+ We focus in this Lenten day on the very instrument of our
salvation: the cross on which the Lord was hung. In a
very real way we must be able to look at the cross and see joy or we are not looking at it in a faith-filled way. Just as the
people of the Old Testament were to look
at seraph snakes mounted on a pole in order to be saved; so too the New
Testament people are to look up at the crucified one hung on a cross and see
the “joy of their salvation.” Jesus himself says that when you lift me up, then you will know who I am and what I am, and all
of you will be eligible to be saved: you will know that I AM sent me, that the
Father and I are one, and that we love you all in an extraordinary sort of way.
There is no one who does not
have a very real and feeling reaction to seeing a cross – raised up or
otherwise – for it speaks to the heart:
those who wear crosses merely for decoration, do so, whether they know it or
not, out of some faith-response - whether they would admit it or not; and they
also do a favor for those who understand the basic meaning of the cross but
need to be reminded of how much God truly loves them, personally, throughout
the day!
And lastly, the cross is a
great instrument of protection: the devils flee from it, and the angels hover
around it; may we respect and even adore it as the instrument of the payment of
our sins and the new life that is ours if we want it.
The
nations shall revere your name, O Lord, and all the kings of the earth your
glory, when the Lord has rebuilt Zion and appeared in his glory.
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