The Simple Cross

Read: Luke 23:26-43

When President Ronald Reagan passed away in 2004, the funeral at the Washington National Cathedral was packed with people we read in history books. Of course, there were presidents Carter, H.W. Bush, Clinton, and W. Bush. There was Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair, prime ministers of the United Kingdom, former Soviet chairman Mikhail Gorbachev, French president Jacques Chirac. The body in the coffin was then escorted on an elaborate carriage to Air Force One, where it was flown to California and finally buried in large tomb. It was a fitting tribute to one of the most popular – if not the most popular – presidents in recent decades.

Jesus, on the other hand, had no funeral. His “funeral service” comprised of religious leaders going, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” He was escorted along the Via Dolorosa on the way to Golgotha. The soldiers drafted an unwilling Simon the Cyrene to carry Jesus’ cross for him. And then, on Golgotha, they crucified him. Crucifixion was a terrible punishment. The physical pain and suffering victims of crucifixion endured was only the tip of the iceberg. Crucifixion was reserved for the most deranged criminals, for those who deserved to be put up in the public for parents to take their kids to and say, “That’s what you get for being a baaaad person!” And to rub salt into the wound, Jesus was crucified between two thieves. The thieves must have robbed someone incredibly wealthy or committed some additional crime on top of their theft, because a pickpocket doesn’t get crucified.

This was no fitting death for “The King of the Jews”. Even St. Paul had a much more dignified execution (he was beheaded alone). But even so, wouldn’t it be better if Jesus were crucified in between two political prisoners or two social justice campaigners or even two overzealous Jews (there was a militaristic faction of Judaism back in Jesus’ day)? But Jesus’ death was an ordinary execution; shockingly ordinary for a king.

The story of Jesus’ crucifixion is simple, and its simplicity magnifies the power and the significance of this story. So let us spend some time reading the story again and again. Put yourself in the shoes of someone witnessing the crucifixion. As Jesus was mounted on the cross, ask yourself: “Is this who I want to follow first in my life?” And as he died on the cross, ask yourself this: “Is this the kind of God I want to worship?”

What does it mean for us to worship this crucified God?

Great God, humble us so that we will be capable of hearing your Word. We thank you for the gift of yourself in the Scripture. We rejoice in its complexity. Give us the simplicity to be confounded by your Word. Amen.
- Stanley Hauerwas