Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Mar/64

Contributor - Rev. R. Katerberg

Title - The Glory of The Cross, And The Darkness Around The Resurrection

Topic - Crucifixion

"IF CHRIST HAS NOT BEEN RAISED, YOUR FAITH IS FUTILE AND YOU ARE STILL IN YOUR SINS." I Cor. 15 : 17

Surely the cross was the darkest experience for our Lord. Certainly his resurrection was the most glorious event of history. But what do the" events in the life of our Lord mean to us today?

We gladly accept the glory of the cross. We love to sing, "In the cross of Christ I glory". The cross stands for a victory, but what is the victory of the cross? We might rejoice in the fact of the cress, because it ended the life of the man who tried to interfere with our human situation. Jesus Christ is a disturbing figure in our world. He does not conform to the established practices of the day. He teaches a doctrine that is not in tune with the wishes of established tradition. It is highly desirable therefore, to get rid of this man, and the death penalty is he only thing we will settle for.

And so we pause for a moment to look at that cross with the Christ nailed on it. Why do we glory in this cross? Are we standing among the mob of people, and slap each other on the back, thinking "We fixed him"? Are we relieved because this intruder is done for? For who likes it to be bossed around by some one else? What business does that young man have to turn our way of life upside down? Now he knows what we think of him, we have turned his life upside down. Now we can rejoice, and enjoy ourselves again, according to our wishes. We can glory in the cross, because through it we are freed from this intruder.

Or is our glory perhaps based on a different motivation? The glory of the cross for the mob, was in the fact that Christ was eliminated from this world. Am other type of glory lies not in an elimination, but in a gain. From the true glory of the cross we learn the intensity of God's love, In the cross event, God sets before us his saving grace. An event of many centuries ago, yet in our church celebrations it is put right into the center of our lives. Nothing less than the death of God made man, can crush the power of sin. This is the glory of the cross.

Whether we are for Christ, or against Christ, we can rejoice in the cross. But what about that strange happening, the resurrection? Three days after the crucifixion, Jesus arises from the dead. How easy it is to believe that some one died on a cross, but what a darkness is there around the confession of the resurrection. "The third day He rose again from the dead." We know out of experience that men die, but what experience do we have in our lives that is parallel to the resurrection? This strangeness of the resurrection creates a darkness around this belief. Yet the resurrection is so important. It is the foundation of our faith.. The belief in the resurrection will determine what kind of glory we recognize in the event of the cross.

Some of us will be reluctant to face the darkness of the belief in the resurrection. Others will simply reject it altogether, because their scientific minded thinking can not allow such a belief.

"If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile", this is St. Paul's message to us today. True faith depends upon the acceptance of the resurrection. This is not merely a consent to an historical event, which happened some 2000 years ago, but it includes the experience of the result of this event. Christ's resurrection is not a tale to entertain the hearer, but it is a happening, that h" influenced the faith of all believers. No one can understand the event of the resurrection, neither can it be proved. But it can be experienced in the life of the believer. The risen Christ reaches out across the years and touches the lives of his people. He lifts them up out of the deathness of their lives.

Even among the church members we find people who are reluctant in accepting the doctrine of the resurrection. This is not so much, because they can not fit it in with their scientific thinking, but because they know that belief in the resurrection, puts Christ back into our world. If Christ is alive today, he comes again to us to interfere with our lives. We hate to give what he asks. Is it not much easier to reject the resurrection, and only glory in the cross? Then we can live our life and our faith as we wish. Then we do not have to take the words of our Lord so seriously when he says, "He who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me".

Christ asks for our whole life, not for a simple contribution. He asks us to take up our cross and follow him. He wants to crucify the deathness of our lives, and put the joy of the resurrected life in its place.

How do we glory in the cross? With a futile faith? Or are we ready to put our trust in a cross that is illuminated by the resurrection? Then our faith will not be futile, but our lives will show the resurrected Christ to the world.

Please click the "Back" button of your browser to return to previous page.