31st Day of Lent
Beloved. The Passion reading tonight takes us to Golgotha, “the place of the skull” where Jesus was crucified. We hear of Jesus’ crucifixion and all the events surrounding it—both during and after—that caused the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus [to fear] greatly, saying “Truly this was the Son of God!” [Mt. 27.54]. We hear these same events, certainly each Lenten season and definitely on Good Friday. The Good Friday events are the heart and core of the Christian faith so that St. Paul could confess [1 Cor. 1.23]: we preach Christ crucified. Precisely because there was Good Friday, there was also Easter.
But at times, it seems that Good Friday and all the events connected with it are in the long distant past and we have no connection with them. But nothing could be further from the truth. The wondrous thing is that we are most gloriously connected with Good Friday. After all, in the Holy Sacrament of the Altar we are, as it were, standing before the cross as Jesus gives us His very body that was there being given up and gives us to drink His very blood that was being poured out for our sin. Although we weren’t literally there when they crucified our Lord, great spiritual blessing can be ours as we take a crucifix in hand and hold it before our eyes and ponder and meditate on the events of Good Friday. Let’s do that tonight.
Taking the crucifix in hand, let us first look at the cross. What we notice first about it is that it points into four directions. The cross itself can resemble the four points of the compass. And this reminds us that Jesus’ work was for all people—no matter where they may be on the four points of the compass. That includes you and me! Jesus’ work is for us! No one is excluded. St Paul is very clear [1 Ti 2.2; 2 Cor. 5.15: Christ Jesus…gave Himself as a ransom for all; and in another place very simply: He died for all. And then the cross was made up of two pieces—the cross beam and the part that stood upright. Here as we meditate on the cross itself, the two pieces can remind us of the Old and the New Testaments. The Old Testament has its prophecies of the coming Savior; the New Testament has the fulfillment of those prophecies/ those promises of God. And they come together/ are joined together in Jesus—He is the fulfillment of the prophecies. And these prophecies/ the work of the Savior find their completion in the cross of Jesus. All of Jesus’ life and work was leading up to the moment of the cross. Here is where our salvation, forgiveness, eternal life, reconciliation with God came about—in Jesus on the cross.
Although each crucifix may be made of different materials—perhaps the cross of your crucifix is wood, or perhaps not—but the original cross itself was wood. And where does wood come from? Trees! Here we think of the tree in the Garden of Eden; it produced a fruit which Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat but did so when tempted by the devil. With this, sin and death and every evil entered the world. But here the cross of Jesus is another tree. It is a tree that has Jesus on it; it has on it the fruit of life. When by faith we take of this fruit—Jesus—we have forgiveness of sin, His perfect holiness, life and salvation. Jesus tells us [John 6.54]: Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. We pick up this thought in our communion liturgy in Lent that God on the tree of the cross [gave] salvation to mankind that from where death arose [namely the tree of the forbidden fruit in Eden], from there [namely the tree of the cross] Life also might rise again and that he who by a tree once overcame likewise by a tree might be overcome.
Then we look at the crucifix a little closer and we see the titulus at the top. That’s what Pilate had written to show what the charge against Jesus was. On most crucifixes, it is shown with four letters: INRI. That’s the first letter in Latin for “Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews.” That’s probably just to save space since Pilate actually had the titulus written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. As we ponder this charge against Jesus, we see the work of the Holy Spirit on Pilate. He gave Pilate the word to write otherwise Pilate could not have written such truth; and Pilate who before caved to the pressure from the Jews, now was bold and when the Jews insisted that he take down or change the wording he held firm and boldly defended it: Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews.
As we ponder what the titulus says, there we see that Jesus’ death was undeserved; there was no other sin or cause of death that could be inscribed. And what did it do? It separated Jesus from the thieves next to Him. They were worthy of their deaths. Jesus had no sin. The titulus points us to Jesus’ sinlessness–that He truly is the holy, perfect Lamb of God, the sacrifice for the sins of the world.
And as we ponder the titulus at the top of the cross it is a great comfort to us for it points us to Jesus’ royal majesty. Although He is being tortured and in agony below it, we are reminded of His glorious kingdom that He is opening to all believers. We also catch the glory of Jesus and His kingdom as we remember the three languages it is written in. It is written in Hebrew—the people who were the most instructed in the word of God, true religion; it is written in Greek—the people known for wisdom; it is written in Latin—the people with the greatest power. All three languages bear witness that Jesus is King and Lord of all religion, wisdom, and power. He truly is the eternal God—and He is on the cross.
