Why Was Jesus Crucified? A Conversation with Romal Tune

 
Welcome to our final installment in our Lenten series with curriculum writers. We invited a cross section of educators to share with us how they explain the violence at the Cross to children and youth. Our aim for the series is to provide resources to church school directors and educators who are seeking ways to present the Cross as a witness to God’s nonviolence. (To see the first three posts, go to Categories and choose Curriculum.)

We’ve invited the inspiring Rev. Romal Tune into this conversation because of his ministry with young people who have experienced the trauma of human violence. Romal is the Founder and President of Faith for Change, which partners with businesses and schools to create pathways out of poverty for at-risk youth. He is also the author of, God’s Graffiti which tells the stories of at-risk youth in the bible who have overcome obstacles to become great leaders. Motivating all his work is a passion to help young people redeem their identities and sense of life’s purpose from the trauma of violence and poverty. The role of the body of Christ, Romal explains, is to show up in the midst of their suffering bearing the presence of God’s love and restoring hope for the future.

In our conversation, Romal discusses the ways in which all young people, no matter their backgrounds or life experiences, can benefit from honest conversations around biblical violence. Romal believes that it’s important to make space for young people to wrestle with Jesus’ question to God, Why have you forsaken me? “Violence doesn’t make sense for young people,” Romal explains, but Jesus’ question does. As we approach Holy Week and the narrative of Jesus suffering and death, Romal encourages us not to be afraid to allow our young people to question God about their own suffering: How could you let this happen? Why aren’t you doing something to stop it? It is only by engaging with Good Friday questions like these that we can bear witness to God’s loving presence in the midst of suffering. I hope you are inspired by this conversation with Romal and that your Holy Week ministry is infused with God’s love and hope.