The Meaning of the Cross, part 2

Welcome to our second day of our 40 days of the cross series. Each day we are taking just a few minutes to look at a word which will help us better understand the meaning of the cross.
 

Today’s word is death. I know. It’s not a very attractive word. But the cross wasn’t very attractive. These days crosses made of gold are worn around necks; sometimes they are even studded with diamonds, making a beautiful piece of jewelry - and that’s fine, so long as the person wearing it still understands what the cross means.
 

The cross means death. The cross was an execution to carry out a death sentence. If, after a certain amount of time, the Roman soldiers thought the person on the cross might still be alive, they would break the victim’s legs so they could no longer support themselves on the spike driven into their feet. You see, they needed to support their weight on that spike to lift themselves up to draw a breath. Once they couldn’t do that, the victim suffocated. The gospel of John tells us that the soldiers broke the legs of the two thieves hanging on crosses to either side of Jesus. But then it says this in chapter 19, verse 32. “But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.”
 

When you see a cross, remember that it was an instrument of death. Jesus died on the cross. The apostle Paul said that the death of Jesus was the most important doctrine. In 1 Corinthians 15:3 Paul wrote, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures.”
 

Do we have a symbol of death on the front of our church? Is there a symbol of death hanging on a gold chain around the necks of people all around the world? Yes. That’s what the cross is: a symbol of death. But that death had a purpose. As we just read Paul’s words, Jesus died for OUR SINS. It was the only way sin could be forgiven.

We’ll talk more about forgiveness tomorrow. Now, let’s pray.
 

Heavenly Father, it is with sober hearts that we give thanks for the death of Your Son, Jesus. It almost seems callous to thank You for something that cost You so dearly. And yet, this gift of love freed us from our sin. I also thank You that Jesus rose again into new life to offer us new life as well. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

I encourage you to spend a little time in meditation and prayer this afternoon, thinking about the aspect of Jesus’ death as it relates to the cross.

Continued tomorrow