This Cross

I've loved this particular cross since I was a little girl.  It hangs high above the preacher and the fancy chairs in front of the sanctuary of one of my favorite churches.  I used to stare at it in wonder as a young girl visiting my relatives in the quaint Midwestern town I cherished--and still adore.  Even now it brings a familiar peace to my heart when I have the time to gaze at it.  Maybe it's the blue sky and soaring birds behind it that make it extra special to me.  Maybe it's the remembrance of all the love that always surrounded me in what seemed to me a sacred place. 

But in reality this cross is only a symbol.  If I could reach high enough to touch it, my fingers would probably feel a smooth, well-sanded surface.  The edges and corners are perfectly straight and squared off.  Its appearance has a soothing affect on me.

SO very different from the real cross.  Our modern cross symbols are kind, clean, smooth, innocent . . . some even "cool."

The real cross--the only one that truly affects our eternity--was far from perfectly made.  There was likely no sanding or beautifying of any kind.  Based on the cruelty shown Jesus, as described in the Bible, His cross was probably meant to be as uncomfortable as possible.  I imagine the splintered wood pierced His body similarly to how the thorns pierced His scalp.

And this was after He had already been beaten and scourged beyond recognition.  Completely innocent, yet spit upon and mocked.

For me?  For you?

Yes!  It's true!  Out of obedience and submission to His Father, and out of love for us, He paid the price we owed.  Jesus Christ--fully God and fully man--suffered this brutal death that I deserved and He didn't.  Because of love.  I can't fathom that kind of love, but I believe it one hundred percent.  His sacrifice and my belief in it have set me free!

So, it's fine to look at our cleaned-up crosses, but it's even better to occasionally dwell on reality.  It's the least we can do to think about the splinters and the thorns and the blood; to acknowledge it all for what it really was and is and will be:

Our salvation.  Our freedom.  Our peace.

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