Come Down From That Cross, We Need the Wood

What is the role of wood in the cross of Jesus?  Wood came from a living tree, created by God, it was cut and fashioned into a cross, and as such it was an instrument of death with which the Romans carried out death sentences by hanging criminals on a wooden cross.

One of my favorite New Testament verses is I Corinthians 15:14 and my personal translation of the Greek is surprisingly closer to the King James Version than to any of the modern translations: “If Christ did not rise from the dead, then our preaching is a big waste of time, and our faith is a total waste of energy!” 

Obviously, there can be no resurrection unless there was first the crucifixion.  If He was not the Son of God, and if He did not rise from the grave so that each of us humans could have hope for eternal life, then join me in yelling at the man on the middle cross at Calvary, Come Down From That Cross, We Need the Wood.

So, this whole Christianity gig could be just a big farce made up by 1^st century men who have tricked the world into believing an idiotic bunch of mumbo-jumbo. The famous atheist authors, like Christopher Hitchens, must be right when they call out Christians for believing a fairy tale.

And then there are people in our lives, at least in mine, who take the place of Jesus on the middle cross and tell all the world in subtle and even silent ways, “Look at me, I have the answers to all of your problems, don’t even think about looking for somebody else!  I am your savior!”  To that person, I yell with all my might, “Come Down From That Cross, We Need the Wood.”

Isn’t it interesting to realize that the wood which so cruelly caused deaths, including the death of Jesus, had many other uses which were positive and helpful to humanity.  Craftsmen could shape wood into a chair, a ladder, a table, a buggy pulled by horses, etc.  Let us remember and celebrate these uses of wood, rather than focus on the death machine known as the cross. 

Let us also strive this week to notice when someone other than Jesus has shown up on the middle cross at Calvary, and let us keep a vigilant lookout for others or self, climbing up on the cross that we have made!  If that happens, may we hear loud and clear, Come Down From That Cross, We Need the Wood!

To me, The Merton Prayer, with its powerful authentic honesty, will help me never to become my own Savior or to climb up on my own cross!  After all, who ever heard of a Savior telling his followers “I have no idea where I am going” and “nor do I really know myself”!

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