The man on the cross

  The story is told of a girl who was taken to the local jewellers by her grandmother because she wanted to buy her a gold cross and chain.

  After looking at a good many examples, the girl could not find one she liked. Eventually she asked the jeweller: “Haven't you got one with the little man on?”

  Within our Protestant tradition, we have shied away from the more graphic depictions of the crucifixion - preferring our crosses, whether in church or worn around our necks, to be plain because we say that we worship the resurrected Jesus, not a Jesus 'frozen in time on the cross'. Nonetheless, we have to face the inescapable fact that, in order to rise from the tomb, Jesus first had to die on the cross. Before the joy of Easter Day there had to be the suffering of Good Friday.

  The cross is the most simple of shapes and the most easily recognised of religious symbols but, at the same time, it communicates so much that is complex and mysterious - but only when we clearly see Jesus on that cross.

  The cross is a symbol of death and especially of public execution but from that moment of the death of Jesus stems the gift of forgiveness that assures us of eternal life.

  It is a symbol of the tyranny that the Roman Empire exercised over its people but it is also the sign of the freedom that Jesus secured for us: freedom from guilt and freedom from the fear of rejection by God.

  The cross is a symbol of disaster: the life of Jesus cut short. However, it is also the start of the hope that stems from the witness of the Resurrection, which shows us that God has the power to overcome all things

  It is a symbol of sacrifice: God giving up his only Son to pay the price of the sins of the world. But it is also the sign of love: the love that Jesus has for each one of us that he was prepared to suffer for our sake.

  While we might prefer to look away and not see the man on the cross, we cannot avoid it. The key to understanding the power of the cross lies in Jesus.  The key to understanding the power of Jesus lies in the cross.

  As we celebrate together this Easter, may we look more closely at the cross. Marvel at it's simplicity and beauty but also see Jesus: the man upon the cross bringing new life, forgiveness and hope to us through his pain and suffering.

by Graham Clarke.