Correct cross [Exaltation of the Holy Cross; St. John 12:20-36]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

Today, we once again hear Christ speak to us pointing to His cross, saying,

“Sir we wish to see Jesus”

First off, a little history lesson on the origin of today’s feast day and it starts with a phrase:

“In hoc signo vinces” were the words that spelled victory for Roman Emperor Constantine in 312 AD. In fact, though you just heard it in Latin, the words were literally spelled out for him in Greek (en toutw nika), in a shining vision which he was convinced Jesus gave him on the eve of an important battle. And win that battle he did, gaining some of what was left of the once great Roman Empire and converting to a Christian.

           

Thus it was that history began to see the reign of Constantine and his vision of the cross as a turning point for the history of the Church. Even though the Church was doing just fine without him and his support, now it was “legal” under his rule.

So it is then that we find Constantine’s mother, Helena, a few years later supposedly finding the remains of the “true cross” and placing them in the newly dedicated Church of the Holy Sepulcher (a fancy word for tomb) on September 14^th, 335 AD in Jerusalem. Thus began the legendary relationship between the Church and the feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross, which we are celebrating today.

The problem is: we don’t worship a god of legends, but one of flesh and blood and Spirit. So why is the festival still around and what does it have to do with us? 3 things: icons and images, their use and abuse, and where salvation is and is not handed out. These 3 ideas in God’s Word will let us pass beyond superstition to the God-pleasing and faithful view of Christ’s holy cross.

First, it is completely biblical and God-pleasing for Christians to use images and icons in worship. Some protestants have made the 2nd Commandment, “Thou shalt not make any graven image,” implying that all statues or pictures are sinful. But God commanded many images to be made for the Tabernacle. He also commanded Moses to make the bronze serpent, from our Old Testament reading today.

God forbids making idols for yourself to be worshiped, from Ex. 20. However, this belongs with the 1st Commandment—one form of “other gods before Me.” Muslims, for example, believe that Mohammed and Allah are not to be depicted. But we believe that God has become Man in Christ. Jesus is the image and icon of the invisible God (Heb 1:3), and apart from that reality we have no access to God. Paul talks about “Christ, whom I publicly portrayed before you as crucified” (Gal. 3:1).

The word “portrayed” means to depict graphically. Thus, the use of the crucifix (a cross with the Jesus’ body) is a very biblical, Christian practice.

Second, the use of objects certainly can and has been abused! 2 Kings 18:4 tells how the bronze serpent had to be destroyed. 700 years after Moses made it, it had become an object of false worship. Even what God commands can be abused! Holy Cross Day has a checkered history of idolatry and superstition. Pieces of the “true cross” have been treated like means of grace for those who touched them or prayed before them. We can’t expect to find God in His mercy where He hasn’t promised to be for us. God doesn’t meet us in relics or the quietness of our heart; He has promised to deal with us only through the external Word and Sacraments.

Third, the cross is where salvation was accomplished, but not where it is delivered. Christ was lifted up to draw all people to Himself. There forgiveness was won and finished for us. But we don’t find the benefit there. We can’t go to the cross, either by pretending, by time-travel, or by finding a piece of the “true cross.” Instead, Christ brings the cross to us. “God wills, through the folly of what we preach, to save those who believe,” (1 Cor. 1:21) and, “we preach Christ crucified” (1 Cor. 1:23).

God deals with us in the preaching the Gospel (Christ crucified for sinners) and the Sacraments that join us to His death (Holy Baptism), announce that blood-bought forgiveness (Holy Absolution), and even deliver the very Body and Blood that was given and shed for us at Calvary (Holy Communion). This is where salvation is given and distributed.

In this Spirit, our new hymnal has restored the Feast of the Holy Cross: not to worship relics or retell legends, but to hear the preaching of Christ crucified and receive His Body and Blood in His Supper. The crucifixion of Jesus was most certainly a historic event, meaning the tools used existed, whether we have the true cross as evidence or not.

But what forgives, saves, and comforts us in our particular place in history is the preaching of that cross. Through the Gospel and the Sacraments, Christ crucified continually gives Himself to us with all His benefits. “Behold, the life-giving cross, on which was hung the salvation of the world; O come, let us worship Him” as we sing during Good Friday.

Such is the immense importance of the cross, but how do you use the cross? A simple symbol perhaps. Something to take up space on a wall, or jewelry, or as a tattoo. Preferably someplace hidden, in its proper place, out of the way, and meaningless. It is flashed as a badge for being in the right club.

An empty cross can be used to lead us to an empty faith whereas a full cross heads us off at the pass. With Jesus there, there is no question as to where we see Jesus. The crucifix does not teach fashion and does not sell well, because it is offensive to crucify a man. The crucifix held before our eyes imposes upon us the horribleness of our sins and, in Faith, also imposes upon us the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

Sir, we wish to see Jesus! But not everyone does. Everyone of faith does. And everyone of faith wants to be reminded over and over again that Jesus, the God-man, was on that cross for them. Of course it is not enough to have a crucifix up as a decoration to look at. We must also hear it, touch it, smell it, and taste it.

Sir we wish to see Jesus! And the Divine Service gathers all this together just for you.

Sir, we wish to see Jesus! Then look to His holy cross. For just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness, so Jesus, when He is lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Himself (v.32). He humbled Himself and became obedient even to the death of the cross to save us (Phil. 2:8). Everyone who is bitten by the ancient serpent’s venom of sin, when he sees Christ shall live (Num. 21:8). The true Holy Cross is lost to history, and we cannot return to Calvary to find our salvation. So Christ brings the New Testament in His Blood to us. 

We preach Christ crucified, the power of God and the wisdom of God, though it is foolishness to the unbelieving world (1 Corinthians 1:23–24). It pleases God through the folly of the cross we preach to save those who believe (v.21). We find the fruit and benefit of this Holy Cross poured out in Holy Baptism, spoken in the preaching of Holy Absolution, and delivered in the Body and Blood given and shed there for us. 

Thus are we strengthened to take up our crosses, sanctified by His (John 12:25–26). Seeing Him carry His own cross for the salvation of the world, encourages us in hope that, not only will we finally overcome the world and win the victory, but that in following Him, we are made the same as Him.