The Cross is About Community | Lent Devotional Day 31

Exploring the Meaning of Jesus’ Death
March 20, 2026
Written by Morgan Goymer

The Cross is About Community

Scripture:

37 But Jesus let out a loud cry and died.

38 The curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 When the centurion, who stood facing Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “This man was certainly God’s Son.”

40 Some women were watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James (the younger one) and Joses, and Salome. 41 When Jesus was in Galilee, these women had followed and supported him, along with many other women who had come to Jerusalem with him.

Mark 15:37-41

Reflection:
As we explore Feminist Atonement Theories, we notice their emphasis that God is communal, which means that when we’re in a loving community, God is there. This is a key principle for our church’s life.  These Theories highlight that our emotions are not just personal but collective, and that is true not only when we celebrate but especially as we experience pain, oppression, and heartache. Rather than idealizing the brutality of the cross, these Theories are oriented around what it means to share pain in community. This orientation differs from more traditional theories that lean toward the pain and brutality of the cross. God loves first with a heartbreak for the oppression and pain that the world causes and we treat each other with. Jesus’ death on the cross was violence by oppressors, not the will of God.  We connect with Jesus who personally knows the deepest sufferings of the world because of his life and death.

The importance of community in the midst of pain, oppression, and death is because the crux of atonement includes the promise of future redemption.  Rather than living in past defeat, believers build each other up and share together in God’s love.  In the Scripture, we see that when his male friends disappeared and abandoned Jesus on the cross, the women stayed with him to support him and each other in their pain (Mt. 27:55-56). It was an even bigger risk for these female followers to show up as his friends. Still, here they are supporting him through shared pain, grief, and community. Three days later in the Garden, it’s the women who first experience the hope and joy of resurrection, again participating in Godliness (Mt. 28:1-10).  This lens alters our perspective of community and hope as we reflect on and prepare for Easter.

Prayer:
Sophia, our Holy Spirit,
Make us more like Jesus and the women who supported Jesus. Make our church focused on the pain and oppression in our world. And help us to see the hope of resurrection.
Amen.

Reflection Questions: 
How will you plan to experience the events of this Easter in community with others?

How does this view impact your hope of resurrection?

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