This is the last week before we begin the final journey through Holy Week to the Cross and Tomb. We encounter some of the most profound and intense stories in Scripture. This month in our church school the rotation model theme focuses on the Cross. The Cross is the focus and pivot point of Holy Week’s story. It is the place where we encounter our God who absolutely loves us and absolutely cannot tolerate the sin that lies within us. We know that God loves us despite the hurts and wounds we cause ourselves and others. But the dilemma for God is that the purity of God cannot abide the impurity of sin. Moses encountered this on a mountain:
Exodus 33:18 - 23 (NRSVA) 18Moses said, “Show me your glory, I pray.” 19And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, ‘The LORD’; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20But,” he said, “you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live.” 21And the LORD continued, “See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock; 22and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; 23then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen.”
Moses wants to see God but God is too pure for Moses to encounter the full presence of God. Human imperfection could not survive in the full presence of God.
It is the Cross that resolves this tension. The cross is the place where we encounter our God who is willing to sacrifice God’s self in an act of pure love and mercy in order to satisfy the demands of pure justice and righteousness. We must come to the cross so that we can look into the eyes of Jesus who sees us in all our imperfections, errors, faults and mistakes. We must come to the cross so that we can look into the eyes of Jesus who loves us completely and fully as we are. It is Christ, God on the cross, that opens the doorway to a world of possibilities for a relationship with the pure compassion of the Holy One.
In this final week spend some time reflecting on the gift of God on the cross that makes a Friday’s death a Good day for us all.
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