Yoked with Christ (Wednesday, Advent 2)

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We believe that God in His eternal form (not the God-made-man) is very powerful and pains don’t penetrate Him. According to Christian scholars, this attribute of God is called the “impassibility” of God. in the first reading (Isa. 40:25-31), Isaiah points to this very attribute of God as he describes Him as an everlasting God who does not grow tired or weary, who gives power to the faint; and those who wait for Him shall renew their strength: they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. These are beautiful descriptions of those who identify with such a powerful God. 

But then, the reality is that we experience pain and suffering in life, we grow tired and faint; and we also suffer when we see our loved ones in pain. In other words, we are not powerful as we have been described; we are powerless. It becomes more worrisome when we reflect on the fact that our God claims to be all powerful and we appear to be powerless and sometimes helpless. Does it mean that God is so insensitive? 

I think we may be up for serious faith crisis if we remain with such a mentality. Let’s look at the bigger picture. In the first place, why did such an insensitive God send His Son to become man? God sent His Son Jesus Christ to become like us so that we can better identify and He can better identify with us; so that we can rest assured that He (God) is with us in our pains and suffering. This season of Advent is a season of expectation: waiting for God’s intervention in human situation.

We are then called to activate our waiting-capacity. The God in Jesus did not come to dissolve all sufferings and pains. He came to make them light. He came that we may shoulder His yoke and also learn from Him (cf. Matt. 11:28-30). Inasmuch as we remain in the flesh, we must be trained by some modicum of suffering and discomfort. It won’t be nice for God to allow a situation where we human beings will grow and exist like untrained children, afraid of discipline. Taking our human limitation into account, life without some discipline may give way for indulgence. Yes, we must be burdened in life; we must experience pains. But when we yoke ourselves with Jesus, our burdens become light; our pains become less; and then we can run without growing weary and we can walk without getting tired.   


      


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