In the shadow of the Cross

Been reflecting on the Cross. Some thoughts:

"His power is made perfect in weakness."

The cross is where God accomplished salvation for mankind. What looked like crushing, agonizing defeat was in fact victory over sin, death and the devil. Looking up at the cross from Calvary, it must have seemed like anything but victorious. There hung the supposed Messiah - abandoned by his followers, convicted as a criminal and sentenced to die in the most painful, humiliating fashion the Romans could devise, beaten, scourged, mocked and spat upon - and seemingly powerless to prevent any of it. The cross represents - no, IS - the worst of man's evil.

And yet this is precisely where God's power to overturn the evil forces in the world is made manifest. This so-called "defeat" is where our salvation was secured. The cross = power hidden in the form of weakness.

It is a paradox. Consider the words of this hymn:

How strange is this great paradox to ponder:
The Shepherd dies for sheep who love to wander;
The master pays the debt His servants owe Him,
Who would not know Him.

What kind of love does it take to die for those who will struggle to remain faithful to the one who paid their tremendous debt? Or for those who refuse to even acknowledge Him, let alone the debt that they have incurred? What kind of a God makes Himself vulnerable to man's continued rejection; paying all that is owed only to be rebuffed for his love?

We expect victory to look like victory, and power to look...well, powerful. And the Cross, when seen unfiltered through the eyes of faith, certainly does not resemble what we expect an all-powerful God to look like.

Yet it is the weakness that is the source of the power. Christ Himself said that no one takes his life from Him; He lays it down willingly.

So what does all this mean for me, living in the shadow of the Cross?

Well, first of all, if God demonstrates his power through the weakness of the Cross, then He does through my weakness too.

"All things work together for the good of those who love God..."

The Cross is proof of this. In the Cross, the devil was tricked and evil was subverted for good.

The Cross changes everything. It turns what we think we know about God on its ear.

The world sees suffering as a curse; through the lens of the Cross, we see it a blessing.

The world sees servanthood as lowly; the Cross exalts the servant-hearted.

The world views self-sacrifice as weak and submissive, but it is through self-sacrifice in service to others that I reign with Christ.

This is incredibly humbling.

Jesus promises to come again with glory and I can't help but wonder - in light of the Cross, what will that glory look like?

I think it might very well look a lot like suffering, and weakness and defeat.

Something to think about, isn't it?