The Cross as ‘Triumphant?’

 

I’ve had trouble with this expression. Maybe you have too. How on earth can we understand an instrument of torture to be a cause for triumph? Triumph comes with the resurrection, right? But what is the ‘law of the cross’ that makes this death instrument also a cause of triumph?

 The answer hit me like a ton of bricks in reading through some old notes. The cross is the symbol of every tear, every pain, every evil, every torture, every despicable human experience we can name. It’s that part of life that we wish we could do away with. It’s physical or emotional, and yes, even spiritual suffering, all too familiar to each of us as it comes our way. The key is in what happens to it. What happens to the cross?

 This instrument of torture is changed. It has become holy. A part of our Good Friday liturgy is the ‘Adoration of the Cross.’ Why do we ‘adore’ the cross? What has happened? The Paschal Mystery has become a transformation mystery. Which means, by the way, that it is a revelation of what happens to all our grief this side of the grave. It’s not going away. It’s going to be transformed. Yes, you’ve got that right…no drop of our suffering will be lost. It is going to be transformed into something beautiful. So bite your lip and hang on.

 Manure is awful stuff. It smells. It’s rotten. You wouldn’t keep it in the kitchen. But this awful stuff, just as awful as it is, when it is put out in the field, makes the most wonderful vegetables. Life comes from that rotten stuff, and life comes from the cross, not despite it. The ‘law of the cross’ is that every evil, even death, will be transformed into something good because that is what love does. Our challenge is to believe it: that even our stubborn arthritis will be transformed. The risen Jesus carries his wounds, but they are no longer ugly. They are his badges of honor. And we? What clues will we find in these post-Easter readings of the triumph to come?

 Really?

You’re going to transform everything I’ve been through?

What can I say but “Bring it on...My Lord and my God!”