2,000+ years of history have turned the cross into jewelry. 

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On the one hand, it makes sense.  Jesus changed what the cross was.  It was a symbol of Roman power over their subjects.  Jesus turned it into a symbol of victory for humanity.

On the other hand, it doesn’t make sense.  The cross was a torture device.  While Jesus turned it into a symbol of victory, it was because He died there.

Whether or not you wear a cross as jewelry doesn’t matter to me.  My point here is how we can get so familiar with symbols that we might fail to be impacted by the meaning of that symbol.

We’re in the part of John’s Gospel most familiar to disciples of Jesus.  Yet, we can never forget the power behind the story.  We continue in John 19:28-37:

Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. 
 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”   

John 19:28-37
New International Version

As I wrote last week, Jesus wasn’t a victim of Roman or Jewish politics.  He was a servant of His Father.  He was the Son of God.  Jesus was fulfilling His mission and purpose on this earth.

The prophet Isaiah predicted the suffering Jesus would face through His crucifixion 700 years or so before the birth of Jesus.  Prophecy reveals that God is in complete control and has issued the suffering of Jesus to atone for the sins of humanity.

We deserved death for our sins.
We deserved to be sent to Hell because we could never repay our sin debt to the Father.
We deserved to be separated from holiness.
We deserved to be separated from love, hope, joy, and peace.
We deserved to be separated from every beautiful sunrise and sunset and everything pure, noble, good, just, pleasant, and happy.

We deserved all of that.

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But then Jesus stood up.
But then Jesus took our place.
But then Jesus paid the debt.
Then Jesus died so we could live.

That’s what the cross was, is, and means to our lives because of His death.

How does your life reflect the life Jesus gave you?

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