The Gospel of the Cross

Before we process with it to the tetrapod on for the Veneration, the Holy Cross is on the holy table in the place where the gospel usually rests. The typicon instructs us to place it there before Vespers the night before the Veneration of the Holy Cross. It rests on the holy table all night long in the place of the Holy Gospel. How can anything take the place of the Holy Gospel? Nothing can. But that Holy Cross contains within itself the whole gospel.

What is the gospel?

Christ is risen from the dead. By death, he tramples death and to those in the tombs, he grants life.

That’s the gospel.

We’re about halfway to the great day when we get to sing those words - halfway to Pascha. This week is the midpoint of the Great Fast. And here, in the middle of the fast, in the middle of the church, stands the cross.  

Only in and through the cross is the gospel of resurrection available to us. The only way to life is through death.

Jesus says today that whoever loses their life for his sake and for the sake of the gospel will save it. That sounds like the cross, doesn’t it? The way to the gospel is the way of the cross. The way to life in Christ is death in Christ. We are baptized into his death so that we might also rise with him.  

But then Jesus says that there are some who will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power (Mark 9:1).

Most of us hear that and think that sounds pretty good. We think, "Hey, I hope I get to be one of those people who doesn't have to taste death." But, if we're saying that, it's like we haven't been listening to what Jesus is saying about the cross.

Are we following him, or aren’t we? To go after Jesus means to embrace the cross. Would we rather not taste death unless first we see the kingdom of God? Unless we have proof? Do we need to be impressed with power first? Must we see to believe?

Jesus says that if we want to come after him, we must lose our life  (Mark 8:35) and let him save it instead of trying to save ourselves. Those of us who try to save ourselves are lost. We fail as saviors. There is one savior, and his name is Jesus Christ.

Is anything in our life or even our whole life more precious to us than life in Christ? Are we afraid to lose it? Or even to lose worldly things or comfort, or position, or human respect, or power?

Are we ashamed of him or of the cross ? Do we care more for the esteem of our fellow humans than for being the beloved of God? Do we regard the opinions of this adulterous and sinful generation to be of some great weight (Mark 8:38)?

When Jesus calls a generation adulterous, it’s worth remembering that we are adulterous whenever we are unfaithful to God by failing to keep his commandments. Whenever we hold anything or anyone or our own lives higher than God in our hearts, that is adulterous.

It’s worth periodically examining our priorities so that we may repent when they get out of whack. So that we may return again to the Lord and renew our focus on him.  

The way of the cross is the way of repentance, which “is the beginning, middle, and end of the Christian way of life,” as St. Gregory Palamas says.

Fascinatingly, to be marked with the cross was a sign of repentance even before Christ. In the prophecy of Ezekiel, those who sigh and groan over the sins of Jerusalem are marked with this sign on their foreheads (Ezekiel 9:4; Jerome Commentary).

Let us be unashamed of Jesus Christ and of his cross. Wear a cross to remind others and yourself that you’re a Christian. Make the sign of the cross whenever you pass by a church or a cemetery or a funeral, whenever you hear a siren or pass by an accident, before you eat a meal. Fill your whole life with reminders of the cross.

And do not forget even for one day that your own true life was created upon that cross – your life in Christ was born there and, if you embrace that cross, it will continue with him forever. For that it is worth giving up everything.