I have been writing about the cross. I hope you haven’t got bored yet. I hope that your interest has been piqued because the cross is the wonder of the ages.
Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress began his journey at the cross. “He ran (burdened) till he came at a place somewhat ascending; and upon that place stood a cross, and a little below, in the bottom, a sepulcher. So I saw in my dream, that just as Christian came up with the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back, and began to tumble, and so continued to do till it came to the mouth of the sepulcher, where it fell in, and I saw it no more. Then was Christian glad and lightsome, and said with a merry heart, ‘He hath given me rest by his sorrow, and life by his death.’”
But John Bunyan did not leave the cross after this. He stopped and considered. “Then he stood still a while, to look and wonder; for it was very surprising to him that the sight of the cross should thus ease him of his burden. He looked, therefore, and looked again, even till the springs that were in his head sent the waters down his cheeks.” For John, the cross was not just an objective reality, but, as he stopped, and worshipped and wondered, it became an inner one, as it did Paul.
The cross is historical and has a book definition. The cross is the wooden structure on which the Romans impaled people, and specifically Jesus. It was the most brutal, excruciating way to execute people. It was meant to dehumanize, degrade. abase, vilify, and to make one nothing and even less than nothing by crushing them in front of others.
Yet, far from erasing Jesus from human history, the cross became the stage where God’s true nature was revealed, and the cross became the central focus of the new-found faith. Jesus said, before He went to the cross, “Glory your name” or make your essence known. To which, “The Father replied, “I have and I will.”
The cross is the place where God, once and for all time, revealed who He is. He IS the self-giving, other-focused, other-honoring, self-sacrificing and forgiving life force who has forever lived in this sort of relationship. You can’t be these things, by the way, without being in a relationship.
This is why having an understanding of the nature of the Triune is so important. The Father and Son has forever existed in the atmosphere of the Spirit and find that their relationship hums because they revolve around each other, looking to highlight (glorify) the other.
And there is no better place to see this exhibited than on the cross because there, the Trinity’s eternal self-giving love is displayed. The Father, glorifying His Son. The Son, honoring His Father’s wishes. The Spirit, hovering over the darkness, shining light on their relationship. (And is into THIS relationship that you have been called. 1 Cor 1:9)
The wonder of the cross is that it is NOT just a historical fact but the very life-force, the very essence and nature of God. If you want to know Him, get to know the cross. Stand in front of it and wonder and worship. The cross, though rooted in a moment of history, transcends time, inviting you to encounter God’s self-giving love and find life in its shadow. Ask Him to open your eyes because from the smitten rock flows life.