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The symbol of the cross
is ubiquitous in society. It is printed on bumper stickers and tattooed
on forearms; it is spray painted on concrete walls and stitched onto
denim jackets; it adorns the necks of gangsta rappers as well as
scantily clad models. Is the cross merely a fashion statement, a
cultural icon, a religious trademark, or is it something more?
The cross is the third most
celebrated subject in the Orthodox Church calender—the first two being
the life of our Lord and the life of the Theotokos. The cross is
commemorated on the feast day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (14
September), on the feast day of the Veneration of the Holy Cross (the
third Sunday in Lent), and in the Thursday evening into Great Friday
services during Holy Week. The cross receives so much attention because
it is crucial for your understanding of the Christian faith. The word “crucial”—meaning decisive, critical, essential—comes from the Latin crux, from
which we derive our English word “cross.” In other words, the most
important event in history is what happened on the cross where Jesus
Christ was executed. That act is at the root of salvation and is the
basis for Christian theology. “Take therefore first, as an
indestructible foundation, the cross, and build upon it the other
articles of the faith” (St. Cyril of Jerusalem).
Reconciliation
There are many events in the
Old Testament that foreshadow the cross: the blood of a lamb placed on
lintels and doorposts during Passover (Exodus 12:23); Moses lifting his
staff and parting the Red Sea (Exodus14:16); Moses’ outstretched arms in
prayer for victory over Israel’s enemies (Exodus 17:8-15); and Israel
being saved from poisoning by looking at a bronze serpent on a pole
(Numbers 21:6-9). There are also prophetic allusions to the cross: the
curse of being hung on a tree (Deuteronomy 21:23); the predicted passion
of the Messiah (Psalm 22); the saving mark on the forehead (Exekiel
9:3-6, LXX; cf. Revelations 7:2-4; 22:4); and the blood that drips from
wood (2 Esdras 5:5). These references attest that the cross was always
part of God’s plan for salvation.
God reconciles His people by
delivering us from the consequences of sin, and the means God uses to
rescue us is the cross. Isaiah stated that the Messiah, “poured out his
life unto death and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the
sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah
53:12). The Apostle Paul confirmed this prophecy when he wrote, “For God
was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in [Christ], and through him
to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things
in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross”
(Colossians 1:19-20; see also 2:13-15). Therefore the cross represents
God’s victory over sin:
“For the cross destroyed the enmity of
God towards man, brought about reconciliation, made the earth heaven,
associated men with angels, pulled down the citadel of death, unstrung
the force of the devil, extinguished the power of sin, delivered the
world from error, brought back the truth, expelled the demons, destroyed
temples, implanted virtue, [and] rounded the churches” (St. John
Chrysostom).
Sacrificial Service
Christ stated on more than
one occasion, “anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not
worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses
his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:38-39; also 16:24-25;
Mark 8:34-35; Luke 9:23-24; 14:27). The cross represents your duty to
follow in Christ’s footsteps. There are three aspects to this: first,
you must mortify your fleshly desires in obedience to God. St. Symeon
the New Theologian wrote:
“In times past, when heresies prevailed,
many chose death through martyrdom and various tortures. Now, when we
through the grace of Christ live in a time of profound and perfect
peace, we learn for sure that cross and death consist in nothing else
than the complete mortification of self-will. He who pursues his own
will, however slightly, will never be able to observe the precepts of
Christ the Savior.”
Second, the cross represents the standard by which you endeavor to persevere when you are
being persecuted for your faith: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the
author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him
endured the cross,
. . . Consider him who endured such
opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose
heart” (Hebrews 12:2-3). Third, the cross reminds you of what God was
willing to bear in order to communicate His love to you, and therefore
is your example of what you should be willing to undergo for others: “No
one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s
friends” (John 15:13).
A Shield
The cross is “the shield of
faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil
one” (Ephesians 6:16). From the very beginning of Christianity,
believers were using the sign of the cross as a means of protection
against evil. Crosses were commonly placed upon walls, over doorways,
and above beds in Christian homes to safeguard the family. Of course, it
is not the piece of wood, nor the gesture of making the sign of the
cross with your hand, that has magical powers; rather it is your faith
that saves you (Luke 7:50, 17:19, 18:42). The cross is a powerful
reminder to depend upon God when you are being tempted. Also, having a
cross doesn’t necessary mean you will be rescued from the hands of
men—as the 12th century crusaders found out when they marched
to battle with a portion of the true cross but still lost to Saladin’s
army. Nevertheless, the cross is powerful ally against the demonic
forces trying to rob you of your salvation:
“Learn how great is the power of the
cross; how many good things it hath achieved, and doth still; how it is
the safety of our life. . . If we are on journeys, if we are at home,
wherever we are, the cross is a great good, the armor of salvation, a
shield which cannot be beaten down, a weapon to oppose the devil; thou
bearest the cross when thou art an enmity with him, not simply when thou
sealest thyself by it, but when thou sufferest the things belonging to
the cross” (St. John Chrysostom).
A Sign for Gathering
The prophet Jeremiah stated,
“Thus says the LORD: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the
ancient paths where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest
for your souls” (Jeremiah 6:16). The most common architectural shape for
a church building is that of a cross (cruciform). Churches have crosses
on the apex of their roof, on top of their steeple, or crowning their
dome. There is a cross on the wall of the sanctuary, on the altar, or
hanging from the ceiling. The cross is central to the Church not
because it merely symbolizes the Christian faith, but because all
churches stand at the “crossroads.” The church is the meeting place
where people learn about the “ancient paths where the good way lies,”
are instructed how to “walk in it,” and it is where believers “find rest
for [their] souls.” In other words, the church—and the cross—is where
you determine the course of your life or are reminded of that to which
you already made a commitment to. The Orthodox Church also
believes that the cross will be the sign in the sky heralding the second
advent. “On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the
people; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be
glorious. On that day the Lord will . . . raise a signal for the
nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather the
dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (Isaiah
11:10-12). Christ said, “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in
heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and the will
see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great
glory” (Matthew 24:30).
