04/04/2023
During this season of Lent, Laura and I have been going through a nightly devotional using an app called, “Lectio 365.” Before we drift off to sleep, we listen to the soothing Australian/British voices read Scripture and commentary with a tranquil musical accompaniment. I can almost close my eyes and begin fading into the darkness even now.
Every night, those mesmerizing voices call this season, which is now crescendoing in Holy Week, a “Bright Sadness.” This two-word phrase originated in the Orthodox Church to emphasize the dark before the dawn, Jesus’ death before the resurrection. Without the cross, we have no empty tomb. Without the cause for mourning, we have no reason for celebration.
In my life and ministry, I am quick to jump to the resurrection, for, after all, the Christian faith is about a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3, ESV). Paul wrote that he wanted to “know [Christ] and the power of his resurrection” (Philippians 3:10, ESV). The Scripture teaches us that Jesus “was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1:4, ESV).
But I rush too quickly to the resurrection, as though I can bypass the reality of sin, suffering, and death. In doing so, I truncate the Gospel, for the Scripture emphasizes how you can’t have one (resurrection) without the other (death). The reason we hope in the Resurrection is because of the reality of death. In the words of Tim Keller, “The darkness of Good Friday brings about the sunrise of Easter” (Hope in Times of Fear, 72).
Paul knew he had to share in Jesus’ sufferings, “becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible [he] may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10b, ESV). For us to unite with Jesus in His resurrection, we must unite with Him in His death (Romans 6:5, ESV).
But I would much rather fast forward through the suffering part and get right to the good stuff. That is why I like “Bright Sadness,” because it allows us time to process through sadness, knowing that ultimately, “Light dawns in the darkness” (Psalm 112:4, ESV).
A “Bright Sadness” does not deny the reality of suffering, but it doesn’t dwell on it either. There is a brightness that comes, because we know that “death is swallowed up in victory” and that we receive “victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:54b, 57b, ESV).
Laura and I have a friend who suffers with a debilitating disease. It reared its ugly head again this past weekend to a level which she has not suffered for the past fourteen years. The Cross of Jesus reminds us that “he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…and with his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4a, 5b, ESV). All suffering is a result of the Fall (Genesis 3) and having to live in a world broken and corrupt due to sin.
The resurrection of Jesus reveals that brokenness, suffering, and corruption are not the end of the story. Jesus is restoring all things and making all things new. And so Peter writes, “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10, ESV).
That is a “Bright Sadness” indeed.
