In preparation for the Ash Wednesday service we are having here at Rolling Acres I purchased a crucifix from an online store. I bought it so that during the service people can have a visual of the sacrifice Jesus made for creation on the cross. Yet, I have to admit that there was an ulterior motive. For, the crucifix is currently hanging in my office by the door--a constant reminder to me of my Lord.
Yet, there are no doubt some good protestants reading this blog and saying to themselves, "crucifix? we protestants like our crosses empty." I have gotten a few such comments since the crucifix has been hanging up (no names or blames here), and I totally appreciate what lies behind those comments. I love the picture of the empty cross! I love that it reminds us that Jesus was taken down from the cross and put in the grave only to raise from the dead three days later! That is the best news I have ever heard, and in the words of a great new testament scholar, "it is the climax of human history!"
Yet, I have a question for us who prefer the empty cross to the crucifix: Is there such a thing as separating ourselves too much from the scandal of the cross? Does the empty cross that we have made into jewelry and bumper stickers create a little too much space between us and the horrid torture stake on which hung the savior of the world? The word for cross in the Greek and roman languages was as bad as any vulgar language we can think of today. The cross was a picture of everything evil and defeated in the world. The cross was torture. The cross was death. The cross was a failed messiah. The cross was a message from Rome to the rest of the world that they were in control. But something happened on that first Good Friday. Something happened that turned all that the world knew about the cross on its head--the whole of human history changed course. So then, the crucifix is a reminder that Jesus set about bringing us into union with God through that horrible sacrifice. Jesus initiated a new kingdom which was legitimized by the Living God on Easter morning. That's a powerful statement of Love and Grace.
So, maybe the crucifix separates us a little too much from Easter morning. Maybe the cross separates us from the sacrifice that was actually made and the monstrous beauty that is wrapped up in that image. Maybe no image is complete and it's impossible to get there. But, maybe the cross imagery and the crucifix imagery are both needed to give us a better picture of what we might never fully understand.
Just a few thoughts...what are yours?
Grace and Peace
1 comment:
Very interesting perspective. One I have never thought about.
I would have to say that after thinking about what you wrote and digesting it I agree with you. Many of us (including myself) would rather not think of that gruesome image of Jesus hanging on the cross. It is easier to handle a geometric shape with no blood or flesh. But in making it easier for us to look at has also made the meaning easier and simpler for us also. I hope we can return to the deepness and richness and mystery that did happen that day.
Thanks for sharing.
Very well written.
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