26 September 2015 - safe beneath the cross

Jesus said to his disciples,
“Pay attention to what I am telling you.
The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” 
But they did not understand this saying;
its meaning was hidden from them
so that they should not understand it,
and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

The message of the cross is always a challenge. There is always resistance in us that makes us afraid to fully embrace that message. We aren't so different from first century Jews who wanted a military messiah to throw off the yoke of the Romans. We too want a savior who can fix the externals and leave us to continue to live however we want. The cross means that the problem is more serious than that. It is not merely the misalignment of external circumstances. It is something deep in the hearts of men. If the cross is the price paid, how serious the debt must be.

Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him (cf. Joh. 12:25).

We begin to understand just what it is that we're afraid of. The death of Jesus shows just how serious the problem is. The sin problem and the death problem cannot be fixed externally. And the cross is no mere external fix. It is something which exposes us as sinners. It is something which itself can put that sin in us to death. But it is more. It is can turn the death in us into everlasting life, "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" (cf. Heb. 2:14-15).

So let's pay attention to what Jesus is saying. Once we get this truth we begin to draw strength from it. Even though the world around us is like "open country, because of the multitude of men and beasts in her midst" we can be safe. The cross can be "an encircling wall of fire" which keeps us safe. The cross? Isn't that the opposite of safety? The cross is only dangerous to the impermanent, to sin, and to death. It is also the gate through which the resurrection, the Holy Spirit, and the all things which truly last (faith, hope, and love) enter the world.

Then the virgins shall make merry and dance,
and young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.