“Consider the cruciform and try to apprehend its beauty. The Christ upon the cross, arms outstretched in the gesture of proffered embrace, refusing to call upon avenging angels but instead loving His enemies and praying for their forgiveness…this is the form and beauty of Christianity. The cruciform is the posture of love and forgiveness where retaliation is abandoned and outcomes are entrusted to the hands of God.”(1)
For days, I was lost in contemplation on the above quote and all that it entails. I couldn’t get it out of mind. I’d been thinking along such lines various times in the past year or so…contemplating the difference between the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of men. I had my first “ah-ha!” moment when studying John 13. I realized that the kingdom that Jesus brought was built upon servanthood, love, and forgiveness….so radically different that what this world is accustomed to. Earthly kingdoms are established and built on authority, power, and force. But, not the kingdom Jesus established and is asking us to build.
He demonstrated it in a powerful way…washing the feet of His disciples, even His betrayer. Who stoops the wash the feet of one who is set to betray Him to death? What king voluntarily condescends to serve? Yet, He tells us to go and do likewise. And, I wonder…it seems like we’ve tried to advance His kingdom using the paradigms and methods of the kingdoms of this world…politics, power, and pragmatism. And the Kingdom of God is none of those things.
We see it so obviously on the cross… a King who would rather die than kill His enemies. And now, 2000 years later, His followers look the other way or are silent when others call for the death of protestors.
He taught His disciples that dealing with offense in His kingdom was unlike anything they had witnessed. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you…give your coat, too. Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! Do good to those who hate you! Bless those who curse you!
He exemplified love…and asked us to love as He loves. In fact, love would be the defining sign that others would know who His disciples are. The love we demonstrate to each other and to the world…even our enemies…is the mark of being His disciple. Why is love the defining attribute for those who follow Christ? In Jesus’ day, it was common for disciples to reflect, even imitate, their master in his teaching, mannerism, and more. By observing a man’s life…what he knows, how he acts and talks, his mannerisms, attitudes, etc…one would know who his master was…they would know who he followed and sat under. God is love…as His disciples, love is what will be seen. Not just any love…but love that lays down his life…love that looks like the cross.
But…IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE! It looks like failure….it looks like foolishness! We just can’t live that way! Our rational mind reels as we try to bring two opposing paradigms together. The world says you have to take care of yourself….you need to be cautious….you can’t be a doormat. The world says the only way to defeat violence is to speak softly and carry a big stick. The world says, “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.” The world says that evil triumphs when good men do nothing.
Do you ever wonder what was going through the disciples’ minds as the hours ticked by the day Christ was crucified? As they watched Him before Pilate, do you think their minds screamed, “Defend yourself!! Say SOMETHING!! Why do You say nothing??!!” As the whip cracked upon His naked back, tearing His flesh…and they cringed from the sound and sight…do you think their insides convulsed with agonizing cries for Him to rise up and put a stop to it? As He trudged up the hill to Calvary…the people thronged by road…many had heard Him speak and seen His miracles…a good man, they likely thought….but why didn’t He do anything to stop this madness? As He hung on the cross…He could have called down legions of angels…but He did nothing. A good man…the only truly good man….did nothing in the face of evil. I ask you….did evil triumph that day?
It looked like it did…to those returning to their homes, it looked like evil just had a heyday. To the disciples, as they huddled in the upper room…it looked like evil had triumphed and good had lost. To anyone watching that day, it looked like anything but success. It looked like failure. It looked like defeat. It looked like death. A good man did nothing…and evil triumphed. But, then Sunday came…
The resurrection of Christ was God’s vindication of His Son and validation for what Christ taught and lived! He overturned the verdict…evil did not triumph that day! It was defeated…and the world was given a new paradigm…love! Love won that day…and the power of love will always rise above the love of power! This Kingdom of God is centered around a radically different law…the law of love expressed in forgiveness! The law of love revealed in turning the other cheek! The law of love manifested in returning good for evil! The law of love displayed in returning blessing for cursing!
As I contemplated all this, and questioned Him about it, I heard a one word answer….absorb. Jesus absorbed everything the world could throw at Him. His disciples are called to absorb all the world can throw at us. Immediately, I saw a picture of what it looks like to absorb. I saw a man with his arms outstretched in a proffered embrace…much like Christ on the cross. He was reaching out to his enemy…and was shot with gun. I saw his body stagger back from the impact of the bullet…but he continued with his arms outstretched in a gesture of embrace. Gunshot after gunshot…impact after impact…yet he continued on toward his enemy in a gesture of embrace. Not running from his enemy but toward him….not recoiling into a defensive position but arms outstretched. No weapon but love and forgiveness. That’s the cruciform. That’s the way of the cross!
As that picture faded from my mind, the words of David Wilkerson came to my mind.
“Go to hell, preacher,” he said.“You don’t think much of me, Nicky,” I said, “but I feel different about you. I love you, Nicky.” I took a step toward him.“You come near me, Preacher,” he said, in that tortured voice, “I’ll kill you.”“You could do that,” I agreed. “You could cut me in a thousand pieces and lay them out in the street and every piece would love you.”(2)
That’s the beauty of the cruciform! That’s the way of the cross! Can we…will we…embrace the way of the cross? We believe Jesus saves the world through the cross….but are we willing to imitate it? Are we willing to live as Jesus died…arms outstretched in a proffered embrace, loving our enemies, praying for their forgiveness…a posture of love where retaliation is abandoned and outcomes are entrusted into the hands of God?
Endnotes:
1. Zahnd, Brian, Beauty Will Save the World (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2012), p. 6.
2. Wilkerson, David, The Cross and the Switchblade (New York, NY: Jove Books, 1962, pp. 60-61.