As swiftly as Adam and Eve ate the fruit, so did they experience a new and profoundly uncomfortable sensation: that of shame.

They went from being ‘naked and… not ashamed’ to hiding in the bushes, crossing their legs and covering their privates. When God came looking for them and asking, ‘Where are you?’ Adam replied, ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.’

What was new to them is not new to us. Shame is part of our very existence. What are we to make of it?

Shame is both deeply right and deeply wrong.

It’s right because it’s an intuitive, conscience-level awareness that we are not as beautiful, pure, and admirable as we ought to be. We were made for glory and for innocence and for peace in our consciences. We were made ‘a little lower than the angels’. But we have climbed down into the cesspit of our sin and our humanity has become tainted. As a result, there are things in us we want to hide because they’re genuinely ugly.

But it’s also deeply wrong because our redemption should mean liberty from sin and from shame. For many, this sense of being clean can be hard to accept. When this happens, our shame can become enflamed and aggravated by the devil who accuses us, the world that alienates and despises us, and even our own sense of hatred towards ourselves. Shame in your conscience is much like your immune system: It’s designed to keep you healthy and fight off infections, parasites, and the like. But for some people, the immune system itself can be the very thing that is causing harm and even death.

Either way, whether our shame is right or it is wrong, the remedy is the same. We must turn again to a crucified saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who took our sin and our shame upon himself when he was made a spectacle on the cross.

In an age of advanced pain management – of paracetomol and aspirin and morphine and anaesthetic – we are often most horrified by the physical pain and torture of the cross. ‘And yet,’ writes Fleming Rutledge, ‘we must continue to emphasize that the shame of the crucifixion is more important for the determination of its meaning than the physical suffering.’

Jesus experienced the shame of the cross in order to take your shame away.

Dear Christian, that is one reason why Good Friday is truly good, and why you can smile in relief and bask in his loving acceptance, knowing once more what it means to be truly seen and to be deeply loved.