The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1959-03-20
On the Cross

On the Cross
What was extraordinary there
on Calvary was not the cross itself.
There where three in use that one
morning; the one on which Jesus
died had very likely been used be-
fore and would be used again. They
do not nowadays make the electric
chair over for every new criminal.
No, the extraordinary thing was
not the cross. as ugly an instru-
ment of torture as ever scared the
eye of man. What the gospels take
more pains in describing was what
happened on the cross. No two of
the gospels tell precisely the same
story. though they do not contra
dict one another Luke's story has
been selected for this week study.
Consider few facts that Lukes
story high-lights. First is that an
innocent man hung on that central
cross. That he died between two
bandits only brings out more
strongly his own innocence.
Furthermore, it is extraordinary
that this Jesus made no complaints
about having been framed as
many an innocent man in his place
would have done Jesus mind was
filled with the thoughts OF others
rather than himself. The reader
will find 1t revealing to read these
stories Of Christs death carefully.
Through the Cross
If you did not already know
otherwise, you might think that as
time went on, people who adored
Jesus would prefer to forget that
bitter ending Of his life on the
cross Quite the contrary, Chris
tians have always gone to some
trouble to remember it. Every time
we observe Communion we are
proclaiming the Lords death. The
communion table in many church
has carved around it the words In
Remembrance Of Me" But what
holds the churchs mind and heart
is not merely the historical fact,
that certain teacher named Jesus
was unjustly executed on criminal
charges. The church believes that
through the cross we have Gods
forgiveness We believe that this
was not merely human tragedy.
We believe that this was actually
the suffering of God on our behalf
and in our place; that the self-giv-
ing, dedicated. forgiving spirit Of
Christ is a revelation of Gods own
heart Browning put it veW simply:
Thou must love Me, Who have
died for thee"
At the Cross
But there are two ways OF be-
lieving this. One is the belief Of
admiration. What wonderful love
this is, that the godly should die
for the ungodly. the innocent for
the guilty; that God should offer
up his own son 'for us ALL" We
can stand at distance and admire
the sacrifice and get no good
from it at all. We have to stand
ut the Cross, we have to believe
in q more personal way than the
way Of admiration. The same Saint
Paul who wrote that God gave up
his own Son for us all. put it much
more personally when he wrote, Il
live by faith in the Son of God, who
loved me and gave himself for me-"
(Gal. 2:2O.) Standing at the Cross,
AS no one can do for another but
each one for himself. and you for
yourself standing there we see
ourselves in new way, we are
forced to see that we are the same
kind of people as put Jesus on that
cross. we are sinners. We see God
in a new Wayne see him dealing
with sin in a new way. taking the
effects Of it upon himself And
looking from the Cross, we see
other men too, as brothers for
whom Christ died.
tBassd on outlines copyrighted by
the Division Of Chy4sttan Education,
National Council Of The Churches OF
Christ IN the o. 9. 4. 1eleased by
rnuarau MIR Press SAyvfne.1