Consider the Reality of the Cross

Consider the reality of a cross. It basically consists of crossing and fastening two crude, strong, wooden beams together at a single point. The cross wasn’t made for decoration, but for execution – literally, for putting to death criminals that had been sentenced to die. We often forget that fact. The cross to us has become a common fixture in our culture. We don’t kill people on the cross anymore so it doesn’t have the same effect on people as it would have during the time of Christ. It’s more of a symbol to us – a religious trinket. We incorporate the cross into our jewelry – necklaces, rings, earrings, pins, etc. We print it on posters and pieces of vinyl that we stick to the bumper of our car. What was once such a gruesome sight has no been accepted as harmless… I wonder, “In the sanitized way we consider the cross, have we lost the true meaning of what it really is?”

Again, I ask you to consider the reality of the cross. Let your mind wander back to some 2000 years ago. On a hill, surrounded by observers, mourners, soldiers, and people from all walks of life, see Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, hanging there. He is struggling to breathe. Blood drips from his brow… from his chin… Streaks of blood, some old and dry, some fresh and glistening, evidence of the torture he endured. Innocent blood, holy blood, the Lamb’s blood, spilling out as payment for someone else’s sin. His body is racked with pain as his muscles cramp and spasm. Why? For what reason is he there? He’s paying a debt he did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay. He’s taking our place – my place, your place, our place on that tree. The Bible says that everyone who hangs on a tree is cursed. And there is Christ, hanging on a tree – on a cross, fashioned out of two crude, strong, wooden beams. He became a curse for us. Even before we were ever born or thought of, he took our place. Before we ever had a conscious thought or knowledge of sin, he bore upon his back the sin we would eventually commit. The sin that would manifest itself in our lives – the evidence of the curse.

It’s so amazing when you consider the reality of the cross. Such a simple, crude instrument of torture and death, yet such a beautiful reminder of the grace of our Lord. Today, be reminded of the reality of the cross. 

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