Instead of living the Shame-Honor Code, Jesus teaches a new code: The Sin to Grace Code. When someone sins against us and shames us, dishonoring our very core, Jesus commands mercy, not punishment.
No longer are we to live according to the Lex Talionis Code: an eye for an eye, but a new code. Jesus gives us a new way of thinking and responding. He teaches unconditional mercy: Love your enemies. Do good to those who do evil. If you want to be perfect, you must show mercy to the sinner. You are to show forgiveness to those who hate you, persecute you, falsely accuse you of all sorts of calumny (Matt 5-7).
This divine code, the opposite of the human code, is the cross of Christ. He takes upon Himself the sins of the world. He is buffeted, scourged, reviled, pierced, and killed. Yet, by his shame, our sins are forgiven. By his wounds, we are healed (Is 53:5).
The crucifixion of Christ, the most shameful execution in which a person is dehumanized, completely devoid of any semblance of humanity, becomes the very means by which our disgraced humanity is restored.
This reversal is the Christian Paradox. Persons seek to save their honor at any cost. Yet, Jesus embraces the dishonor, his cross and crucifixion, to redeem our fallen shameful state:
“If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mk 8:34–35).
The paradox of the cross takes away our sins and restores our honor. Because of Divine Love which combats our shame, Jesus forgives us of our sin, heals our shame, and restores our honor as a person loved by God— no matter what.
Jesus becomes the victim without becoming victimized. He becomes the object of scorn attacked with vile and venom only to detoxify the hatred and envy of the evil one. He becomes the servant, suffering every sort of evil, to heal us, his master. The cross and crucifixion glorifies Him for although He was a victim of shame, He took upon Himself all shame and sin, cleansing then removing it. He then exchanges our shame with his honor.
Jesus invites us to take up our cross in Christ, so that we die to our sinfulness and embrace our shame and even the dishonor others infect us with, so we imitate Him.
We, too, die a shameful death as we stand with Christ following his way and not the way of the world. His way embraces the shame the world imposes upon us. His way embraces the cross, Shame versus Honor Code, and replaces it with his code: Sin Forgiven Honor Restored. His way is not our natural way, but his way, a supernatural way, leads to eternal life.
His way is not cheap. His way demands real sacrifice. His way calls us to a divine way of thinking and living. The divine way, as St. Paul teaches: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Ga 2:20), embraces the cross swallowing up shame and restoring our honor.