Take Up Your Cross!

This posting is made to correspond with the Sunday of the Cross which is the third Sunday of Great Lent in the Orthodox Church.  On this Sunday Lent is half over, and its theme is to turn the mind to Holy Week’s events.

A brief history and explanation of crucifixion is given. It originated in Babylon / Assyria as a means of execution.  The next to employ crucifixion was Alexander the Great, and it was practiced in the eastern regions of his empire.  Then the Phoenicians picked it up.  Later, crucifixion was passed on to and used by the Romans who perfected it.  In the Roman Empire this method of execution was used for more than 500 years until outlawed by St Constantine in the fourth century.

Crucifixion was brutal, cruel and humiliating.  It was feared and loathed.  It was the form of execution for slaves, disgraced soldiers, and foreigners.  The criminal’s time until death could range from a few hours (as in the case of our Lord) up to four days.  Roman soldiers had to be present at the place of execution until the death of the victim was confirmed.  To hasten death, the victims lower legs would be fractured, or the chest wall pierced by a spear (as in the case of our Lord).  Hence, the claim by secularists and skeptics that on the Cross Christ merely “swooned” and revived in the tomb is ludicrous.   How did the condemned die?  First, blood loss and dehydration led to hypovolemic shock.  Death followed from asphyxia, acute congestive heart failure, and cardiac arrest (the cessation of electrical activity in the heart).

Though once an object of horror, now the image of the Cross is sacred and holy to us, and is the symbol of the Christian.  If you have this in mind you will see cruciform images all around you provided by the geometry of nature.

A few verses before the day’s Gospel reading we find these verses which come after St Peter’s famous and inspired confession, “You are the Christ” (as found in St Mark 8: 29):

And he began to teach them that it is necessary for the Son of Man to suffer much, and to be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes and to be killed, and after three days to rise again.  And he was speaking this openly.  Then Peter took him aside and rebuked him.  But, upon turning around and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind me, Satan! For you do not have in mind the matters of God, but the matters of men” (St Mark 8: 31 – 33).

The day’s Gospel reading then begins,

And calling together the crowd along with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would follow after me, he is to deny himself, and to take up his cross and  follow me.  For whoever wishes to save his life, he shall lose it.  But, whoever loses his life for my sake and of the Gospel, he shall save it” (St Mark 8: 34 – 35).

Briefly, I turn back to St Constantine.  When a young man, he had a solid claim to be emperor.  But, he had to defeat other contenders.  His chief rival was Maxentius.  His rival’s superior forces came against Constantine, and a decisive battle would soon take place.  However, prior to the battle, Constantine had a vision of the Cross that came with the message, “By this sign, conquer!”  The Cross was affixed to his soldiers’ shields, and Constantine defeated Maxentius’ forces at the Milvian Bridge.

“By this sign, conquer!”  By the Cross Jesus conquered death — he destroyed death by his own death.  The instrument of shameful execution became his weapon of victory!

 Take note!  By this same sign we conquer!  It is important to note that we have union with Christ’s crucifixion.  St Paul writes this in his letter to the Galatians:

For I, through the Law, died to the Law, in order that I might live to God.  I was crucified together [sunestauromai] with Christ:  I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith through the Son of God who loved me, and gave himself for me (Gal 2: 19 – 20).

“I was crucified together (sunestauromai) with Christ…”  These words impart this reality of an ontological union with our crucified Lord, God, and Savior.  When Christ died by crucifixion on the cross St. Paul was also there on the Cross in that moment.  He, too, was suspended on that wood.  And so are we who live today who have the same relational union with Jesus.

Thus, with this reality, it is imperative that we take up our crosses and follow Christ. For us, as it was for our Lord and the Cross, our own crosses are both instruments of death and weapons of victory.  We must die to ourselves to gain his victory over sin and corruption that are still active in our lives.  To do so, we must take up the little crosses placed in front of us each and every day.  Those little crosses are the mundane things, the annoying, and irritating things and people we encounter every day.

Light and Life

Given this, we are to CONSENT to death!  See such consent as the means to gain life — the LIFE of CHRIST!  The little crosses are not to be avoided or ignored.  What happens if we deny the death offered by these little crosses?  By denying, we only allow darkness and corruption to remain active in our lives.  We lose our lives and do not gain Christ!

Let me give an example of an every day cross.  A little Cross can be the impatient driver that cuts in front of us on the freeway to make his or her exit.  We now have the choice to consent to death or deny this cross.  To deny this little cross would mean that one reacts in anger:  a gesture is made, the horn is blown, and “French words” are spoken to the driver.  This is just the action our Adversary wants from us.  But, to consent and to take up this little cross means we bless the other driver and pray for him.  Further, to live eucharistically, we can embrace this little cross a bit more by giving thanks for his action.  This is because, by his “offense,” he now comes into our consciousness.  By praying for blessing and protection to come to him, a portion of that remaining corruption in us is excised from us, and put to death.  Added to this, the situation and the driver are carried to Christ.  Redemption and transformation take place.  That little cross became a weapon of victory.

Jesus Christ conquers

Again, by the determined actions of consent and thanksgiving for the little crosses that are presented to us, we die to ourselves.  By such dying the life of Christ is poured into us.  By taking up our small crosses, the victorious Gifts of his Body and Blood that were offered on the Cross are presented anew to humanity, all physical creatures, and to the entirety of the universe for their sanctification.

The following is a sermon that corresponds to the posting:

In Christ who destroyed death by death,

Fr Irenaeus