I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. – John 16:33

Today’s Scripture Reading (November 23, 2017): John 16

It was just a picture. And yet the image sent shock waves throughout Japanese society. The photo was taken at the first meeting of General Douglas MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito. At the close of the Second World War, General MacArthur had decided to take a different approach to post-war Japan than it had taken in post-war Germany. In Germany, the political machine had been completely taken apart. But in Japan, MacArthur decided to allow the Japanese emperor to continue to reign, albeit that reign would be subject to the overall ruling authority of the United States. MacArthur took the approach that Hirohito, who was seen as a god in Japan, had been unable to stop the militaristic extremists who had hijacked the Japanese political structure in the early 1930’s. The General painted a picture of Emperor Hirohito as a western moderate who could restore the nation to what it should have been. Historians still argue over whether MacArthur was right, and over how much influence Hirohito exercised over the events of the Second World War, and how much of Japan’s War crimes for which the Emperor had been responsible.

But then there was the picture. Taken at the first meeting of MacArthur and Hirohito, the picture showed a taller and more impressive MacArthur standing next to a shorter and smaller Hirohito. Up until this moment in time, photos of the Emperor had always been taken in such a way that made him look both taller and larger than life. The photo taken with General MacArthur was the first time that the reclusive Emperor was seen as the small man that he was. Almost immediately, Japanese officials banned the photo in Japan. But MacArthur insisted that the ban be repealed, and the photograph be published throughout the nation. The implicit statement was the United States was more significant and more important than the Japanese god.

The world often seems to struggle with our picture of God. The question that society usually raises is simply how could your God be subject to execution on a cross? Over the centuries since the crucifixion, we have come up with several heresies to describe what happened on that first Good Friday. Maybe chief among these theories is the idea that the Christ, the god part of Jesus, was removed before Jesus, which now consisted of just the human component, was crucified - because God cannot die.

Yet, the fact that Jesus Christ died for our sins is essential for all that we believe. I am forgiven because he was forsaken. I get to be alive because he died.

All of this belief in who we are seems to be summed up by these words, spoken by Jesus, from the shadow of the cross. “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” As Jesus prepared to go to the cross, it was not as a defeated religious leader. Jesus was not a beaten king being punished for his inability to win. Jesus went to the cross victorious, defeating the power of sin and death in our lives forever. The picture of Jesus on a cross is not an image of which we are ashamed, proving the weakness of our God. It is a picture victory that we display proudly to the world.

We serve a God who went to the cross in the very moment of his victory. This is our king!

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: John 17