And you loosened the chains
Carried the cross
Of all my shame
all my shame
You know I believe it
But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for”
– U2, I Still Haven’t found What I’m Looking For
So I was listening to my U218 CD in the car and these lines from the most preached on U2 song ever caught my attention. I had just been looking at the images from the life of Christ visual we are using in our Maundy Thursday service and recalled this image from Nicaragua. So often we get so caught up in the personal affront to Jesus – the beatings, the torture, and the via crucis – and the personal freedom it grants us without placing it in context.
Jesus did come to loose the chains of injustice. He came to set the captives free. His people were living under oppression. A military government controlled them and occupied their land. Jesus came to offer the way of peace and love even amidst that lack of freedom. A revolution more radical than any violent uprising, more subversive than any secret army.
I like the reminder the painting gives of how oppressive military regimes still exist in our world today – and Jesus carries the cross for them too. He came to set captives free and loose the chains of injustice for Israel and for the nations. He suffered for their freedom. He suffered so that they may have hope.
I believe that. I believe the way of Christ is possible. I believe love and peace and justice can be lived out. But I still haven’t found it. I haven’t seen “justice become a light to the nations.” I haven’t found what Christ came to establish.
Which is why I work for it. Which is why the via crucis is not just a personal affront or a personal hope, but an invitation into an entirely new way of being. A life where walking with Christ and carrying the cross with him involves caring for the things he cared about. Working for the same goals. Seeking justice. Rescuing the oppressed. Living the life of love and peace.