I sat before the cross and felt the agony of Jesus’ death – for me, for you, for the whole world. It was the Apostle Paul who wrote, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14). Maybe you have thought about this, but the most natural question to this statement seems to be: “What does it mean to boast in the cross?”
During Lent, we painfully become
aware of our debts, our trespasses, and our sins. If we’re honest, we all recognize our sinful
tendencies and recognize a certain brokenness within – by which I mean, we usually
don’t say, “I think I’ll sin now”, but instead, recognize our actions, or
thoughts are wrong before God. Why did I
do that? Why did I say that? Why did I think that? If we do any kind of self-examination, we
soon realize that we need to be honest about our nature that can not be in line
with God’s word, or commandments.
In our broken world, it is all too
easy for people to resist any kind of self-examination, because they can relegate
their behavior, or thoughts, to others, and soon we find ourselves excusing our
sin instead of dealing with it. One of
my former mentors used to ask the question: “what do you do with your guilt?”
when talking to people who feel they need no self-examination. Yet, the failure
to do anything that is thoughtful does not excuse before God.
Here’s where the Cross of Jesus
comes in, and where I learned to “glory in the Cross”. The cross is where Jesus took my sin, and
yours, and dealt with it in a final way.
To glory in the Cross is to know that I don’t have to pay for my sin
since Jesus paid it for me. Once again,
I have little help here to finish this off from an ancient voice of the early
Church Fathers. I spoke of a “Catechesis”
previously, but to remind you, it simply means a teaching for new believers. This writing is from a Catechesis by Saint
Cyril of Jerusalem, a bishop of the Church in the 4th century, and it
was written to believers undergoing persecution for their faith in Christ.
Even in times of persecution let the cross be your joy
The Church
glories in every deed of Christ. Her supreme glory, however, is the cross. Well
aware of this, Paul says: God forbid that I glory in anything but the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!
At Siloam,
there was a sense of wonder, and rightly so. A man born blind recovered his
sight. But of what importance is this, when there are so many blind people in
the world? Lazarus rose from the dead, but even this affected only Lazarus.
What of those countless numbers who have died because of their sins? Those five
miraculous loaves fed five thousand people. Yet this is a small number compared
to those all over the world who were starved by ignorance. After eighteen years
a woman was freed from the bondage of Satan. But are we not all shackled by the
chains of our own sins?
For us all,
however, the cross is the crown of victory! It has brought light to those
blinded by ignorance. It has released those enslaved by sin. Indeed, it has
redeemed the whole of mankind! Do not, then, be ashamed of the cross of Christ;
rather, glory in it. Although it is a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to
the Gentiles, the message of the cross is our salvation. Of course, it is folly
to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of
God. For it was not a mere man who died for us, but the Son of God, God made
man.
In the Mosaic
law, a sacrificial lamb banished the destroyer. But now it is the Lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world. Will he not free us from our sins
even more? The blood of an animal, a sheep, brought salvation. Will not the
blood of the only-begotten Son bring us greater salvation?
He was not
killed by violence, he was not forced to give up his life. His was a willing
sacrifice. Listen to his own words: I have the power to lay down my life
and take it up again. Yes, he willingly submitted to his own passion. He
took joy in his achievement; in his crown of victory he was glad and in the
salvation of man he rejoiced. He did not blush at the cross for by it he was to
save the world. No, it was not a lowly man who suffered but God incarnate. He
entered the contest for the reward he would win by his patient endurance.
Certainly in
times of tranquility, the cross should give you joy. But maintain the same
faith in times of persecution. Otherwise, you will be a friend of Jesus in
times of peace and his enemy during war. Now you receive the forgiveness of
your sins and the generous gift of grace from your king. When war comes, fight
courageously for him.
Jesus never
sinned; yet he was crucified for you. Will you refuse to be crucified for him,
who for your sake was nailed to the cross? You are not the one who gives the
favor; you have received one first. For your sake, he was crucified on
Golgotha. Now you are returning his favor; you are fulfilling your debt to him.
Peace
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