Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Deacon's Bench

Home
Catholic
Religion News
Behold, the wood of the cross: Homily on the Seven Last Words

Behold, the wood of the cross: Homily on the Seven Last Words

Last updated on: March 30, 2018 at 10:17 am by Deacon Greg Kandra

Behold, the wood of the cross: Homily on the Seven Last Words 2018-03-30T10:17:55-04:00 Deacon Greg Kandra

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Without question, it is the most infamous public execution of all time.

No death has been more depicted in art, in drama, in literature and, as we’ve just heard, in music.

On top of this, the one being put to death is the most quoted, cited, studied, revered person in human history—a solitary figure who literally changed the world. Jesus the Christ—Son of God and Son of Man. The Messiah.

Yet these, his last words, may strike us as shocking—shocking, because they are so simple.

In fact, they are so painfully human.

They are the words of an anguished man crying to his God.

They are the plea of a prisoner whose throat is parched.

They show the effort of a son trying to comfort his mother.

These are the words of a dying, broken, exhausted man, as his organs shut down and his body fails and his heart gives out.

At times this most extraordinary death is almost shockingly ordinary.

But, of course, it isn’t. Twice, during this agony, we realize that this is not just a criminal on a cross.

At the outset, Jesus pleads to God, his father, but not for himself. He asks forgiveness for the ones putting him to death. He sees beyond the blood and the thorns and the nails—beyond his own broken body, to the brokenness of those who do not understand, could not understand, what is taking place.

And then, he offers mercy and salvation to a bloodied criminal beside him, one who in his final moments of life has undergone conversion of heart—and to this man, Christ holds out the assurance and consolation of Paradise.

These are his parting gifts: forgiveness and mercy.

In those two moments on the cross, in the midst of a harrowing death, we find grace.

Here is love, the love that transformed the world.

The fact is: these seven last words sum up the life and ministry of Jesus Christ with breathtaking clarity.

This is what it was all about. We realize anew that God became one of us to struggle with us, to suffer with us, to agonize with us. He dwelt among us to see the world through our eyes—even when that vision is blurred by tears and blood. He came to show us what early Christians called The Way, The Way to our salvation.

And Jesus, with his dying breath, is still proclaiming the good news of salvation—news of redemption to those who have been condemned…of grace to those who have sinned…of consolation to those who mourn. We realize just what the Incarnation meant. We hear the words of one fully human, and fully divine, a man like us in all things but sin.

And suddenly, with that realization, the cross takes on a very different meaning.

Behold the wood of the cross—and behold something more than an instrument of death.

Behold the wood of the cross—and behold how two simple pieces of wood converge. See how those lines intersect. Not just a cross, it almost resembles a destination on a map, a crossroads, a place where points converge.

And in that astonishing convergence, the cross gives us Christ.

The horizontal beam is the earthly life of man of flesh and blood who lived with us, walked with us, struggled with us, ate with us, thirsted with us, suffered with us, wept with us. It spans the length and breadth of the world he knew.

The second beam, the vertical piece of wood, is directed from the earth to the heavens. It is grounded, literally, in the earth, the rock of Calvary. Yet it points up, to the divine—reminding us of the Son of God who forgave sinners, who offered sight to the blind and freedom to the captives and life to those who were dead. The one who was there at the beginning of time, and is here with us even now.

I submit to you: in the cross, those two beams of wood, we see in a powerful and tangible way the intersection of the human with the divine. The cross represents all Christ was, all he is, all he will always be.

Here is, quite literally, a crossing point of history.

Here is the Incarnation made manifest. Here is Emmanuel, God with us.

And of course, at the meeting point of the human and divine, where those two pieces of wood connect, in the middle see the bloodied, bruised body of Christ.

Here is our salvation—our brother and our God.

Behold the wood of the cross, on which hung the salvation of the world.

His seven last words stand as his final lesson.

They offer us one final sermon on the mount—not on a hillside, but on an elevation carved from a tree, imparting to a frightened and uncertain world a lasting message of forgiveness and mercy— and, incredibly, hope.

“I have been with you,” he says. “And you can be with me in Paradise.” There is something more to come.

At the end, Christ cries out that it is finished.

But what is finished?

A long chapter in human history…is finished.

Our old way of living…is finished.

Humanity’s wait for a savior…is finished.

Christ’s earthly life is finished.

But we rejoice in this overwhelming truth:

For all that has finished…the story isn’t over.

— Preached on Good Friday, 2015

Previous Post

March 29, 2018

Alice Cooper: 'There's nothing in Christianity that says I can't be a rock star'

Next Post

March 30, 2018 Unpacking what the pope said—or didn't—about Hell

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "Mad Men" 9/11 advent All Things New Amazing video amazing videos amazon america Anglicans Anti-Catholicism art ascension thursday ash wednesday Atheists baltimore Bible Bishops Blogging bonnie engstrom Books bridgeport Brooklyn Chaplains children christian art christmas Church Churches CNEWA Converts criticism Deacons Death Penalty easter eastern christian Eastern Christians Ecumenism Education education Eucharist Europe euthanasia Evangelization Exorcism Family Feasts Gay rights Good Friday Great links Great Moments in Journalism Hanging with the saints heather renshaw Hispanic Catholics Hispanics History homelies Homilies Humor Hymn of the Week Immigration indianapolis Inspiration Interfaith news ireland Jesus Jews Journalism Judaism lent Liturgy logos Marriage Mary Media Medical news Mental health Middle East Monks Movies Music Muslims My world and welcome to it New Evangelization new york News Nuns Parenting Parish life peoria Persecution Politics politics Pope pope francis pope john paul Prayer Preaching Priests Pro-life Quote of the day radio rebecca frech ripp Ripped from the headlines rippred from the headlines Sacraments saints Scripture sex abuse Sex abuse crisis SEX ABUSE CRISIS TAGGED WITH: SEX ABUSE CRISIS The people in the pews the visitation project theatre This & that Thomas Merton Trappists TV uncategorized Uncategorized VATICAN Vatican vocation Vocations Voices & Views Women Worth a thousand words Writing Year of Faith year of mercy young people

Select a Month December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What Christian group believes in the doctrine of transubstantiation?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Catholics Baptists Protestants Pentecostals

Books by This Author Books by Deacon Greg Kandra

See All Titles »