The Power of the Cross

 “ It was not with oratory  I came to you. The only knowledge I claimed to have was about Jesus, and only about him as the crucified”  I Cor. 2:2

 Paul, a Pharisee, a philosopher, a student of Gamaliel, an orator, blameless before the law, realizes the uselessness of philosophy and oratory for the understanding of Christ. He claims that all his knowledge and skills, his ancestry and his meticulous observance of the laws as useless and rubbish compared to the knowledge of Christ. Knowledge of Christ is so vast, so exhaustive, so incomprehensible, that one can never fathom the length and breadth, the height and depth of his inexhaustible love. The Christ that Paul wants to know and preach is the Crucified Christ. In the Crucified Christ Paul claims to know the whole Christ.

 In a world of power and materialism, of money and pleasure, the temptation is to accommodate Christ to suit our philosophy and theology.  It is more convenient to tailor Christ to suit our methods and ideologies than for us to change according to his ways and teachings. Paul claims the real Christ is the crucified Christ.

 Christ and the Cross are inseparable. Cross was not something that came to him as a surprise at the close of his life. The cross was in front of him from his cradle. Cross was the constant theme of his preaching. In the parables he said, in the examples he gave,  in the sermons he preached, the theme of the cross is constantly present.

 The stable is the cross. He was born onto a cross. With no comfort, no company, no warmth, no room, a refugee child in a stable in an insignificant town is the figure of Christ on the cross. He had the company of cattle when born and thieves when he died. Incarnation for him was the acceptance of the cross.

 The flight into Egypt, the sacrifice of the Innocents, Simeon’s Prophecy, the refugee child outside his home and country are all themes of the cross. For a while he let his parents feel the weight of the cross. Mary and Joseph ‘did not understand' the reasons he gave for staying back in the temple when he was twelve, the meaning of the stable, the reason for flight into Egypt, and the sacrifice of the Innocents. When he became a man he took the cross on to himself.  

 Going into the river Jordan and being baptized by John was a preparation to embrace the cross.  It was the sacred bath to take on the responsibilities and burdens of the cross. It was a representation of the crossing of the red sea. What was now a memorial and a symbol would be actualized on the cross on Calvary.

John the Baptist pointing him out as the ‘Lamb of God’ reminded him of his mission to carry the sins of the world.

 Cana is the beginning of the ‘hour.’ The hour will have its completion on Calvary.  Cana leads to Calvary. Cana is a major landmark on the way to Calvary. The cross is there right in front of him at Cana. With the first miracle at Cana, he begins his public ministry which will end on Calvary.

 The Beatitudes are nothing but the theme of the cross. It is a strong defense of those weighed down by the Cross. It is the anthem of those who are persecuted and oppressed. It is the apologia for his life and death. It is an explanation of why he chose the crib and the cross. Cross is the constant theme of his preaching.

 “You are the salt of the earth.”

 The salt is the symbol of the cross. Thrown into the boiling water it loses itself with no sound or fury. No one thanks for its sacrifice. It gives itself without a reward. Its reward is its self-giving to bring taste, meaning, joy to the lives of others. If it does not lose itself salt is meaningless,  good for nothing except to be thrown away.  The salt is the life lived for others, the blood shed for others.  Better be salt that dissolves itself in the boiling water to give taste and life than to be secure in a dark corner and melt away unheard, unsung and useless.

 “I am the light of the world”

The theme of light is the theme of the cross. The moment a candle is lit, it begins its journey towards its death. Every moment a candle burns that much less it has left to live. Yet not to live one runs the risk of being useless, irrelevant and thrown out. Better be a candle burning itself out than be a candle locked up in the security of a cupboard rusting and dissipating itself. To burn is to risk going closer to the end. A candle has no meaning except for the light it gives. Life has no meaning except for its self-giving. To go into the boiling water like the salt, to burn oneself out like the light is the risk we all have to take. It is the meaning of life. Life is fully realized when it is given away. Better death on a cross in sweat and pain for truth than the comfort of a palace through deceit and lie.

 The theme of the seed, constantly present in the teaching of Christ is the theme of the cross. A seed has to fall, lose its color, shape, size, beauty and die then only it has a meaning. The seed that dies is the candle that burns for others, it is the salt that dissolves to give taste and meaning.

 “I am the bread”.

The theme of the bread is the theme of the cross. Bread is meant to be eaten. It has to go through fire and be baked and be broken if it is to be eaten. The bread baked and broken is Christ on the cross.

 The Cross is not a misfortune that came to Christ at the end of his life. He was born to embrace it.  He was born on to a cross, he was baptized and prepared for the cross, from Cana to Calvary the cross was constantly in front of him.  The cross was the theme of his preaching and the meaning of his life. Without the Cross, there is no Christ.

 Paul fully understands this when he proclaims that the Christ he preaches is the Christ crucified. He knows not any other Christ than the one crucified.  Philosophy, oratory, pride, power, and position are incompatible with the Cross.

 The stable, the flight into Egypt, the slaughter of the Innocents, the baptism in the Jordan, Cana, the Beatitudes, the themes of salt, light, seed, bread, the washing of the feet of Apostles, are all stations of the cross. Christ lived the cross from the moment he was born. He spoke of himself as the salt, the light, the seed, the bread. He came to reveal to us the Power of the Cross. The only knowledge we need to have is knowledge of Christ Crucified.

 

-        T.V.George sdb