Scriptural stories of trial foreshadow the passion of Jesus during Holy Week
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
It’s the week before Holy Week. Our readings feature trials, people’s responses to trials and how God gets the last word in those trials.
We hear about Susanna, who’s falsely accused of adultery. We hear about Israel, tried by hunger in the desert. We hear about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego being threatened with the fiery furnace. We hear about the plots against Jeremiah. And finally, we witness mounting tension against Jesus, culminating in the plot to kill Him.
The episodes of trial from ancient Israel are chosen for this week because they foreshadow Jesus’ experience of Holy Week. Psalm 18 captures the theme well: “The breakers of death surged round about me, the destroying floods overwhelmed me; the cords of the nether world enmeshed me, the snares of death overtook me.”
If the ancient episodes are foreshadow Jesus, however, they do so with a twist! The story of Susanna’s trial is a perfect example. It ends by saying: “Thus was innocent blood spared that day.” The story of Jesus’ trial, by contrast, would have to say: “Thus was innocent blood shed that day.”
Looking at people’s response to their trials, it’s not all stories of faithfulness and trust! Yes, when Susanna faces her trial, she cries out to God. But when Israel faces their trial, they complain against God and Moses. We’re familiar with both responses from our own experience! If the episodes about crying out mark a path for us, then the episode about complaining provides a warning. Psalm 102 captures the theme and walks us down the right road: “O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.”
Finally, we hear how God gets the last word in His people’s trials. And here again the ancient episodes foreshadow Jesus’ experience with a twist. God saves Susanna from death; God saves the Israelites from death; God saves Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from death. By contrast, the Father does not save Jesus from death. Rather He rescues Him — and saves us — through death. Those are two different kinds of witness to how God gets the last word.
We all face our own trials in life. When we do, it’s good to know that we’re walking the same path as our ancestors in faith.
In our response to those trials we know how easy it is to fall into a pattern of complaining. It’s nice to know that there’s a different way to go. We don’t have to deny that trials are hard! But if we pivot on the hardship into crying out, rather than complaining, we’ll deepen our relationship with God.
Finally, it’s helpful to know that when we cry out, God has the last word. Sometimes He saves us from death. Sometimes He brings us through death to resurrection.
As we get ready to walk with Jesus into His passion, it’s comforting to know that Jesus walks with us into the passions we endure in our lives. That doesn’t make them easy! But it can fill our suffering with meaning.
“In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; from His temple He heard my voice, and my cry to Him reached His ears (Psalm 18).”