And now we look upon and meditate upon Jesus on the cross. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him. That means that Jesus’ hands and feet were nailed to the cross, the wood. First we look closely and specifically. If you look closely at the crucifix, you will see nails in Jesus’ hands and feet. It is rightly said that the nails didn’t hold Jesus to the cross but His love for us sinners. But the nails were still the reality. They fastened Jesus to the cross, tearing through flesh, bone, vessels, muscles, nerves, etc. But as we look at the nails, let us remember what exactly they were holding—yes, they were holding Jesus to the cross but on Him was the weight of the sin of the world. So what does that mean? Simply this—looking at the nails see Jesus bearing the weight and burden of your sin. What Good News that is for us. Notice His arms are higher than His head and His knees are bent—like He is bearing a load, because He is! –The weight of the sin of the world—your sin and mine. St. Paul writes [2 Cor 5.21]: God…made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
And now having looked at the nails, we pull our gaze back and see the whole Jesus on the cross. And who is this on the cross? –The true God, the Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. In Jesus, in His body, is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, riches, virtues and graces. This is the body of God Himself! St. Paul writes [Col. 2.9]: For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. How can this be since [John 4.24] God is Spirit? It’s because God became man. Here we are back at Christmas, the Incarnation. Looking at Jesus on the cross we come to that great miracle—God becoming man. The apostle writes [Hb. 2.14]: Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. Seeing Jesus’ body on the cross, we see the whole reason of why God became man—for us and our salvation. Jesus is our Brother; our own flesh and blood suffered for our sin. His body is the instrument of our salvation.
As we see Jesus on the cross, we see that not one limb was not tortured and in agony. Through St. David, Jesus says [Ps. 22.14-17]: All My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; it has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws…They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. Look at Jesus on the cross and there see that He was wholly busied in the work of our salvation and totally offered Himself for us. That means there can be no doubt that Jesus did everything to save us from our sins. His great physical suffering was the outward manifestation of His great spiritual suffering, which was a suffering far beyond anything we can imagine, as Jesus cried out [Psalm 22.1]: My God, My God why have You forsaken Me?
Now standing, as it were, at the base of the cross we look and see Jesus’ feet. There are those holy feet that never wandered off the path of truth, that never walked the path of sin. And now what? They are wounded and bloodied, nail pierced, because we love to wander in the path of sin. Precisely because His feet were wounded, we are forgiven our sins of wandering from the love and will of God. May our prayer be that He direct our feet into the way of life, lest we wander from Him and His grace and forgiveness.
Looking up at the crucified Jesus, let our eyes be directed to His arms. There we see His hands. These hands are the instruments of the Creator—the One who formed and knit us together in the womb; these are the hands which touched the sick and healed their disease. But these hands are dripping with blood—even though these hands never committed a sin; but they drip with blood because of the sin we commit with our hands. But then we look at His arms stretched out on the cross. Let us see here not just the tortured limbs but see these arms outstretched in love to receive us—to whom He says [Mt. 11.28]: Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. As He wants to receive us, let us embrace Him in faith. His arms are outstretched to give us the fullness of His grace and the forgiveness of sins; His arms are outstretched to receive our burdens and sin.
Then we see His sacred head, it is bowed down. Even though He never committed a sin of thought, it is marked and bloodied. This by the crown of thorns showing His kingdom, the Church, would only be brought about by His suffering. It is as if He puts His head down to kiss us; let us lift our heads in faith. With His head lowered, it is as if He is positioning Himself to hear our prayer. He is our dear Savior who wants to hear our prayer, who wants to intercede with the Father for us. With His head down, His holy eyes are looking at us whom He loves and died for. We now live under His gracious gaze as He watches out for us and works all things for our good.
As His head is tilted down to His right, our eyes then are directed to His breast where the lance has opened His side. When it happened, remember that blood and water gushed forth—pointing to the two Sacraments which give us the gifts, fruit and blessing of Jesus’ work. Jesus side is opened. Here we have access to and can see the holy heart of Jesus. There we see His heart overflowing with burning love for us sinners. Let us, as it were, enter this wound and all His wounds. It was our sins that inflicted these wounds and caused the suffering and death of the Son of God. But these wounds, especially the wound in the side are open and gaping, so that we can enter them and take refuge in them from Satan’s fiery darts as He dredges up our sin wanting us to despair; let our Lord’s wounds be for us a hiding place from every attack of temptation and affliction. The holy prophet writes [Is 53.5]: By His wounds you have been healed.
Yes, dear Christian, we do well to meditate upon the crucifix always but especially these waning days of Lent. The suffering and dying Jesus of the crucifix still shows forth to us His love for us in a dramatic and different way. INJ Amen