Everywhere you look, whoops, there it is.  A Cross. Whether perched atop a church steeple, carved into a gravestone, engraved on a piece of jewelry or suspended on a chain.  The cross is the universal symbol of Christianity.  But think about it.  Does this make any sense?  How strange that an emblem representing the cruelest torture becomes the image defining a culture of life and hope.

There are other let’s say, cheery symbols marking other faiths.  The six-pointed star of David, the crescent moon of Islam, the lotus blossom for Buddhism.  And yet a cross for Christianity.  An instrument of execution.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but I have not seen any tiny electric chairs worn around people’s necks.  Have you ever walked into a home and seen a gold plated hangman’s noose displayed on the wall?  How about a guillotine printed on a business card?  Yet we do so with the cross.  Many even make the sign of the cross as they pray.  So why?  Why is the cross the symbol of Christianity?

The answer is no mystery.  It is in the simplicity of the cross that we discover it’s depth.  Two beams, one horizontal, the other vertical.  One reaches out, like the love of God toward all humanity.  The other reaches up, as does God’s purity, power and grace.  And at that intersection, at the cross, is where you and I meet Him.  For it is there that a holy God put our sin on His perfect Son.  It was the ultimate act of grace.

It was there that He who was without sin was punished so that we might be forgiven.  It was there He was wounded that we might be healed.  It was there He died our death that we might share His life.  It was there that God’s justice was satisfied that His unlimited grace might be released.

And it’s why Christians call This Friday…Good.

Happy Easter!

R. D. Gerard