by Eron Henry | Mar 17, 2024 | Lent 2024
The cross of Christ is the mystery of our faith and the paradox of our world. It reveals to us the true nature of God, who died and lives, who suffers and saves, who hides and shows. It also challenges us to interpret the cross in our own context, and to recognize the limitations of our knowledge and the possibilities of God’s grace.
Vitor Westhelle helps us to understand this by using the analogy of the Shabbat, the Jewish-Christian tradition of resting on the seventh day. He says that the Shabbat is a sign of God’s work of creation and redemption, which is both finished and ongoing, both revealed and concealed. He also says that the Shabbat is a time of faith desiring, which is a way of seeking God’s presence and purpose in the midst of the world, which is both broken and beautiful, both fallen and redeemed.
Like Westhelle, we should recognize that God is both hidden and revealed in the cross, and that we can only know God by faith, not by reason. We are to resist the temptation of reducing the cross to a single meaning or a simple formula, and to explore the multiple dimensions and implications of the cross for our lives and our world. We are to live as interpreters of the cross, and to share the mystery of God’s love and suffering with others.
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
In the depths of Your sacrifice, You reveal the profound mystery of Your faith. Your cross, the paradox of our world, is a testament to Your divine love and sacrifice. It is the symbol of Your death and resurrection, Your suffering and salvation, Your hiddenness and revelation.
We acknowledge the challenge to interpret the cross in our own context, recognizing the limitations of our understanding and the boundless possibilities of God’s grace. Like Vitor Westhelle, we see in the Shabbat a reflection of God’s work of creation and redemption, both finished and ongoing, both revealed and concealed. It is a time of faith, a yearning for Your presence and purpose in the midst of the world, both broken and beautiful, both fallen and redeemed.
We understand that in the cross, God is both hidden and revealed, known only by faith, not by reason. We resist the temptation to reduce the cross to a single meaning or a simple formula, choosing instead to explore its multiple dimensions and implications for our lives and our world. We live as interpreters of the cross, sharing the mystery of Your love and suffering with others.
Grant us the wisdom to understand the mystery of the cross, to unite our suffering with Your suffering, and to seek Your presence and purpose in the midst of our world. May we live in faith, yearning for Your grace, and sharing Your love with all.
In Your name, we pray. Amen.
by Eron Henry | Mar 16, 2024 | Lent 2024
The cross was not a surprise to Jesus. He knew what it meant to live under the oppression of the Roman Empire, which ruled by fear and violence. He saw the crosses that lined the roads of Galilee, where thousands of rebels were executed as a warning to anyone who dared to challenge the authority of Caesar. He heard the cries of the dying, the weeping of the mourning, the curses of the angry. He felt the pain of the oppressed, the despair of the hopeless, the hunger of the poor.
But Jesus did not let the cross deter him. He did not succumb to hatred, resentment, or rebellion. He sought to overcome evil with good. He did not preach a message of vengeance, but of forgiveness. He did not promise a worldly kingdom, but a heavenly one. He did not avoid the cross but embraced it.
For Jesus knew that the cross was not the end, but the beginning. He knew that the cross was not a defeat, but a victory. He knew that the cross was not a curse, but a blessing. He knew that the cross was not a sign of God’s absence, but of God’s presence. He knew that the cross was not a symbol of death, but of life.
Prayer
Lord God, we thank You for the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who willingly bore the cross for our sake. We praise You for His courage, His compassion, and His obedience. We marvel at His love, His grace, and His power. We confess that we often fail to appreciate the magnitude of His sacrifice, the depth of His suffering, and the glory of His resurrection. Forgive us, Lord, for our indifference, our ingratitude, and our unfaithfulness.
Help us, Lord, to follow the example of Jesus, who did not let the cross deter Him from fulfilling Your will. Help us to overcome evil with good, to forgive those who hurt us, and to seek Your kingdom above all else. Help us to embrace the cross as a sign of Your presence, Your blessing, and Your life. Help us to trust in Your promises, to rely on Your strength, and to hope in Your victory.
