SCORNING THE SHAME

“Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame” (Gen 2:25). 

The two humans in the garden of Eden knew no shame, but we cannot say the same. Shame is a part of the life we live as fallen humans. Yet, Jesus helps us deal with shame:

“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). There was certainly shame attached to the cross. “They that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads” (Matt 27:39). 

Jesus was left out in the cold with many people hurling insults at him. The chief priests, scribes, and elders mocked Him, saying, “He saved others, but He cannot save Himself” (Mark 27:42). We can almost see the self-satisfied smirk on their faces as Matthew tells the story.

Yet with all this shame and humiliation being aimed at Jesus, Peter tells us, “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly” (1 Pet 2:23).

Like a lamb to the slaughter Jesus went meekly and quietly. Despising the shame that was attached to such an undignified death. 

We, on the other hand, will get red-faced if we make a small error of judgment that other people may laugh at. We find shame comes easily to us.

On one Sabbath Jesus was in a synagogue and a man with a shrivelled hand was there. Perhaps this man had hidden his hand for most his life. Perhaps he felt embarrassed that he was not whole like the others. Yet Jesus asked him to stretch out his hand. Now if the man did this everyone would see his condition, yet Jesus asked him to put his hand out there on display. But as the man stretched out his hand it was made completely whole. The man did not approach Jesus, Jesus approached him. The man was obedient, he despised the shame in order to obey Christ.

Jesus knew that trouble would ensue with the Pharisees but he ignored it. The man may not have wanted to put his hand on display but he scorned the shame. We too have events in our lives that we feel shame about, perhaps some are our fault and some are not, yet we feel that we have not lived up to our own expectations, let alone anyone else’s.

Yet the Lord, in his wisdom, knows how to make us grow. We have become what we are because of the lessons and experiences that we have gone through. Once we have come humbly before the Lord committing to him any shortfalls in our behaviour, he will forgive us our sins and help us move on. 

People, and the devil, may want to remind us of our shame, yet even so, like the Lord Jesus we scorn the shame because it has helped us move forward. I get the feel that the Lord is concerned with what we will become, not with what we were.

So we thank God for the learning curves that we have all been on and rejoice that God’s hand has been upon us through thick and thin.