He took off all his clothes

“I hid my wound under my clothes. Nobody could see it, including myself, and I completely forgot about it. Then I met someone who, filled with love, held me tight in that point. The pain was devastating, and I hated him, o how much I hated him, the cause of all my suffering. Then I met someone, beautifully dressed, and I loved him so much, holding him tight with all my passion. And he suffered badly, and he hated me, o how much he hated me, the cause of all his pain. So the story went on till I met someone who undressed himself, standing completely naked, with all his horrible wounds. Hence I also undressed, and I saw my horrible wounds, which he could also see. Then...”

--Franco Santoro

At the risk of upsetting some of you, I want to say that that last fiigure in the quote reminds me of Jesus. Not the Jesus that has too often been misrepresented. He is not the one who squeezes too tight and causes pain and distress. Those wounds that he shows us were inflicted because of us and he bore them because he came to rescue us. He doesn't show them to us to show off (as some might) but so we can know that He loves us so much that He would suffer and die for us. He wants us to be completely  naked not to humiliate or embarrass us, but so that we can STOP feeling ashamed. So that can know that we don't have to cover up the hurt. When we take off all our clothes, He is not surprised by anything. He knows all about it. But our nakedness is for us.

For God so loved the World that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but Have eternal life. John 3:16

The quotation at the beginning of this note was probably not written with Jesus in mind but it did speak to me of Christ and His love for us. I saw the quotation on a friend's wall. I do not know the author or anything about his philosophy of life. This essay is based only on the included quotation.