Bearing the Guilt of Another in the Covid Pandemic

In the midst of the Covid pandemic, as countries respond with different regulations, it’s hard to know how people and governments should react.

Some countries lifted restrictions in areas of low infection rates, and increased them in the cities with high rates of infection. Restrictions include social distancing, wearing face masks, requiring authorization for commuting, and so on.

Here’s a post I saw recently: “Why should the inhabitants of my city, where there’s literally no infection, bear the consequences of others where there was a cluster of infections? Must we be under the same judgment for those who did not respect the safety regulations? Isn’t that unfair?”

Covid restrictions impinge on our liberties, certainly. But this complaint arises from the injustice of one group’s confinement based on someone else’s neglect.

Jesus bore the guilt of many

This situation is a great illustration in our times of how Jesus submitted to a judgment when he was innocent. When he should have been set free, he was pronounced guilty. He was executed for a sin he did not commit. Our Covid story is similar yet far less severe. Jesus received a death sentence even though he was without guilt. Of course he was submitting to God’s eternal purpose; he did not resist this judgment which he took on behalf of sinners. Most Christians and even many non-Christians know much that story. But in the story of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, how little we consider what it would feel like to bear an unjust, unlawful and undeserving punishment for someone’s else’s sin. What a difficult test, and yet he submitted without argument, without threatening a lawsuit. As the prophet says, He did not open his mouth, Isaiah 53:7.

Maybe we can relate to the individual complaint which I quoted above. Most of us have endured the same restrictions; maybe you have also experienced the undeserved judgment this citizen complained about. But can we feel the depth of Jesus’ situation ? Can we relate to all the details of His story? Do we recognize the impact on humanity of His action on the cross, or do we miss the meaning of this profound event?

The daily struggles in our lives, even the simplest ones, can reveal much of God’s character. If we stop to reflect, if we slow down to analyze and think about these daily matters, even a simple post on social media can be used to speak a great message.