The Error of an Empty Cross
At 3pm Jesus uttered His final pain filled cry into all time. An indisposed and disinterested world may have heard it, but did not care to reply, lament or bless.
Enveloped in the darkness of His soul and shrouded in the black of the day, God died! Only the very closest witnessed His death as mid-afternoon was as dark as mid-night.
A brave Joseph of Arimathea sought and gained permission to claim the body of his abandoned Messiah. Removed from both the world and suffering this disfigured human-refuse was entombed.
The Cross remained vertical but Jesus was now horizontal. Any subsequent passer-by could no longer witness the suffering. Neither would they hear the echoes of a despised and rejected Heaven ringing in their ears.
Was it five centuries ago, during The Reformation that Jesus was again taken from the Cross?
The empty Crucifix, the symbol of salvation has now become a metaphor of intense satisfaction, as Christians safely recline asleep on a lounge named unmerited forgiveness.
Today an empty crucifix remains a visually sanitised cross; the witness of suffering now removed and the presence of pain now absent.
Yet the imprint of Calvary must remain a crucifix! A nailed and bloodied body hung listless on a blood-drenched instrument of cruel death, this has revealed the nature of true discipleship.
The crucifix is the model of Christian living, an empty cross cannot suffice.
Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:17)
Today's Soul Snippet:
"What are you willing to give in exchange for your soul?" ~ A.W.Tozer
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