The Holocaust: A Reflection Rather Than a Result?

As I pondered the Book of Esther, I was gripped with a new realization of how horrible, demoralizing, and devastating the holocaust was, not only nationally, but also spiritually. Imagine standing in the shooting pit on the unstable surface of warm, freshly-fallen bodies. You see the men with the rifles and you hope, you wonder, “Could there be deliverance even now?” The story of Esther, the story of Elijah, the story of the Hebrew Worthies, those and many more would give you a sliver of hope. Some Jews in the pit were reciting the Great Shema: “Shema Yisroel Adonoi Eloheinu Adonoi Echad.” Which is translated several ways including “Hear O Israel! The LORD is our God; the LORD alone.” But then, the silence of heaven and the roar of guns.

I know some people have been calloused to the sufferings of the Jews because they were “Christ killers.” That has been a cruel excuse for hideous Christian behavior. Instead, what if the holocaust and the many other sorrows of the Jews were not a punishment for, but a reflection of Christ’s suffering? Some modern Jews, weary of waiting for Messiah have begun to wonder if Isaiah’s Messianic prophesies might have been about them as a people. Could the rest of the world be healed by their stripes, their afflictions and chastisements?

As a Christian, I don’t believe that anything can take the place of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, but what if the horrors of the holocaust were providing what was still lacking in the sufferings of Jesus? Paul used that phrase in Colossians 1:24; I didn’t make it up. Is it possible that the world, especially the Christian world, has not fully understood even the human side of the suffering of Christ on the cross? Is it possible that God must continue to let us see the depravity of humankind’s self-centered, self-justifying ways? Is it possible that the suffering of the Jews is yet another wake-up call? Can it awaken deep sympathy in us and a desire to understand and prevent beastly evil in humans… at least in ourselves? Many in the world today are seething with the fear and hatred that make holocausts possible. Can the rest of us rally and work to quell the anxieties that are likely to erupt into self-righteous violence?

We could see the Jewish people’s despair in those dark historical hours as a solidarity with the Messiah, a reflection of His suffering rather than a punishment for the actions of the political bullies in Jesus’ day. Could we, and possibly even the Jews, join the likes of Mother Teresa who came to accept her despair and sense of alienation from God as an answered prayer to know the heart of Jesus? Maybe the suffering of the Jews is only one more reflection of the evil and the agony of the cross. How many more “crosses” will we have to see before our eyes have had enough? How many more holocausts before we own and surrender the violence that lives within?