The Cross
The Cross and Holy Week
Lent is ending, Holy Week is approaching. As we turn our minds and hearts to the Passion, I want to offer this meditation on the Cross I got from Beliefnet, it is very profound.
Two thousand years ago, outside the city-gates of Jerusalem, Jesus of Nazareth was crucified as a common criminal by means of crucifixion. This is the historical fact.
Now, the truth of faith: He died for me, and for you. He died for all people. God became a man and lived a relatively short life. That life was ended by means of a cruel arrest and a horrible sentence of torture and death. Our hearts sink heavy with the realization that he died because of our sinfulness. We could not save ourselves. We needed a Savior-a Divine, sinless Savior.
Look with the eyes of faith, and behold this gentle and willing Lamb stretched out in agony on the wood of the cross. Here is a mystery played out so pitifully and yet so beautifully. The mystery of love is emblazoned on the suffering Christ as he hangs there in unmentionable agony. Love, not nails, holds him fast to the rugged cross.
"No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends."
(John 15:13)
"Do you think that I cannot call upon my Father and he will not provide me at this moment with more than twelve legions of angels?"
(Matthew 26:53-Jesus' rebuke to Peter as he was arrested)
The cross demands a response. No one can pass it by without making a decision either to cling to it or to ignore it. The cross stands as an unshakable anchor in history. The Church is built upon the foundation of the glorious cross. It is her banner of victory and her hope of life eternal. Hell trembles before the majesty of its truth. The world looks upon it with contempt. However, the Christian knows its value.
We know that it contains everything needed in this life and is the gateway to the life to come. If we desire to be made whole we must drive it into our hearts afresh at each moment. The Christian who has forgotten the cross is the saddest of all creatures. The cross is the crowning glory of our faith. Without it in our lives we are the poorest of souls. Therefore, we must hold it fast and treasure it beyond anything else.
In the weakness of the cross the strength of God is enfleshed. Those who railed against Jesus to come off of the cross saw before them what appeared to be a weak, helpless man. However, they mocked the strength of God who stayed on the cross, working out our salvation. Look upon the cross and there you will see a powerful Savior mounted on a throne, not a frail man thrown into death at the hands of another.
"No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down on my own."
(John 10:18)
The sight of the instrument of our Lord's death must have been a bloody and frightening sight. However, His pain has become our healing. His shed blood has become for us a cleansing river. His death has opened the way for us to enjoy eternal life in the joys of heaven. Why, then, should we not fall down before His cross in worship? We must. We must, in the sight of such awesome love, give ourselves totally to Christ. God forbid that we should walk by the cross and not have our lives forever changed as we glimpse the boundless love of the sinless Christ who became sin for us (II Corinthians 5:21).
Therefore, with our whole hearts, we must be reconciled to God by love of the Lord's cross. We must offer ourselves, too, as sacrificial offerings to that love which is supreme, perfect, and infinite. The cross must shine in our hearts and in our lives so that others may see in us the love of Christ. We must die to self and to the world and live in the glory of Christ's cross of victory.
Forever may our voices and our hearts swell with the anthem, "Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, for by your holy cross you have redeemed the world (Saint Francis of Assisi)!"
March 13, 2008 | Permalink
Technorati Tags: Cross, Holy Week, Passion
Lent is ending, Holy Week is approaching. As we turn our minds and hearts to the Passion, I want to offer this meditation on the Cross I got from Beliefnet, it is very profound.
Two thousand years ago, outside the city-gates of Jerusalem, Jesus of Nazareth was crucified as a common criminal by means of crucifixion. This is the historical fact.
Now, the truth of faith: He died for me, and for you. He died for all people. God became a man and lived a relatively short life. That life was ended by means of a cruel arrest and a horrible sentence of torture and death. Our hearts sink heavy with the realization that he died because of our sinfulness. We could not save ourselves. We needed a Savior-a Divine, sinless Savior.
Look with the eyes of faith, and behold this gentle and willing Lamb stretched out in agony on the wood of the cross. Here is a mystery played out so pitifully and yet so beautifully. The mystery of love is emblazoned on the suffering Christ as he hangs there in unmentionable agony. Love, not nails, holds him fast to the rugged cross.
"No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends."
(John 15:13)
"Do you think that I cannot call upon my Father and he will not provide me at this moment with more than twelve legions of angels?"
(Matthew 26:53-Jesus' rebuke to Peter as he was arrested)
The cross demands a response. No one can pass it by without making a decision either to cling to it or to ignore it. The cross stands as an unshakable anchor in history. The Church is built upon the foundation of the glorious cross. It is her banner of victory and her hope of life eternal. Hell trembles before the majesty of its truth. The world looks upon it with contempt. However, the Christian knows its value.
We know that it contains everything needed in this life and is the gateway to the life to come. If we desire to be made whole we must drive it into our hearts afresh at each moment. The Christian who has forgotten the cross is the saddest of all creatures. The cross is the crowning glory of our faith. Without it in our lives we are the poorest of souls. Therefore, we must hold it fast and treasure it beyond anything else.
In the weakness of the cross the strength of God is enfleshed. Those who railed against Jesus to come off of the cross saw before them what appeared to be a weak, helpless man. However, they mocked the strength of God who stayed on the cross, working out our salvation. Look upon the cross and there you will see a powerful Savior mounted on a throne, not a frail man thrown into death at the hands of another.
"No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down on my own."
(John 10:18)
The sight of the instrument of our Lord's death must have been a bloody and frightening sight. However, His pain has become our healing. His shed blood has become for us a cleansing river. His death has opened the way for us to enjoy eternal life in the joys of heaven. Why, then, should we not fall down before His cross in worship? We must. We must, in the sight of such awesome love, give ourselves totally to Christ. God forbid that we should walk by the cross and not have our lives forever changed as we glimpse the boundless love of the sinless Christ who became sin for us (II Corinthians 5:21).
Therefore, with our whole hearts, we must be reconciled to God by love of the Lord's cross. We must offer ourselves, too, as sacrificial offerings to that love which is supreme, perfect, and infinite. The cross must shine in our hearts and in our lives so that others may see in us the love of Christ. We must die to self and to the world and live in the glory of Christ's cross of victory.
Forever may our voices and our hearts swell with the anthem, "Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, for by your holy cross you have redeemed the world (Saint Francis of Assisi)!"
March 13, 2008 | Permalink
Technorati Tags: Cross, Holy Week, Passion
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