 8:17) deeply stirred me. Your words have helped me treasure afresh the truth that “if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His” (Romans 6:5).
Thank you for lifting my eyes to see the glory in the wounds, the beauty in the burial, and the power in the resurrection. Christ has indeed turned the whole world upside down—and with it, my own heart too.
In Him who makes all things new,
Mike Cleveland
Thanks for this thoughtful response, Mike! And for reading so closely and with such care. Today is the first day of my sabbatical. But I'll still be posting weekly. Glad we've connected.
Helpful, thank you Jake. And what boggles my mind is those who claim to be Christ followers who disparage weakness and suffering as though such lives are unworthy!
It really is mind boggling. And to paraphrase Anne Lamott, I think it might make Jesus want to drink gin straight from the cat dish.