Return to Holy Family Church Home Page
Isaiah was written hundreds of years before Jesus. The Psalms used in Holy Week were written one thousand years before Jesus and eight hundred years before the Romans invented crucifixion, yet they describe in detail what happened that first Good Friday. “They will look upon him whom they have pierced.” “For my clothing they cast lots.”
Crucifixion was Rome’s way of controlling the people. The penalty of crucifixion was always preceded by scourging. Then the condemned person had to carry the cross, or at least the transverse beam of it, to the place of execution. He was exposed to the ridicule and insults of the people. On arrival at the place of execution the cross was uplifted. Soon the victim, entirely naked, was bound to it with cords. Then he would be nailed to the cross. Finally, a placard called the “titulus” with the name of the condemned man and his sentence, was placed at the top of the cross. It often happened that the condemned man did not die of hunger or thirst, but lingered on the cross for several days. The victim would try to raise his body up in order to breath. This would cause more pain from the nails. The condemned would slowly die of drowning as water filled around the heart and lungs. To shorten his terrible sufferings his legs were broken. This custom, exceptional among the Romans, was more common in Pale
stine. In this way it was possible to take down the corpse on the very evening of the execution. The Romans preferred to leave the corpse on the crosses as a warning. The corpse might also be buried if the sentence permitted.
If the light is right, often times one can see the shadows of two crosses on our sanctuary ceiling. For your prayer time, I give you a reflection on the three crosses that day. The scriptures present two crosses that are “the same in the beginning,” but which are “radically different in the end.”
The first cross represents the cross of rebellion. The purpose of crucifixion was to offer a horrible death for those caught in rebellion against the state or against society. It was used with horrible effectiveness. In the year 71BC Crassus crucified over 6,000 Jews who had rebelled against Rome. Their crosses lined the Appian Way on both sides of the road for 100 miles. The cost of rebellion was death.
This thief on the first cross was a rebel of sorts. The only cause that he was fighting for was himself. No one, Jew or Roman, was sorry to see him go. Even in his death he is rebellious. He joins the enemies of Jesus at the foot of the cross in mocking the savior. He scolds him with abusive language. “If you are the Christ then save yourself, and save us.” He did not turn to Jesus for mercy. He went to his death an angry and a bitter man.
We, too, are rebels against God. What we deserve is the first cross, the cross of rebellion. We display our rebellion in sin. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale tells of a trip that he once made to a Shinto worship service in Japan. His interpreter told him: “We in Shinto do not have a concept of sin as you Christians do.” As Dr. Peale watched the service he saw the priests make an outward sweeping motion with their hands. “What is this sweeping motion he asked?” “Oh,” said the interpreter, “they are symbolically sweeping away
dust.” “What is this dust?” asked Dr. Peale. “Well,” he said, “dust is the negative forces of the universe that hold us back and keep us from being the kind of people we can be.” Dr. Peale replied, “What you call dust, we call sin.”
The rebellion of sin leads us to rebel even against salvation itself. We feel that we do not need a Savior, because we are doing quite well for ourselves. We feel that we can get by our own cleverness and ingenuity. There are many like the thief upon the first cross. We rebel against God’s mercy. We refuse to repent. We would rather die than ask for help. Many find it quite impossible to admit that they have done wrong.
The tragedy of the cross of rebellion is that this criminal is not only killed, but he also refuses the eternal life which Christ alone offers. He chose hell rather than paradise.
There was yet another thief on the opposite side of Jesus and his represents the cross of repentance. This criminal starts off just as bad as the other. He was just as deserving of punishment. Yet, at the last hour this man gains Paradise. What made the difference? It was repentance. His genuine sorrow was evident when he confessed his rebellion: “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.” This was the beginning point of salvation. You see; if we do not think of ourselves as sinful people, then we do not see ourselves in need of a Savior.
We live in an age of “presumption.” People just presume they are going to heaven, if they believe there is one. This is where we need to pray through the intercession of St. Dismis (the traditional name of the good thief) for those souls.
Is repentance necessary? Why does God require repentance you might ask? We must understand that repentance is not for God’s sake; it is for our sake. Its purpose is not to make us feel bad or guilty, but simply to admit reality. The reality is that we have fallen short. Repentance is just the first step. It is not the whole journey. Repentance does not do away with the reality of sin. It does not do away with the memory of sin. It does not do away with the consequences of sin. It is simply a turning away from that which leads to death to that which leads to life.
After quieting his fellow criminal, this repentant thief looks to Jesus and asks for mercy and forgiveness. “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” The dying Jesus replies: “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
Jesus suffers on the cross of redemption. So that the world might know, Pilate wrote the sign in three languages: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” Even in the implied sarcasm there is irony. For it is for the sins of the whole world that Jesus died.
Remember back to October 1987 when one year old Jessica McClure of Midland, Texas fell down an abandoned well? She was found on a ledge 22 feet below the surface. There she was, crying for her mother, in the cold darkness of this well. Her plight captured the
attention of the entire nation. The people of the town gathered to rescue her. Hour after hour for two and a half days they worked. On a Friday night she was rescued.
Each of us are in the same condition morally and spiritually as that litt1e girl. We have fallen into sin and we are trapped. We cannot extradite ourselves, although the tragedy is that we think that we can. Some one must dig until we are released from this darkness and despair. What we need is a Savior. That is what Jesus did for us on the cross.
This is the one cross that you and I cannot carry. This cross was for Jesus alone. This is one of the few things that he called his own. He was born in a borrowed manger. He preached from a borrowed boat. He rode into Jerusalem on a borrowed colt. To feed the 5,000 he had to borrow the lunch of a small boy. He borrowed an upper room for his last supper. He was laid in a tomb that was borrowed from Joseph of Aramathia. But the cross, that was his and his alone.
And so we have three crosses: the cross of rebellion, the cross of repentance, and the cross of Redemption. Which of these is the true cross? Which is the greatest?
If, in your life, you ever have any doubt as to God’s love for you, then look at the three crosses. The cross of Christ leads to repentance and then gives life.