A Benediction
The cross is used as an
expression of blessing. Throughout the Bible, people prayed using
various physical gestures: uplifted hands, laying hands on another,
prostrations, etc. Today, many people fold their hands when they pray
although it is not a posture found in the Bible for prayer. Similarly,
making the sign of the cross with one’s hand is not found in the Bible,
but it has traditionally been used as a gesture to ask for God’s grace
upon oneself, give a blessing to another, or to consecrate something or
someone for a sacred purpose. In the third century, Tertullian, the
great Christian apologist wrote:
“In every successful undertaking, at
every arrival and departure, while dressing, putting on one’s shoes, in
bath or at table, at lamp lighting, in bed or on seats, in a word: in
all our activities, we trace the sign of the cross upon ourselves,
according to the tradition of the Apostles who inspired their first
disciples, and through them, all the faithful, as a sign of their
confession, always to place the sign of the cross over their face and
chest.”
By the sign of the cross you
are brought into the Church via Baptism. The cross is the new
circumcision that identifies you as one of God’s people (Galatians 5:11,
6:14). By the cross you are sanctified to serve within the Church or to
receive what the Church imparts (e.g., the Sacraments).
The Tree Of Life
The cross is symbolic of
God’s promise to you of eternal life. Orthodox hymnology often connects
the tree of life found in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9; 3:22-24)
with the cross. For example:
“O wondrous miracle! Today, the Cross
is beheld raised above the earth as a Jerusalem oak teeming with life,
which held the Most High. By the Cross, we have all been drawn to God,
and death is swallowed up. O undefiled tree! Through you we delight in
the immortal food in Eden, glorifying Christ” (The Lauds, Orthros,
Sunday After the Elevation of the Precious Cross).
This fruit from the tree of
life is only granted to those who overcome trials and maintain their
devotion to God (Revelations 21-7). Yet it is by clinging to the cross
that you are able to do both. In fact, St. Basil the Great affirms that
Christians will come to metaphorically become the cross/tree of life as
was described in the first Psalm:
“Thanks to the redemption wrought by the
Tree of Life, that is by the passion of the Lord, all that happens to
us is eternal and eternally conscious of happiness in virtue of our
future likeness to that Tree of Life. For all their doings shall
prosper being wrought no longer amid shift and change nor in human
weakness, for corruption will be swallowed up in incorruption, weakness
in endless life, the form of earthly flesh in the form of God. This
tree, then, planted and yielding its fruit in its own season, shall that
happy man resemble, himself being planted in the garden, that what God
has planted may abide, never to be rooted up, in the garden where all
things done by God shall be guided to a prosperous issue.”
A Ladder
Finally, the cross may be
seen as representing the totality of the Christian message. Our Lord was
suspended between heaven and earth when He was crucified, and thus
reminds you, “there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5; see also Hebrews 8:6; 9:15; 12:24). Christ
symbolically becomes a type of “ladder” between this temporal world and
the eternal realm beyond. St. Augustine stated, “For the Son of Man is
above as our Head, being Himself the Savior, and He is below in His
body, the Church. He is the Ladder, for He says, ‘I am the way.’” So
looking at the cross, you should be reminded of the entire life and
ministry of Jesus Christ who taught the way into God’s Kingdom. The
cross may also stand for the whole history of the Church from Old
Testament to present—i.e., all God has done to reach down to you as you
struggle to climb up towards God (James 4:8-10). St. Jerome wrote, “The
Christian Life is the true Jacob’s Ladder on which angels ascend and
descend.”
However, the cross not only
informs you but also transforms you. Crosses are placed on graves not
just to symbolize the fact the deceased was a Christian, but to also
express the hope that by the cross the loved one will “cross-over” from
this life to the next. There can be no resurrection without the cross.
There can be no joyful entry into heaven without the cross:
“O wondrous miracle! The length and
breadth of the Cross equals that of heaven, for by divine grace it
sanctifies the universe. Barbarian nations are vanquished by it;
scepters of kings are made firm by it. O divine ladder, by which we
ascend to heaven, exalting Christ the Lord in song” (The Lauds, Orthros,
Sunday after the Elevation of the Precious Cross).
Conclusion
The cross is more than a
pretty piece of jewelry to wear around your neck; it is more than an
attractive decoration to hang on the wall of your home; it is more than a
sign that defines a particular building as being a church. Canon 73 of
the Council of Trullo stated, “Since the life-giving cross has shown to
us salvation, we should be careful that we render due honor to that by
which we were saved from the ancient fall. Wherefore, in mind, in word,
in feeling giving veneration to it.” Therefore:
“You should venerate not only the ikon
of Christ, but also the similitude of His cross. For the cross is
Christ’s great sign and trophy of victory over the devil and all his
hostile hosts; for this reason they tremble and flee when they see the
figuration of the cross. This figure, even prior to crucifixion, was
greatly glorified by the prophets and wrought wonders; and when He who
was hung upon it, our Lord Jesus Christ, comes again to judge the living
and the dead, this His great and terrible sign will precede Him, full
of power and glory. So glorify the cross now, so that you may boldly
look upon it then and be glorified with it” (St. Gregory Palamas).
Originally published in Again magazine, Vol. 29, No. 1, Spring 2007.
This article was posted here with the direct permission of Michael Bressem, Ph.D.
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