The Victory of the Cross
Psalm 130
Prayer: Most merciful God, who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ delivered and saved mankind: grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross we may triumph in the power of his victory; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Methodist Service Book. 1975
Hymn: Beneath the cross of Jesus
For those of you who prefer the Sankey tune, I’m sorry but I could only find a musical performance without the words.
Readings:
Isaiah 63: 1-16
Colossians 2: 8-15
John 12: 20-32
Susannah and I have just closed our market stall in Sheffield Moor Market. There was some discussion at the start of last week about how much notice we would need to close, whether we had any problems getting stock, and what trade was like. We had already decided that we would close yesterday regardless of what the rest of the stallholders did. In the eventuality, all the traders decided that they would close, and the market is now closed “for the duration” as my father would have put it. (I think this was an expression from the second world war period)
In the last week, customers have been made aware of the impending closure, and a common parting has become “See you on the other side”. To those of us brought up on hymns such as “Away far beyond Jordan” ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArqTNxKej2o ) and “we shall meet on the other side” ( https://hymnary.org/text/we_shall_meet_on_the_other_side ) this parting has unfortunate connotations. For a long period, the journey of the people of Israel through the wilderness was taken to be an allegory for life. This meant that the image of crossing the Jordan was seen as the final part of life’s journey or going into heaven (the promised land). I’m sure that many of our customers would have been unaware of this potential for confusion, but I am hoping to see them before that! (As an aside, I’m rather hoping not to be running a market stall in heaven)
However, the image of crossing the Jordan had other emphases in some cultures. For slaves in the Southern states of America, it had connotations of going into the Northern states or even Canada where there was no slavery. The idea of a better life needing the person to pass over a boundary, the image of the Jordan being taken from the same story referred to above.
As Jesus and the disciples went to Jerusalem, many of the disciples would have been wondering what the future held. I’m sure that they would have wondered why Jesus was embarking on a course which could lead, in their eyes, to disaster. They would have seen what happened to people who rocked the boat and disturbed the status quo. For his part, Jesus too would have known that the way he was going was a difficult one. He would have known that once he went back to Jerusalem and attracted attention, there would be trouble.
He had attempted to tell the disciples that this would not be the end, but apparently they had not understood, or perhaps they could not understand.
Of course, we have the benefit of hindsight, and know that there is a future. That this chosen course of action was not a cul-de-sac. But that the way out led via the cross.
There are two possible interpretations of the cross. (perhaps I should have said at least two ). For some, indeed many of the observers at the time, it would have been seen as failure; that the promised liberation or salvation , had come to a blind alley. Some today follow this line as well, saying that Jesus was great man, a good teacher and philosopher who gives us a framework for a good life. Others see the future beyond the cross, but over-sentimentalise the cross. Personally, I can’t imagine Jesus being in any hurry to return, or cling to, “The Old Rugged Cross”. (Not to say that I don’t like the hymn, or that I don’t think that the theology of it good).
The cross was undoubtedly a brutal and agonising method of execution. Jesus undoubtedly knew where he was likely to end up.
Followers and enemies alike would have been saying “They think it’s all over”.
One of the sayings that I have picked up over the years is “He who wishes to see the sunrise must live through the night.” I was under the impression that it is a Jewish proverb, but I can’t verify this theory. Wherever it is from, Paul would have known of the truth of it. Writing some time after the crucifixion (and of course the resurrection) he understood that it was not the end. That in this action he “cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.”
That in the course of action he voluntarily undertook, at great personal expense, he removed the barrier between mankind and God.
The disaster that the world saw is in fact a great victory.
Those who “Think it’s all over” should indeed be saying “It is now!”
Hymn: “There's a sound on the wind like a victory song,”
