The Cross Speaks

The Cross Speaks

"Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth."  (Isaiah 53:1-9)

Why stands that cross upon yon hill

So alone and dear against the sky

Who suffered there, Who gave His life?

Was He a thief, why did He die?

For nineteen hundred years men have been asking this question – Why stand that cross upon yon hill? What is the meaning? Of what significance is it?

The cross of Christ which tower’s o’er the wrecks of time, and around which gathers all the light of sacred story has captured the heart and imagination of mankind. It has inspired men like Raphael, Michael Angelo, and Leonardo DaVinci, Warner Sallman to produce some of the greatest masterpieces of art. It has given birth to some of the great works of literature. Men like Dante, Schiller, Tennyson, Browning, and John Milton found their inspiration in the cross and in the Christ of the Cross. Some of the best beloved hymns of the Church are the hymns of the cross. Truly the lives, the hopes and the works of men have been different because of the cross.

Today the cross is emblazoned against the sky. It shines its golden outline from the spires and towers of our Church by day and flashes its eternal truth by night. It is the badge of the international society of mercy, the Red Cross. It is the ground plan of many Churches; it is embossed upon our Bibles; men wear it upon their coat lapels and women wear it upon a chain around their necks.

Some have accused Christians of worshipping the cross. It was George Bernard Shaw who is reported to have said, “Let the Christians call their religion “Crossianity” instead of Christianity.” Such a criticism is untrue. We worship not the cross. To the Christian the cross is but a sacred symbol, even as a wedding band is a symbol and as the flag is a symbol.

I am the Cross of Christ!

I crown the pointed spires

Of man made temples near and far.

I watch the rising and the setting

Of each far flung star.

All through the night I am

Eternal Sentinel for Man!

I am the Cross of Christ!

They say, “I tower o’er the wrecks

Of time” I only know

That when a humble tree

This was not so. But this

I know – since then

I have become a symbol for the hopes of men.

And so the Apostle proclaimed: “God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of Jesus Christ.”

Beyond the symbol there must be substance, there must be meaning, there must be some significance. A symbol has value in that which is signifies. Beyond the symbol of the wedding band there must be significance and there is: for it signifies that a man and a woman stood in the presence of God and God’s people and were united in the holy bonds of marriage. Beyond the symbol of the flag there must be significance and there is: the flag signifies that 50 separate and sovereign states were united into a whole that out of many there may be one United States of America. Beyond the symbol of the cross there must be significance and there is: the cross signifies that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

The cross speaks to us of the depths of divine justice and also of the depths of divine mercy. The eternal cross stands as God’s judgment upon all sin, as you “Sit at the cross and watch Him there” you discover in a new way the sinfulness of sin.

The world thinks lightly of sin but God does not. God has revealed His mind towards sin in many ways and on many occasions. We see it in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden. We see it at the time of the flood in the days of Noah when “the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil and continually.” We see it at the tower of Babel in the confusion of tongues when man sought to become as God. We see it in the judgments of God upon sin was the death of the Son of God on the cross, “who was crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” (Acts 2:23)

But far deeper than this, the cross shows how evil “good” can be. Who were the people that put Jesus on the cross? Was it the criminals, the dregs of society, the social outcast? No, for they were up there being crucified with Him. Those who put Him to death were those who gathered at the foot of the cross and laughed at Him and mocked Him. They were the good people – the scribes, the Pharisees, the leaders of the people. They were the respectable people who upheld Roman law and order, who led in the temple worship. They were people like you and me. The cross speaks and says, “Your righteousness is as filthy rags.”

If this was all the cross signified we of all men would be most miserable. But the cross which speaks of God’s holiness speaks also of His love. It speaks of His justice but it also speaks of His mercy. When Caiaphas declared: “It is expedient that one should die for the people,” little did he understand the full prophetic import of those words. For the cross says to us, “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.”

Say unto Isaiah: “Isaiah, prophetically what is the significance of the cross?” and he would answer: “All we like sheep have gone astray and the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all; for He was wounded for my transgressions and bruised for my iniquity.” Say unto Jesus, “What does the cross in the here and now mean?” and He would answer: “The son of man is come to seek and to save the lost … this is the cup of the new covenant which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sin.” Ask Peter, “Peter historically what is the significance of the cross?” and he would answer: “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree that we being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness.”

An Illinois farmer was discovered kneeling at the head of a soldier’s grave at Nashville. Being asked, “Is that your boy?” he replied, “No, he lived in our town, and I have come to find his grave.” The observer said, “Perhaps you represent his father who could not come.” “Yes, my neighbor was glad to have me come; but I came for myself. You see, I have seven children, all of them small; and my wife is sickly. I was drafted. There was nobody to carry on the farm, and I could not hire a substitute. My $13.00 a month would not feed the family. It seemed as though I must go and they must suffer. When we were in our greatest trouble about it – just the morning I was to leave and report to camp – my neighbor’s son came over to the house and offered to go to the war for me. He said he had nobody depending on him and could go better than I. He went and was wounded at the battle of Chickamauga; he was brought to a hospital at Nashville, and this is his grave. You see, my friend died for me.” This is the significance of the cross: “My friend, the Son of God, loved me and gave Himself for me.”

The cross is a symbol which has deep and significant meaning but there must be more – there must be service. Beyond the significance of the wedding band there must be service. It is never enough for a young man and woman to repeat the wedding covenant to each other: I take thee to be my lawfully wedded wife and I do promise and covenant before God and these witnesses to be thy loving and faithful husband in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health as long as we both shall live,” then we go out and live a life of selfishness and unfaithfulness. It is never enough o pledge allegiance to the flag and the republic for which it stands and then go out to betray the democratic principles upon which this country was built. It is not enough to accept the sacrifice of God’s love and then go out and betray that love and do the things which bring shame to the cause of Christ, and crucify Him afresh. As one has said, “The cross condemns me to service.”

The cross was a way of life for Christ – the way of sacrifice, of selflessness, of service. Unto all who would enjoy the benefits of His atoning death and become His disciples He says, “Take up thy cross and follow me.”

This day the cross speaks to you. It says:

Pour contempt on you pride and believe on the Christ of the cross.

Take up thy cross and follow Him.

What will be your response?

Dr. Robert W Kirkpatrick

First Presbyterian Church Charleston, W Va, March 19, 1961