Word about the Cross

The homily “The Tale of the Cross” reveals the meaning of the Cross of the Lord in the economy of salvation. St. John of Damascus claims that the Cross is not just an instrument of execution, but the greatest of Christ’s miracles, thanks to which death was defeated, ancestral sin was abolished, hell was destroyed, resurrection was granted and the path to bliss and the deification of human nature was opened. St. John calls the Cross “God’s power and wisdom,” emphasizing its comprehensive role in the transformation of existence and the salvation of believers who, through Baptism, “put on Christ” and His saving sacrifice. The cross is a sign that distinguishes the faithful from the unbelievers, like a shield, weapon and trophy against the devil. For Christians, the Cross is a source of spiritual strength: it is a “rebellion” for the fallen, a “confirmation” for those standing, a “staff” for the weak, a “tree of eternal life” and a guarantee of the resurrection of soul and body. Particular attention is paid to the teaching of veneration of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross. The monk claims that one should worship both the tree of the Cross itself, consecrated by the touch of the Body and Blood of Christ, and its images, regardless of the material from which they are made. At the same time, he clearly distinguishes between the veneration of the image itself as a sign of Christ transferred to the Prototype, and the rejection of the worship of the material as such. Similar veneration extends to other sacred objects and places associated with the passion and Resurrection of the Savior. St. John of Damascus gives examples of prototypes of the Cross in the Old Testament: from the tree of life in paradise and the rod of Jacob to the rod of Moses cutting the sea, his outstretched hands in the battle with Amalek, the bitter water sweetened by the tree and the copper serpent on the tree - all this foreshadowed the saving power of the Cross of Christ. The Word ends with a call to believers to take “a part with Christ crucified,” that is, to share His suffering and find salvation through the Cross. Although every action and miracle-working of Christ is extraordinary, Divine, marvelous: but most marvelous of all is His honest Cross. For through nothing else, as soon as through the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, death was destroyed, ancestral sin was destroyed, hell was abolished, resurrection was given, the power was given to us to despise the present and death itself, entrance into ancient bliss was prepared, the gates of heaven were opened, our nature was seated at the right hand of God, and we became children and heirs of God. All this was accomplished by the Cross. We are baptized into Christ, says the Apostle; we are baptized into His death (Rom. 6:5); and as soon as we were baptized into Christ, we put on Christ (Gal. 3:27). Christ is God's power and wisdom (1 Cor. 1:24). Thus, the death of Christ, that is, the Cross, clothed us with the hypostatic wisdom and power of God. The word of the cross is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18) either because through him the power of God was revealed to us, that is, victory over death, or because just as the center of the Cross binds and unites its four ends, so by the power of God the height and depth and length and breadth are held together, that is, all creation, visible and invisible. The cross was given to us as a sign on our foreheads, just like circumcision was given to Israel. For through him we believers are distinguished and distinguished from unbelievers. He is a shield and a weapon and a trophy against the devil. He is a sign so that the destroyer does not touch us, as Scripture says (Ex. 12:13). He is a rising for those who lie down, a confirmation for those who stand, a staff for the weak, a staff for those who flock, a guide for those who convert, perfection for those who succeed, the salvation of soul and body, the reflection of all evils, the delivery of all blessings, the destruction of sin, the grain of resurrection, the tree of eternal life. This truly honest and venerable tree, on which Christ sacrificed himself for us, as consecrated by the touch of the holy body and blood, must be worshiped, as well as nails, a copy, clothes and sacred places, such as: a manger, a cave, the saving Golgotha, the life-giving Tomb, Zion - the main city (ἀϰρόπολις) churches, and the like, as the Godfather David says: let us go into His villages, let us worship in the place where His nose stood (Ps. 131:7). And what is said here about the Cross is clear from the following verse: rise, Lord, into Thy rest (Ps. 131:8); because the resurrection follows the Cross. If the house, the bed, and the clothes of those whom we love are precious to us, then how much more precious should be for us everything that belongs to God and the Savior, and through which we were saved! But we also worship the image of the honorable and life-giving Cross, no matter what substance it is made of, honoring not the substance (let that not be), but the image, as a sign of Christ. For He himself, talking with his disciples, said: then the sign of the Son of man will appear (Matthew 24:30), meaning the Cross. That is why the messenger of the resurrection said to the wives: You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene crucified (Mark 16:6), and the Apostle wrote: We preach Christ crucified (1 Cor. 1:23). There are many Christs and Jesuses: but one crucified. It does not say: pierced by a spear, but crucified. That is why we must worship (the Cross, as) the sign of Christ; for where the sign is, there He himself will be. But the substance from which the image of the Cross is made, whether it be gold or precious stones, should not be worshiped if the image is destroyed. However, we worship everything that is dedicated to God in such a way that we pay respect to God himself. This honorable Cross was typified by the tree of life planted by God in paradise (Gen. 2:9). Since death occurred through the tree, it was fitting that life and resurrection should be given through the tree. Jacob, bowing to the top of Joseph's rod, and blessing his sons, placing his hands (Gen. 47:31, 48:13-14; Heb. 11:21) 1, was the first to depict the Cross. The sign of the Cross was also very clearly delineated: the rod of Moses, which struck the sea in the shape of a cross, and saved Israel, and drowned Pharaoh (Ex. 14:16); arms stretched out crosswise and Amalek victorious (Ex. 17:11); bitter water sweetened with wood (Ex. 15:25); a stone pierced with a rod and pouring out water (Ex. 17:6); Aaron's rod, which signified the dignity of the hierarchy (Num. 17:8); a serpent hung on a tree in the form of a trophy, as if dead, while the tree saved those who looked at the dead enemy, believing in Christ, nailed to the tree of sin in the flesh, but ignorant of sin (Ex. 21:9), as the great Moses cries: behold your life hanging on the tree before your eyes (Deut. 28:66), and Isaiah: all day long I have stretched out my hands to people who do not repent and speak against people (Is. 65:2). Oh, if only we, who worship the Cross, could receive a share with Christ crucified! Amen. Joseph brought his two sons: Ephraim to Jacob's left hand, and Manasseh to his right, but Jacob put his right hand on Ephraim, although he was the youngest, and his left on Manasseh, although he was the firstborn; such a placement of hands one over the other clearly depicted the Cross, and was not done without a special intention (See Gen. 48: 13–14, 17–19). De fide, Lib. IV. cap. 11. You might be interested in: