Good Friday— The Passion of Our Lord (2024)

Text: The Passion of Our Lord

Tonight we turn our attention to the cross.

The world has certainly produced a wide variety of depictions of the cross. Can you think of any other object that has been produced so often; that has been painted and carved and cast in so many different ways? It would be hard to even begin to count the number of different styles. Right now, over in my office, I have a dozen different crosses hanging on the wall (plus 3 or 4 others waiting to find an open spot). Some are very ornate; others are very simple; one is made from three large nails; another has the words “Amazing Grace” arranged in the shape of a cross.

It could be interesting to think about what each style means. What was the craftsman who made it trying to emphasize by the look he or she chose? Why are so many bright and shiny, made out of precious metals? Why are others made of simple wood?

For some people, the cross is simply a piece of jewelry. In fact, we live in an age where more and more people legitimately do not know what it means. Others are quite offended by it for a number of different reasons.

Here you see the cross in a different light. The cross, itself, is the same, but it is now adorned with symbols of our Lord’s Suffering: the rope that tied His hands when He was arrested and led away; the bag of silver that paid for His betrayal; the crown of thorns that was put on Him as the soldiers mockingly honored Him as a king; the scourge that was used to whip Him; the sign that announced the charges against Him; the spear that proved His death; the shroud He was buried in. Those seven objects tell the story of each step in His Passion. But they don’t tell the whole story.

Those tools that caused His suffering are the tools by which an ordinary cross— a couple of pieces of wood— was crafted into the tree of life. This whole things began at a tree. There, in the Garden of Eden the serpent— the devil, satan, the deceiver of the whole world (Revelation 12:9)— deceived the first man and the first woman. This whole story began when, “In [God’s] righteous judgment [He] condemned the sin of Adam and Eve, who ate the forbidden fruit, and [He] justly barred them and all their children from the tree of life” (Lutheran Service Book, “Divine Service, Setting Four: Prayer of Thanksgiving,” p. 209).

“Yet, in [His] great mercy, [He] promised salvation by a second Adam, [His] Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, and made His cross a life-giving tree for all who trust in Him” (Ibid. p. 209). That is the story behind the picture you see here. The serpent’s head has been crushed (Genesis 3:15). “31 Now is the judgment of this world; now [is] the ruler of this world… cast out” (John 12:31).

But this is about far more than just payback against the Great Deceiver. God has now reopened the way to the Tree of Life. “7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers [He] will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God’” (Revelation 2:7). “14 Blessed are those who wash their robes [and make them white in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:14)], so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates” (Revelation 22:14). The cherubim has sheathed his flaming sword (Genesis 3:24) because the Son of God now invites you to eat and drink of the fruits of this tree to receive the gift of eternal life (Ibid. p. 209.) That tree is never “out of season.” It yields its fruit each month and the leaves of that tree are for the healing of the nations (Revelation 22:2).

This cross, adorned with the tools of our Lord’s torment, does more than simply tell the story. It proclaims that all of it was for you.