READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:
Hosea 6:1-6
Exodus 12:1-11
St. John 18-19
Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love. (2 Jn. 1)
Who speaks to us through Hosea today, saying,
“For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”
If God desires steadfast love and not sacrifice, then what is Jesus doing? If God desires knowledge and not burnt offerings, then why is Jesus on the cross? If we can reach all truth by simply imagining it so, then all we need is good feelings, not a body on a cross.
Because of this sinful confusion which we war against every day of our lives, it almost becomes an imperative to have a corpus, or body of Jesus, upon our crosses in church and at home. For Jesus on the cross is God desiring steadfast love, knowledge, truth AND sacrifice, burnt offerings, and good feelings.
That body there, keeps us in line and keeps us in the faith in dire circumstances. Really, why wouldn’t you want to treasure an image of Jesus? The Lord’s steadfast love and knowledge are found in Christ Crucified and is the center of His work and the Christian message even after His resurrection.
Consider these verses from St. Paul’s sermons:
“we preach Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23)
“For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2)
“For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).
“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14).
And,
“Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame” (Hebrews 12:2).
All the cross, but all with Jesus on the cross. Does this mean we hate Easter? No, but Easter already has its best symbol, that of the empty tomb. A picture is worth a thousand words and the crucifix is a beautiful proclamation of exactly what Christ did for us and exactly what He is doing now.
He is not continuously crucified, but He is continuously known as The Crucified, as the angels name Him on Easter in Matthew 28:5. Since He is known even in heaven by that, we then best keep that image in front of us knowing and believing that He was only crucified once for all and that we do not worship the image, but the One whom the image represents.
Dr. Luther puts it this way:
“Of this I am certain, that God desires to have his works heard and read, especially the passion of our Lord. But it is impossible for me to hear and bear it in mind without fanning mental images
of it in my heart. For whether I will or not, when I hear of Christ, an image of a man hanging on a cross takes form in my heart, just as the reflection of my face naturally appears in the water when I look into it. If it is not a sin but good to have the image of Christ in my heart, why should it be a sin to have it in my eyes? This is especially true since the heart is more important than the eyes, and should be less stained by sin because it is the true abode and dwelling place of God.” (AE 40:99-100)
Since Genesis 3:15, in which the Christ is first proclaimed as crucified with a bruised heel, the image of Christ has been treasured as the God-given image of the invisible God (Col 1:15). the crucifix shows exactly what Christ did for us. without it, there would be no forgiveness of sins.
With it, we properly understand God’s Law and Gospel. That God hates sin and will punish it, and that God loves us so much that He gave His only begotten Son to be a sacrifice, instead of us. “If for me He slays His Son, God must have compassion” (LSB 440:5).
The crucifix doesn’t proclaim Christ as still dead any more than your nativity scene proclaims Him as still an infant. In fact, the crucifix emphasizes even more the truth that Jesus is alive. That He went through that and still came out alive. All for little ole you.
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