Vulnerability - New Evangelizers

Vulnerability, being susceptible to harm, is usually seen as a bad thing. Harm is not good: why would someone be willing to be susceptible to it? But the Christian story is exactly that: God became a human being, Jesus, and in so doing, made himself susceptible to harm. He did not escape it, he experienced harm to an extreme: he was falsely accused, unjustly condemned to be tortured to death, and executed by Roman crucifixion, a form of torture that was protracted and painful to an extreme. Why would God choose to make himself susceptible to harm? Why would God allow the harm to happen to himself? Why did God make himself vulnerable?

The answer is love. We human beings were not doing well on our own, God knew we needed help. God so loved human beings that he sent his Son, Jesus, to save us. This exposed Jesus to great vulnerability, but he accepted it as the thing that needed to be done, the price that needed to be paid, to save us. St. Paul writes:

…Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross. [Phillipians 2:5b-8]

This is really quite remarkable: Jesus, all-powerful God and immune to all harm, emptied himself. He made himself vulnerable. He became a human being, susceptible to harm, and sure enough, he was severely harmed. And he accepted the harm and endured it, without striking back.

As Christians, we know the story does not end there: Jesus rose from the dead, and overcame the harm that was done to him. In so doing, he gave us the possibility that we, too, might overcome the situations that we are in, that we, through believing in him, might receive life from him.

What does all this mean for vulnerability? Some people think that vulnerability can be a good thing, and they are not wrong: Psychology Today writes about how vulnerability can ease anxiety, strengthen relationships and increase self-awareness. But it is talking about human vulnerability, which is inevitable and always present. Given that we cannot escape it, we might as well recognize it and work with it instead of pretending it is not there. But it’s God’s vulnerability, not ours, that is so remarkable, because it isn’t inevitable: God’s vulnerability did not have to happen, he freely choose to embrace it. God, who was invulnerable, made himself vulnerable; he who could not be harmed submitted himself to the hands of those who harmed him; he who was above everything allowed himself to be brought low, all out of love for us.

If anything should ease our anxiety, strengthen our relationship and increase self-awareness, it should be this love of God for us. This love is proven beyond a doubt by God’s willingness to give himself over to harm, to make himself vulnerable for our good. Each time we need a reminder, we can look at a crucifix, to see to what degree God is willing to endure harm, out of love for us. God makes himself vulnerable for our good: let us be truly grateful that he loves us so much.

Agapios Theophilus

Agapios Theophilus is the "nom de plume" of a catholic layman who has loved Jesus from when, as a young boy in the 1970s, he first learned about him. His First Communion, at the age of seven, was the happiest day of his life, and he celebrates its anniversary each year. He lives in a large city with his beloved wife, two wonderful children, and an affectionate orange and white cat. He has no formal qualifications whatsoever to write about Jesus: he writes only because he has been given the great gift of knowing and loving him, and he would like others to come to know and love him too. See Agapios' posts at https://sites.google.com/view/agapios-theophilus and follow Agapios on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/a9apios