When I preach about Moses lifting up the bronze serpent for the healing of God's rebellious and sinful people (Numbers 21.4-9), I recall how, when
Cheryl and I first visited Redeemer Lutheran Church in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, we were both struck by the
dramatic sight of a nearly life-sized crucifix hanging high over the
altar. It was then that we joined the ranks of the many who have
likewise found the crucifix at this church to be surely
one of its most striking features.
Some,
who visit the church, unfamiliar with such a sight, ask us why we
don’t have a simple “empty” cross up there. “Why a
crucifix?” they ask. And there is a very good answer to that question. What
answer do you think was given to visitors to the Temple in Jerusalem, thousands of years ago, who witnessed the gory animal
sacrifices that took place there, as in the Tabernacle before it?
They would be told that God commanded such sacrificial spectacles so
that people could see a sight that symbolized the penalty for sin and
the cost in blood required to atone for sin and guilt.
“Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood,
and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins”
as
the Bible says
(Hebrews
9:22).
Our Redeemer, Jesus Christ Himself teaches us, that, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life" (John 3:14-15). Although, with those words, Jesus is not commanding the use of crucifixes in His Church, we do have the same God
today who commanded those Old Testament spectacles to be seen in His temple long ago, even though
such sacrifices, could not provide the ultimate atonement for sin. In the New Testament, the sacrifice of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, DOES pay for our
sins.
Should believers not now gaze upon the image of the crucified
Christ? I would suggest that since, long ago, the eyes of the
faithful were to look upon sacrifices that only symbolized
the coming atonement of Christ, much more, now that the death of God's Son, on a cross, actually achieved the redemption of the human race once and for all, should we have before our eyes this image of Jesus! To his churches in Galatia who were in danger of losing the true Gospel, St. Paul wrote, 'O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified' (3.1). Publicly displaying a crucifix is a way of pointing to the true Gospel!
I
like to draw people’s attention to the fact that many sports
trophies include a statue, at the top of the trophy, of a player
winning their victory. The gleaming figure on a softball trophy will
be carrying a bat. A golfing trophy may feature a man swinging a
driver. On a crucifix we see the figure of a man winning a victory
over sin, death and the devil that He graciously shares with all of
us. “Go
spread your trophies at His feet and crown Him Lord of all”!
An
empty cross makes a great logo, in so far as it goes. Yet, “We
preach Christ crucified” (I
Cor. 1:22). In his liturgical notes, Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary Professor Tom Winger writes, “… the cross itself is a
powerful symbol of the faith, but its real meaning lies in the One
who was crucified upon it. It is Christ’s suffering and death upon
that gruesome instrument of torture, which paid for the sins of the
whole world. Even more, by showing the body of Christ, we confess
that Christ continues to be present with us bodily to bring to us the
forgiveness He has won, especially as He gives us His Body to eat in
His Supper”.
This
is why we, in the Lutheran Church are pleased to “lift
high the cross, the Son of God proclaim…” as
we do, with a crucifix.
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