Traditionally, the Fifth Sunday of Lent is called "Passion Sunday," for it marks the beginning of the end--the time when we move from self examination and start heading directly toward the cross of Christ. This Sunday of the Lenten season initiates a period of intense mourning over the earthly death of our Lord, Jesus Christ. The gospel reading for the day therefore, centers on Christ's death and what that means for all of us. We look at the cross that is lifted high, pondering its meaning then and its meaning now.
It is interesting that it is only in John's gospel that the passion prediction of Jesus actually mentions the method of His death. In both Mark and Matthew, Jesus says that He will be "killed," in Luke He says "betrayed." But in John's gospel, Jesus "will be lifted up from the earth"-a direct reference to crucifixion. The text also adds that the cross is mentioned, "to indicate the kind of death He was going to die."
With his reference to the cross itself, the writer of John creates a visual image of Christ's death for us to ponder. He paints a picture for us to see and feel and touch. With the cross there are implications about the nature of death. It is violent, painful and slow. It is a very public death, intended to be as humiliating as possible for the one that is crucified. It is about the last way anyone wants to be killed.
Now, I'd like you to actually look at the cross we have here in our sanctuary. Imagine Christ, fully human and fully divine, hanging there. Remember its horror-pain and suffering-humiliation and anguish. Let yourself take it all in-breath with the breath that God put into your body and remember Christ's suffering. Let yourself see and feel and hear all that happened on that day.
When we think of the cross of Christ, we think of these difficult things. We are saddened that Christ's earthly life ended in such a terrible way. We identify the cross with pain and sacrifice, empathizing with the women who grieved at the foot of the cross, enduring the unthinkable. We think of the cross as an instrument of torture and death; surrounded with the darkness of storm clouds, cries of pain and suffering emanating from far above our heads and the blood of our Savior dripping slowly down to the ground. This is an accurate picture of the cross, but it is not a complete picture. The cross is also a source of beauty. With the cross, Christ has demonstrated obedience to the Father. With the cross, Christ has paid the price for our sins. With the cross, Christ has made it possible for us join with Him in baptism and resurrection. Because Christ died on the cross, we have hope for the future; we have faith in the promise of eternal life.
The cross in its complete picture, is a source of reconciliation between God and us. In His crucifixion, Christ did what was necessary for the relationship between God and God's people to be restored-to be made right. The cross made righteousness a reality.
Some of you already know that my favorite image of the cross is the one painted with words by the fourth century theologian and Bishop of Alexandria, Athanasius. Much of his time was spent composing long apologetics, arguments defending his theological positions against those who held opinions different from his own. But, he did write other things, one of the most beautiful being the treatise On the Incarnation.
In this work, Athanasius weaves together his understanding of the person of Jesus Christ as the incarnation of God. He speaks of the triumph of the cross over death by saying that "the powers of death have done their worst and have been defeated." Death is defeated, because of what Christ accomplished through His submission to crucifixion.
Athansius calls the cross a "glorious death" and sets out not only to prove, but also to inspire the reader to see the beauty that it holds. He looks at the cross both vertically and horizontally. Vertically, Christ is lifted up into the air, preparing "the way for us up into heaven." Vertically, we are reconciled to God. Our relationship is made right with the Creator. Horizontally speaking, "it is only on the cross that a man dies with his hands spread out." It was only fitting therefore, says Athansius, for Christ to "spread out His hands, that with one He might draw the ancient people, and with the other those from the Gentiles, and unite both in Himself." Horizontally, we are united to each other-only possible through the outstretched hands of our Lord.
Let's look at the cross again. It is bare. Christ has been resurrected. In and of itself that is beautiful to behold, but there is even more. Look at it vertically. Imagine it continuing upward into heaven, opening the way for us to be united eternally with our God. Christ has given us that connection, that way. Isn't it beautiful, a pathway into the heavenly realm?
Now look at it horizontally. We have been divinely united with each other for all eternity through the outstretched arms that once lay there. All who inhabit the world are one in Christ. It is a beautiful thing.
In Jeremiah's "Little Book of Comfort", chapters thirty and thirty-one, we are reminded of God's gift to us of covenant. In covenant, God promises to be with us always. The New Covenant is an extension of the Old Covenant in its many varied forms. It is God's renewed promise of faithfulness, given in spite of our lack of faith.
The New Covenant we read today in Jeremiah gets down to the basics of our relationship with God. We are reminded of the importance of God's law. It will be written on our hearts-a gift from God given freely to us. We are given the promise that God is our God and that we are God's people-that is our identity. We are also given the promise of salvation, for we will all know God because our sins are forgiven, they are to be remembered no more. How beautiful are the promises of our God!
When we look at the cross in all of its beauty, we are reminded of the New Covenant. It is made manifest in Christ, and we remember it as we partake of the Lord's Table in worship this day. It is something that we do communally, as a gathered body. It is here that we have acknowledged God's promises and responded with a covenant of our own, made possible by the beautiful cross of Christ.
In our covenant, we promise to love our God, acknowledging that God is our God and we are God's people. We embrace the promise of the New Covenant. We promise to worship our Creator and strive to know God's will through study of scripture and through the work of the Holy Spirit. We believe that we have been reconciled with God through the vertical nature of Christ's cross.
In our covenant, we also promise to love and sustain each other, embracing our oneness in Christ because of the horizontal nature of the cross. We promise to welcome all who come our way; and to work for social justice, equality and community. We promise to grow in fellowship together, the forgiven children of God who are one in Christ.
Today is the Fifth Sunday of Lent. As Jesus says to His disciples and the Greeks who seek His truth, "the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." We are now heading toward the cross. As we enter into this time of mourning, may we see beauty of the cross. May we see this earthly instrument of death as a heavenly instrument of life. Amen.
Peace,
Rev. Cynthia Bacon
Minister
You may email at:
cbacon@heritagemadison.org
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