By now, if you are a regular church go-er, you have all likely heard thematic messages concerning the Passion of the Christ. For those who don’t know what that is, it is a term to describe the sufferings of Christ between the night of the Last Supper and his death. Being that this last sunday is also known as palm sunday, you probably heard about the events going all way back to a week before the beginning of the Passion. Therein lies a fascinating study of the 70 weeks of Daniel from Daniel 9.
All of this is well and good. We should remember that Jesus did suffer and pay the penalty for our sins. At the end, everyone in attendance is probably feeling really down. However, a thought occurred to me as I listened to the sermon this past sunday. I had a thought of just chopping down that cross posted at the front of the sanctuary.
If that last statement shocked you, I pray that you continue reading as I explain.
In the book of Judges, there is the story of a man named Gideon. He was charged by God to tear down an idol his father kept. Now, I’m not saying that the cross is the equivelant to an idol to Baal. I am, however, asking that everyone examine themselves. That cross isn’t needed anymore. It is a symbol; a reminder even, but watch that you don’t cross the line to replaceing God with that cross. I don’t have a cross in my house. I do not need a reminder of what Jesus did and why. I get that every time I look in the mirror and every time I read the gospels.
There is another story of king Hezekiah (2 Chron. 29-32). He was king of Judah between two others who did not practice what the LORD considered to be right. Those being Ahaz(2 Chron. 28) and Mannasseh (2 Chron 33). Hezekiah made several leadership changes bringing the nation back to God. One of those activities involved the removal of Asherah poles and other objects of worship. One of those objects, it turns out, was the bronze serpent Moses was instructed to build during the wilderness wanderings of the Israelites. After all those years it had turned into an object of worship.
So, why chop it down? One reason is because what happened on the cross is finished1. Jesus said so himself while hanging on said same cross2. We don’t need the cross anymore. The symbol of the cross can serve as a distraction from what we are supposed to be looking toward.
Jesus told them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, I tell all of you with certainty, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces a lot of grain. (Joh 12:23-24)
After Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “The Son of Man is now glorified, and God has been glorified by him. If God has been glorified by him, God himself also will glorify the Son of Man, and he will do so quickly. (Joh 13:31-32)
That last was uttered at the Last Supper after Jesus had forced Judas hand to start the process (note that throughout the Passion events, Jesus was in charge every step of the way. He went willingly to do what had to be done.)
Now obviously I refrained from running up to the front of the sanctuary and knocking down the cross they had there. My concern is only that we do not forget about the triumph that was attained on that cross. That we refrain from falling into a position that I think is best described by C.S. Lewis in this excerpt from the “screwtape letters”:
I have known cases where what the patient called his “God” was actually located—up and to the left at the corner of the bedroom ceiling, or inside his own head, or in a crucifix on the wall. But whatever the nature of the composite object, you must keep him praying to it—to the thing that he has made, not to the Person who has made him. (Screwtape letters, IV)
Remember, three days later Jesus got back up. He became sin for us, seperated from God on the cross. Defeating sin and death. We should remember that, truly. He defeated death and sin for us. He rose again three days later and now lives. His task on the cross is done. We should remember that, too.