Wednesday Koinonia 28/3/2012: THE CROSS OF CHRIST

 ¢â‚¬   Surnames ( ¢â‚¬ËœCroucher ¢â‚¬â„¢ =  ¢â‚¬Ëœa dweller near the cross ¢â‚¬â„¢)

 ¢â‚¬   Reactions to the movie The Passion of Christ? Too/violent? Catholic? Realistic? Anti-semitic?

 ¢â‚¬   Who killed Jesus?  ¢â‚¬    ¢â‚¬ËœHow has this bloodied man changed history? ¢â‚¬â„¢

 ¢â‚¬   The three great existential questions: Guilt? Love? Death?

(1) God so loved, that he gave (John 3:16). The Son of God loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20). The death of Jesus = the ultimate symbol of the suffering of God in the life of the world (Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison). The cross primarily demonstrates the greatness of the love of God, a love that should move us away from our sin and to love God in return (Abelard).

(2) Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many (Hebrews 9:28). Jesus is  ¢â‚¬Ëœthe lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world ¢â‚¬â„¢ (John 1:29,36). The Suffering Servant (see Isaiah 53) offers his life as a sacrifice, as a ransom for others ¢â‚¬â„¢ sins (Mark 10:45). Sin is an insult to the majesty of God, and at the cross God ¢â‚¬â„¢s honour was  ¢â‚¬Ëœsatisfied ¢â‚¬â„¢ (Anselm). Our sin is breaking God ¢â‚¬â„¢s holy law, and we deserve the penalty  ¢â‚¬“ death (emphasis of the Protestant Reformers; see Romans 6:23). We are invited to repent, turn from our sins, and be forgiven and pardoned!

(3) The cross is mainly about a cosmic drama in which God in Christ does battle with the forces of evil and defeats them (Gustav Aulen, Christus Victor). Through his death he destroyed the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and freed us from the fear of death (Hebrews 2:14,15; see also Colossians 2:13-15, 2 Timothy 1:10).

(4) More: Dr. Leon Morris also suggests problems of futility and frustration (see Romans 8:20, Hebrews 2:8-9); sickness and death (Isaiah 53:4, Matthew 8:17); ignorance (Jeremiah 17:9, 1 Timothy 2:4); loneliness (Genesis 2:18, Mark 15:34, Romans 8:38-39); and selfishness (Luke 9:23, Galatians 2:10, Romans 6:4).

(5) Other ideas? eg. Rene Girard  ¢â‚¬“ Violence and the Sacred (scapegoating, mimetic desire) – http://jmm.org.au/articles/18665.htm http://jmm.org.au/articles/29557.htm

 ¢â‚¬   Aleksander Solzhenitsyn, the Russian dissident, was working twelve hours a day at hard labour. He had lost his family and had been told by the doctors in the Gulag that he had terminal cancer. One day he thought,  ¢â‚¬ËœThere is no use going on. I ¢â‚¬â„¢m soon going to die anyway. ¢â‚¬â„¢ Ignoring the guards, he dropped his shovel, sat down, and rested his head in his hands.

He felt a presence next to him and looked up and saw an old man he had never seen before, and would never see again. The man took a stick and drew a cross in the sand in front of Solzhenitsyn. It reminded him that there is a Power in the world that is greater than any empire or government, a Power that could bring new life to his situation. He picked up his shovel and went back to work. A year later Solzhenitsyn was unexpectedly released from prison and went to live in the United States.

 ¢â‚¬   The French thinker, August Comte, once told Thomas Carlyle that he was going to start a new religion to replace Christianity.  ¢â‚¬ËœVery good ¢â‚¬â„¢, replied Carlyle,  ¢â‚¬Ëœall you have to do is to be crucified, rise again, and get the world to believe that you are still alive. Then your new religion will have a chance. ¢â‚¬â„¢

 ¢â‚¬   Catholics on Good Friday during the  ¢â‚¬Ëœlong gospel ¢â‚¬â„¢ cry out  ¢â‚¬ËœCrucify him! Crucify him! ¢â‚¬â„¢ They tell me it ¢â‚¬â„¢s the worst moment in their liturgical year.  ¢â‚¬   Some Greek Orthodox Easter worship services include the Rite of Laughter:  ¢â‚¬ËœNow let us laugh. Let us worship God by laughing together ¢â‚¬ ¦! ¢â‚¬â„¢  ¢â‚¬   Good Friday? Yes. When God ¢â‚¬â„¢s human creatures are bad, God is good. When we are at our worst, God is at his best ¢â‚¬ ¦!

Rowland Croucher

The Passion Of The Christ: A Sermon for Good Friday