Meditation: Why the Cross is Not Enough
Christianity without the cross is a sham, but the cross is not enough. You heard me: the cross is not enough. Before the cross came incarnation, and after the cross came resurrection: Jesus modeled all three, and so should we.
I’ve watched recently as an increasing number of teachers and leaders encourage us to follow Jesus’ example by going to the cross. Our Lord is a model—the model, actually—of self sacrifice and humility. This much is true: he is our example, and he went willingly to the cross. He didn’t miscalculate, he wasn’t blindsided by people or events beyond his control. No one took his life from him: he laid it down freely, and so should we.
Before the cross, however, all of heaven gasped in wonder at the miracle of Incarnation. The Creator become part of creation. He did not stand afar off and offer advice, he became present in his world. He arrived in the usual way for a man, and the most unusual way for God. Nor did he simply drop in for a weekend redemption spree. He lived life to the full and left a record of how we should live. This part of his example required humility and sacrifice as well.
The Apostle Paul tells us the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. The cross, he says, is a scandal to the religiously minded and ridiculous to the wisdom of this age. The world does not value humility and sacrifice, but they are the calling cards of another realm. Still, Paul did not leave Jesus in the grave, nor did the Father. To win by losing is an oxymoron. But Jesus didn’t win by losing. He won by winning, and the winning came by the resurrection.
Jesus’ example did not end with the agonizing beauty of his tortured death. His final words on the cross were not his final words. He had much more to say, and plenty for us to do. His work beyond the cross required the Father’s intervention in his life, and our work should require no less. Have you ever considered the humility and faith Jesus displayed by placing his future in the Father’s hands? Jesus died in faith, trusting in the Father’s promise of resurrection, but he had no guarantee beyond the love and trust he exhibited that night in Gethsemane. In this, too, we can follow his example. The Spirit of God is hovering and poised to infuse our lives with resurrection empowerment even now.
No witness is complete without these three vital elements: incarnation, sacrifice, and resurrection. Our attempts at ministry are incomplete without the three. We cannot stand far off and offer advice. We cannot follow Jesus without bearing the cross, and we cannot carry on his work without the Father’s intervention. Our tendency, though, is to prefer one of these above the rest. This week’s mediation asks of us: which is our default position, and how can we make room for the other two aspects Jesus modeled?
Reader Comments (2)
Oh, how to disagree agreeably?!?! Did Jesus “witness” in His 3 year fulltime ministry insisting on the 3 elements of incarnation, sacrifice, and resurrection that we may live? Does He today? Is His witness complete? Historically He disagreed with nearly every religious symbolism placed on the shoulders of the believers by the high priests and the teachers of the law. His burden is light upon our shoulders. The “cross” is metaphoric for the heavy lift He continues to do for and with us today. If I’m sharing in love with my Teacher then we both, yoked together, carry His cross to the world. Eternal life is dependent “only” upon personal relationship with God and Man (Luke 10:25-37) and when done according to our loving Lord God we will live. I have no time nor need to idolize the cross when I’m so busy working within His yoke. I think Isaiah 44 and 1 Corinthians 10 both pertain here and need to be meditated by us all.
Thank you Ray for leaving my previous response up, thank you very much! I am wondering why no one else commented on this meditation. For my response was I too authoritarian or way too far off in left field for those who might not understand what I tried to share? If I was either in the eyes of the reader I wonder if they would have responded to Jesus in their presence back only a couple thousand years. He teaches me today above and beyond what He taught those who responded in love with Him way back then. I am not Jesus and I am not a divinely perfect royal but then I have much more than a dusty white robe and sandals at my disposal to minister from. I do occasionally have the responsibility of a crown of thorns and a cross that He trusts me with. I witness today that He still accepts and encourages disagreement as well as awe in His teaching. I too welcome real love and the available reality of truth that I learn from better every day, as does He. Students of Him learn best from the reciprocal sharing from each other. Please, be lovingly critical of me in front of us all. I have nothing more to win. I am not competitive except to get past doubt. Those who doubt if I am approachable might have been the same with Jesus back then and sadly might still be today. Questions? Love you