We are celebrating the feast of the cross
which drove away darkness and brought in the light. As we keep
this feast, we are lifted up with the crucified Christ, leaving
behind us earth and sin so that we may gain the things above. So
great and outstanding a possession is the cross that he who wins
it has won a treasure. Rightly could I call this treasure the
fairest of all fair things and the costliest, in fact as well as
in name, for on it and through it and for its sake the riches of
salvation that had been lost were restored to us.
Had there been no cross, Christ could not have been crucified.
Had there been no cross, life itself could not have been nailed
to the tree. And if life had not been nailed to it, there would
be no streams of immortality pouring from Christ’s side, blood
and water for the world’s cleansing. The legal bond of our sin
would not be cancelled, we should not have attained our freedom,
we should not have enjoyed the fruit of the tree of life and the
gates of paradise would not stand open. Had there been no cross,
death would not have been trodden underfoot, nor hell despoiled.
Therefore, the cross is something wonderfully great and
honourable. It is great because through the cross the many noble
acts of Christ found their consummation – very many indeed, for
both his miracles and his sufferings were fully rewarded with
victory. The cross is honourable because it is both the sign of
God’s suffering and the trophy of his victory. It stands for his
suffering because on it he freely suffered unto death. But it is
also his trophy because it was the means by which the devil was
wounded and death conquered; the barred gates of hell were
smashed, and the cross became the one common salvation of the
whole world.
The cross is called Christ’s glory; it is saluted as his his
triumph. We recognise it as the cup he longed to drink and the
climax of the sufferings he endured for our sake. As to the
cross being Christ’s glory, listen to his words: Now is the
Son of Man glorified, and in him God is glorified, and God will
glorify him at once. And again: Father, glorify me with
the glory I had with you before the world came to be. And
once more: “Father, glorify your name”. Then a voice came
from heaven: “I have glorified it and will glorify it again”.
Here he speaks of the glory that would accrue to him through the
cross. And if you would understand that the cross is Christ’s
triumph, hear what he himself also said: When I am lifted up,
then I will draw all men to myself. Now you can see that the
cross is Christ’s glory and triumph.
