Bayer’s chapter on Luther dealing with God’s mercy and love is a perfect piece to come following Easter. He included some quotes from Luther that I think really help us understand just how radical this notion of God’s grace truly is.
“For human love comes for ones who hold another worthy of love already.”
This is true. Think about how you pick a potential spouse. You look for someone with the traits you want. You look for someone who you want to love. Someone who loves you in a deep and profound way.
But would about God’s love and grace? ”. . . that happy exchange, in which the rich, noble, righteous bridegroom Christ takes as spouse the poor, shamed, evil little whore [cf Hos 1-3] and acquits her of all evil, decorating her with all good things. Thus it is not possible that the sins will damn her; now they lie upon Christ and have beeen swallowed up by him. She thus has such a rich righteousness from her bridegroom that she can survive once again against all sins- even if they would lie upon her. Pual speaks about this in 1 Cor. 15 “Praise and thanks be to God, who has given us such a conquest inChrist Jesus, in which death is swallowed up, togethr with sin.’”
That’s the beauty of Lenten reflection on Jesus’ passion and Easter resurrection. To realize God’s love for you and how far away you were, far enough away from Christ that Luther is bold to call us “whores”.
One day we’re looking at Jesus on the cross and realizing just how much sin, my sin, that he’s bearing up there. This Good Friday I watched as image after image showed Jesus as he was praying in agony, betrayed, arrested, beaten, and crucified. And I sat there and thought about how he had to do it because of my sins. That’s a load. Why does he do that for me?
Becuase he is going to recreate me on Easter. We look for the loveable to show love, but Jesus takes those who throw their sins on his back and he loves them so that he can create something new out of them on Easter morning. We’re moved from thinking about our sin, to how the love of Jesus creates something new.
That’s what Jesus’ love and grace is. His is the love that loves those who hate him. On the night of the passion he’s loving those who betray him and mock him. He’s loving me thousands of years later as I betray him with my sins. And he does it so he can create something new out of those people and myself.
As Luther’s hymn states-
Dear Christians, one and all rejoice, with exulatation springing,
and with united heart and voice and holy rapture singing,
Proclaim the wonders God has done, how his right arm the victory won. What price our ransom cost Him!
Reminds me of Romans 5:6-10:
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.