Splinters of the Cross
I sit here, contemplating the beginning of a brand new Holy Week, another opportunity to walk the road to the cross with Jesus. It has been so long since I have written anything of any consequence, anything more than a letter or a private journal entry. Sometimes, it can be hard to find words when dealing with things that defy them.
Most people would probably say that their favorite day is Easter, and although that is the culmination of all the work of God to bring about our salvation, my favorite day of the year is actually Holy Thursday, the institution of the Eucharist (known to some as the Lord’s Supper) and the difficult time in the Garden of Gethsemane, when I get to sit in prayerful vigil with Jesus on that hardest of nights.
Yes, Jesus died for my sins, to redeem me. He is sanctifying me day by day, and yet, I’m still in this earthly existence, my own Calvary of sorts. And I find a very great comfort that He knows exactly how I feel on the days that feel less than victorious. That He has walked this road before me, felt every struggle, every pain, faced every heartache, every confusion or misunderstanding, every loss, every death.
Slowly, with time, all this stuff, these little splinters of His own cross that He has lovingly allowed for me, to bring about my sanctification, have a far deeper meaning that I could have imagined in my early years as a Christian, when I still thought everything was just about the Easter glory. It’s such a strange thing...these splinters. As much as I’d like to regret them, I can’t be sorry for what those splinters have taught me.
They are teaching me the heart of Christ, His unchanging and everlasting character. His is a heart full of thorns that I put there, that you put there, and yet it is radiantly pulsating with an eternal fire of love for us all. A heart at once human and divine, able to feel and know every wound we have, and at the same time to have the ability to heal every single one simultaneously, in ways that are often beyond our comprehension and preferred timing.
If I had never known the splinters of His cross, how could I have possibly even begun to comprehend how much He loves me, to understand something of His own heart? His is a divine heart that humbled itself to come in the form of man, to walk this earth and to fully understand, by experience, everything that we face. A heart that gave up everything, even His own life for mine. And now He asks the same of me, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13 NRSV). He once said that the greatest commandment is this, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:36-40 NRSV)
And just in case there is any question about how we love ourselves and therefore others, John 13:34 NRSVCE sums it up quite nicely, “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”
He simply asks us to love God and to love others, even when it’s hard or costly. Even when it means putting what is best before what we would personally like. Sometimes that means boundaries, other times that means an embrace. But either way, always seeking to love the image of God in others and even ourselves. And most importantly, to do this with a spirit of loving trust in His divine providence.
Jesus, thank you for loving us so much as to give us even a small share in your cross. Thank you for the lessons you have taught us through those splinters, for your loving presence, and for your strength than enables us to carry on even in times of difficulty or distress. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to become more like you with every challenge we face.
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