We ask this in the name of Jesus, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
by Eron Henry | Mar 15, 2024 | Lent 2024
The cross of Jesus Christ was a paradox. It was the most shameful and cursed death that anyone could suffer, yet it was also the most glorious and blessed event that anyone could witness. It was the ultimate display of human sin and evil, yet it was also the ultimate display of God’s grace and love. It was the end of all hope and expectation, yet it was also the beginning of all faith and revelation.
The early Christians understood this paradox by the power of the Holy Spirit, who opened their eyes to see the true meaning of the cross. They saw that the cross was not a sign of defeat, but of victory. They saw that the cross was not a sign of weakness but of strength. They saw that the cross was not a sign of condemnation but of salvation. They saw that the cross was not a sign of separation but of reconciliation.
They also understood that the cross had profound implications for God, the world, Israel, and humanity. They realized that the cross revealed God’s character and purpose, justice and mercy, holiness and love, wrath and grace. They realized that the cross changed the world’s order and destiny, its values and powers, its systems and structures, its cultures and nations. They realized that the cross fulfilled Israel’s story and mission, its promises and prophecies, its law and covenant, its temple and worship. They realized that the cross transformed the human condition and identity, its sin and guilt, its death and decay, its alienation and hostility, its image and glory.
Prayer
Heavenly Father,
We praise You for the cross of Your Son, Jesus Christ, the paradox of all paradoxes. We thank You for the mystery and the majesty, the wonder and the wisdom, the glory and the grace of the cross. We confess that we cannot fully comprehend or appreciate the depth and the breadth, the height and the length, the beauty and the power of the cross. But we ask You to open our eyes, our ears, our hearts, and our minds to receive and respond to the revelation of the cross.
We acknowledge that the cross was the most shameful and cursed death that anyone could suffer, yet it was also the most glorious and blessed event that anyone could witness. We admit that we deserve the wrath and the judgment, the pain and the suffering, the shame and the curse of the cross. But we rejoice that You have given us the grace and the mercy, the peace and the joy, the honor and the blessing of the cross.
We affirm that the cross was the ultimate display of human sin and evil, yet it was also the ultimate display of Your grace and love. We repent of our rebellion and our wickedness, our pride and our selfishness, our hatred and our violence that nailed Your Son to the cross. But we celebrate Your forgiveness and Your righteousness, Your humility and Your generosity, Your love and Your peace that flowed from the cross.
We declare that the cross was the end of all hope and expectation, yet it was also the beginning of all faith and revelation. We mourn the loss and the grief, the darkness and the silence, the despair and the death of the cross. But we embrace the hope and the joy, the light and the life, the faith and the resurrection after the cross.
We testify that the cross was not a sign of defeat, but of victory. We acknowledge that the cross defeated the power and the authority, the schemes and the lies, the works and the dominion of the enemy. But we proclaim that the cross established the kingdom and the reign, the plan and the truth, the deeds and the lordship of Christ.
We confess that the cross was not a sign of weakness but of strength. We recognize that the cross demonstrated the weakness and the frailty, the limitation and the vulnerability of our humanity. But we magnify the strength and the power, the sufficiency and the ability of Your divinity.
We believe that the cross was not a sign of condemnation but of salvation. We realize that the cross bore the sin and the guilt, the curse and the wrath, the penalty and the punishment of our transgression. But we receive the forgiveness and the righteousness, the blessing and the grace, the redemption and the justification of Your salvation.
We rejoice that the cross was not a sign of separation but of reconciliation. We remember that the cross tore the veil and the barrier, the wall and the hostility, the enmity and the division between us and You, and between us and others. But we celebrate the access and the intimacy, the unity and the harmony, the peace and the fellowship that You have given us through the cross.
We pray all this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, who died on the cross for us, and rose again from the dead, and lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
by Eron Henry | Mar 14, 2024 | Lent 2024
The crucifixion of Jesus was the most horrific and humiliating death imaginable. He was whipped, scourged, mocked, and nailed to a wooden cross, exposed to public shame and ridicule. He was hung between two criminals, as if He was the worst of them. He was abandoned by most of His disciples, and even felt forsaken by His Father. He was left to die a slow and agonizing death, while the soldiers gambled for His clothes and the passersby hurled insults at Him.
