Rustler Article for 4.21.11

This weekend we celebrate the central event of Christian history in the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I’ve been thinking about our usual description of the Easter story – we move so quickly from the horrors of Friday afternoon to the glory of Sunday morning.
It is the Cross that is the central event of the Gospel story, more so even than the Resurrection. Now before anyone has a heart attack and calls me a heretic, hear me out.
The Resurrection is the ratification of the identity and work of Jesus. It is the proof of his righteousness, innocence, and divinity. The Cross is that moment of condemnation, of justification, of atonement for sinners. It is the Cross that bears our sufferings and punishment; it is the Cross that models faithfulness; it is the Cross that satisfies God’s justice. While the Resurrection is the home of glory and honor for the ones covered by the Lord’s blood, it is the Cross itself that offers hope.
We cannot, as with Paul, hope in the Resurrection without participating in the Cross. But as comfortable Christians we are more accustomed to claiming the relief and glory of Easter Sunday rather than the gore and tragedy of Friday afternoon. This week may we dwell just a moment longer with Jesus at the Cross; perhaps then we will understand just a little more what we have been saved from.