The Cross: How to Be Human

I believe the cross reveals, among many other things, what it means to be human.  The cross is not merely some sort of bridge that enables us to have life after death.  It also reveals a distinct way of life affirmed by God.

Remember, the resurrection of Jesus does not cancel the cross but confirms it.  The resurrected Jesus is the crucified savior.  What remains visible on the resurrected Jesus are the scars from ignoble death (Luke 24).  Even at the end of time, we worship the lamb, "looking as if it had been slain" (Rev. 5, NIV).  This slaughtered lamb is the one who controls history; he is the one who can open the scrolls.  The cross is central to who God is, and how he wants us to live as humans.

For example, the cross teaches us that to be human is to repent of sins.  Jesus not only suffered and died for our sins, he resisted sin his entire life, faithfully loving to the very end.  He waged a war against all that is evil while being perfectly faithful to God.  His life serves as a powerful example of our need for forgiveness.  When we look to the cross, we are confronted with the ugliness of our sins--look at what we are capable of.  At the same time, when we look at the cross, we see our need for forgiveness.  Very few things are more dangerous than the belief that we are blameless.  The cross helps us see our need and gives us the freedom, because we are loved and forgiven, to repent.

But there's more:  The cross also reveals that to be human is to pour out our lives for others.  Jesus is the human one, the leader of a new race (Rom. 5).  He shows how to live. The cross is the climax of his sacrificial way of life.  And of course, we too are called to take up our cross in sacrificial ways of living.  To be human then is not to live in constant competition with others, trying to outmaneuver or dominate, but to serve and give.  The human maturity we celebrate is not about autonomy nor about achieving great things at the expense of others.  Rather we celebrate a human maturity characterized by interdependence, agape love, service and compassion.

There is more, but two is enough for now.  The cross calls us to repent from the ways of the world that  reject Jesus.  Part of what this means is that we are called to reject our desire to dominate and control others.  Instead we are called to serve.

The cross reveals what it means to be human.

Peace.