But what the world saw as a sign of weakness and defeat, God saw as a sign of strength and victory. For Jesus did not die as a helpless victim, but as a willing sacrifice. He did not die as a rebel, but as a redeemer. He did not die as a curse, but as a blessing. He did not die as a sinner, but as a Savior.
For by His death, He paid the price for our sins and set us free from the power of evil. By His death, He fulfilled the prophecies and revealed the love of God. By His death, He opened the way to eternal life and invited us to join Him in His resurrection. By His death, He transformed the cross from a symbol of shame to a symbol of glory.
Prayer
Lord God, we thank You for the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for us. We praise You for Your wisdom and power, that You turned the cross from a shameful instrument of death into a glorious sign of life. We worship You for Your love and grace, that You gave us forgiveness and salvation through the cross. We adore You for Your faithfulness and mercy, that You raised Jesus from the dead and promised us a share in His resurrection.
Lord God, we ask You to help us follow the example of Your Son, who endured the cross for the joy set before Him. Help us to bear our own crosses with courage and patience, knowing that You are with us and for us. Help us to share the message of the cross with others, that they may also know the hope and peace that You offer. Help us to live in the light of the cross, that we may always glorify You and honor You.
Lord God, we look forward to the day when we will see Your Son face to face, and worship Him in His glory. We long for the day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to Your glory, O God our Father. We pray in the name of Jesus, who died on the cross and rose again. Amen.
by Eron Henry | Mar 13, 2024 | Lent 2024
The cross of Christ is the center of our faith and the source of our hope. It reveals to us the true nature of God, who is love and who suffers with us in our pain and sin. It also challenges us to live in a way that reflects God’s love and justice in the world.
Martin Luther understood this well, as he experienced the power of the cross in his own life. He realized that human wisdom and efforts could not save him, but only the grace of God through the cross. He confronted the abuses and corruption of the church, which had distorted the gospel and exploited the people. He proclaimed the theology of the cross, which exposed the false glory of human power and announced the true glory of God’s mercy.
Like Luther, we should embrace the cross in our own context. We are to acknowledge our own sinfulness and need for God’s forgiveness, and to trust in God’s promise of salvation. We are to resist the forces of evil and oppression that deny God’s presence and purpose in the world, and to stand with the poor and the marginalized who suffer the most. We are to live as witnesses of God’s love and suffering with humanity, and to share the good news of the cross with others.
The cross is not only a symbol of our faith, but also a way of life. It is the way of God, who came to the world in the human suffering form of Jesus. It is the way of Christ, who gave His life for us on the cross. It is the way of the Spirit, who empowers us to live in the cross and to carry our own crosses. It is the way of the church, which is called to be the body of Christ in the world. It is the way of the cross, which leads us to the resurrection and the new creation.
Prayer
O God, who by the cross of Your Son has shown us the depth of Your love and the height of Your glory, we praise You and thank You for Your amazing grace. You have called us to follow You in the way of the cross, to bear witness to Your hope. Help us, O Lord, to be faithful to Your call, to trust in Your promise, and to live in Your love.
Lord Jesus, who by Your death on the cross has redeemed us from our sins and reconciled us to God, we adore You and thank You for Your sacrifice. You have invited us to take up our cross and to follow You in the way of the cross, to die to ourselves and to live for You. Strengthen us, O Lord, to be obedient to Your will, to surrender to Your grace, and to serve You with joy.
Holy Spirit, who by Your power has raised Jesus from the dead and has given us new life in Him, we worship You and thank You for Your gift. You have filled us with Your presence and Your gifts, and have enabled us to follow You in the way of the cross, to overcome evil with good and to proclaim the gospel with courage. Guide us, O Lord, to be attentive to Your voice, to cooperate with Your work, and to glorify You with our lives. Amen.
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