Walking Like the Wounded
A Reflection on Comic Strips and Good Friday
“Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.” – Isaiah 53:4-5 NRSV
Almost all my life I’ve had to deal with infirmities. At the age of 10 I developed a serious form of arthritis, and by the time I was 16 my hips were a mess: ravaged by the disease to the point that—two years later—I would need both of them replaced. That was a great success, but the arthritis has continued on, with the result that these days I deal with a fused spine, mostly fused shoulders, and toes so gnarled and crooked that one orthotic expert thought it might be better if the two that were causing the most shoe challenges were just lopped off altogether (I’m still considering this).
All of this has resulted in me having a very odd gait, to the point where small children have asked why I walk like a penguin. I’ve also faced mockers making fun of the way I walk. In high school this was done (to no one’s surprise) right to my face, but I’m sure it’s happened behind my back as well.
Hence this Bloom County comic. It’s almost too on the nose.
Now back to Isaiah 53. It’s part of almost all liturgical Good Friday readings, because it’s on this day we remember that Jesus not only walked with us, but walked as us and for us. We remember that he was not only fully divine, but fully human as well. He felt and experienced everything we feel and experience. He was tempted in every way we are tempted. In the words of Isaiah, he bore our infirmities, carried our diseases, was wounded for our transgressions, and crushed for our iniquities.
And by his bruises, we are healed.
It’s tempting to stop there and make this a Jesus and me thing. We hyper-individualistic North Americans are very good at that, but it would be completely unscriptural to do so. Among many examples, in 1 Corinthians 1:3-4 Paul writes these words:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God.”
Humans excel at creating vicious circles. This is a virtuous circle. This is the Kingdom of God at work. God consoles us so that we can console others. So that we can walk with others, side by side, supporting each other as we travel through this very broken world.
I had a vision once. I was in church praying, when suddenly I felt transported back to one of those high school mocking moments from years earlier. Two kids were imitating my walk, laughing at me as they passed me in the hall. But in the vision I was not alone. Somehow I knew Jesus was there as well, walking beside me, walking the way I was walking. But there was no mockery in it. Only love. He knew what it was like. He understood. He was bearing my infirmity.
I have told this story on a number of occasions over the years, but after seeing the above comic, another thought struck me. If I had been walking with friends that day, how much would it have meant to me if they—in reaction to the mockery I received—had started to walk the same way I was walking? The emotions I felt as I envisioned that scene told me all I needed to know. It would have meant the world to me.
I’d like to conclude with a well-known prayer. It is often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, but it almost certainly was not written by him. No matter. It’s still pretty great.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love
Where there is an injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
And where there is sadness, joy
O Divine Master, grant that I may
Not so much seek to be consoled as to console
To be understood, as to understand
To be loved, as to love
For it is in giving that we receive
And it's in pardoning that we are pardoned
And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.