"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words." Romans 8.26
Meditating on the cross of Christ can all to easily become a narcissistic enterprise into imagining that I can somehow feel what he felt or experience what he experienced. The cross is awful--it's horrible. It is public execution that is meant to shame and humiliate not only the offender but the family of the offender as well. The mean spirit and mob morality of folks who have decided to scapegoat a particular individual are all well documented--it is unfortunately not rare in our day. The cross is not meant for me to gaze upon and feel guilty; although this is what modern piety has turned it into. No, the cross stands forever as a memorial to the triumph of God who through the cross shows a different way. What if love is ultimately the victor? What if forgiveness is the answer to the plague of violence that we impose on each other? What if Jesus truly is the King? What if truth is found not in the power politics of Pilates expediency, but in the selfless giving of Jesus' life for the sake of the world?
Come to this day in prayer. But do me a favor, use your prayer time not to focus on you or your sin or your shortcomings....instead use this time of prayer to focus on God and what the cross reveals about God's nature. May the Holy Spirit intercede for you as you contemplate the mysteries of faith.
A prayer for today: "Dear Lord may I see in your cross the love which you have for me and the whole world. Amen."
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