+ We focus in this Lenten day
on the very instrument of our salvation: the
cross itself 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, we must look at the cross as see hope or we are depriving ourselves of
promise, we must look at the cross and see peace,
or we are excluding ourselves from harmonious existence.
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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