Blood, sweat and tears

Written by: SVEIN GRANERUD 

«I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat”. These are famous words from Winston Churchill’s first speech to the Parliament after becoming the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in May 1941. In the same speech he also said: “Our goal is to win, win at any cost…we have to win to survive!”

The price.

When Jesus began his journey towards Jerusalem to celebrate Passover – as we read in the Gospel – He knew it was at a cost. It would cost blood, sweat and tears. He warned the disciples of what was about to happen, but they did not understand. Jesus knew that the cross was waiting for Him, and He knew that this was His mission: To die, mocked by people and abandoned by his Father.

God’s judgement

The criminal on a cross is not the only one to know what pain is -for example the sufferings during World War 2 were extensive - however, Jesus’ suffering was unique. Not because of the pain from the crucifixion itself, He was the only one to experienced God’s wrath and to be abandoned by God. There is no basis for comparison. Only Jesus has experienced this. And He did not survive, he died!

Innocent and righteous 

So, did he vainly give his blood, sweat and tears? No, Jesus’ struggle results in our survival. We who stand before God sentenced to death, receive life as a gift because Jesus died. On Good Friday I stand before God, innocent and righteous, because the cross has a greeting to everyone who gets there: “It is finished”. These are Jesus’ own words from when his suffering was done.

“We have to win to survive”, Churchill said. His contributions were crucial in the setback of Nazi Germany. We sing: “Jesus won, and I have won”. Jesus struggled, and his victory is ours. The price of the victory becomes clear to us on Good Friday.    

Photo: Solfrid Lien Christensen