Why The Cross? A Good Friday Reflection

             Why the cross?  Of all the ways that God could have saved His people, why did it have to be the cross?  Maybe you’ve pondered that question as I have.  Such difficult questions seldom yield simple answers.  But ultimately, the question is answered by God in the Scriptures themselves.  The cross is the intersection of all of human history up until that point.  The cross is God’s answer when laid against the backdrop of humanity’s fall and repeated backsliding seen throughout the Old Testament.  The best way to understand the cross is to take a look at humanity from the perspective of God as found in the Old Testament.    Jesus’ declaration “It is finished” is a closing of the book on sin and death.  Jesus’ cry is basically a declaration that “This is the end” because His death means that death is finished, because it means that He has atoned for the sins of the world, because it means that the debt for sin has been paid.

The cross is not just the intersection of all of the Old Testament history and fulfillment, but it is also where your life intersects with God.  As St. Paul writes, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  The cross is God’s judgment not just against the fall of humanity, but against your sin.  The punishment that Christ endures on the cross is what you deserved for your selfishness and greed.  His brow was torn by the thorny crown for your anger and resentment.  His hands and feet were pierced for your lies and deceit to your family members, for your adulterous relationships, for your drinking binges.  He suffers on the cross for all of your sins, in your place.  But the cross is also God’s intersection with you as He gives you grace and every spiritual blessing.  In your baptism into Christ’s death, Jesus declared “It is finished” to you.  We also see the dynamic connection between baptism and Christ’s death and resurrection.  As Luther notes, “With the Word of God it is a Baptism, that is, a life-giving water, rich in grace and a washing of the new birth in the Holy Spirit.”  In baptism, you appear before God as the forgiven and redeemed child of God like Adam and Eve, like Abraham and Sarah, like David and Solomon, like Ruth and Rahab, like all of God’s people, sinners redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus.  This is the end of sin and death’s reign.  It is finished.  Now is the time of the Lord’s favor.  Now is the day of salvation.

The cross is God’s answer for all human history as Christ suffers for the sins of the whole world.  But the cross is also God’s solution for you!  You are baptized into that death and resurrection.  You have received the fruits of Christ’s cross.  The great orthodox Lutheran, John Gerhard, reflects upon Christ’s passion with these beautiful words, “Whenever I meditate upon the suffering of my Lord, I cannot but venture a great deal in respect to the love of God and His forbearance toward my sins.  He bends His head to kiss me; He extends His arms to embrace me; He opens His hands to bestow gifts upon me; He opens His side that I may behold His hear glowing with love for me; He is lifted up from the earth that He may draw all men unto Himself; His wounds are livid with grief, yet gleaming with love…Truly with Him is plenteous redemption.”

Collect for Good Friday – Almighty God, graciously behold this Your family for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed and delivered into the hands of sinful men to suffer death upon the cross; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.