The Emblem of Suffering and Shame
As I sit here preparing for Lenten services and choosing Hymns, I’m struck by the message of a familiar classic, The Old Rugged Cross. The opening words draw our attention to that Old Cross: “On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame.”
I’m struck by the line, the emblem of suffering and shame. In antiquity, the fate of crucifixion was reserved for the vilest offenders. Crucifixion was typically reserved for the worst of the worst criminals. Without getting into the gory details, crucifixion was ultimately death by asphyxiation, (suffocation). As the criminals hung on the cross, they were typically naked and subjected to public scorn and mockery. It was a slow process of physical agony and public shame. And once their bodies gave out, death came by suffocation. And so it was an emblem of suffering and shame.
As the Lenten season is upon us, we focus especially on the remembrance of Holy Week, and Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. I want to invite everyone to come out for our Wednesday evening Lenten services, our Good Friday Tennebrae service, and of course Resurrection Sunday. In this season of focused repentance and faith, we find nothing in ourselves but sin. An honest reflection of the biblical text always points us to the fact that Jesus was on that cross because of you and because of me.
These services allow us the space to remember the depth of His sacrifice. We remember that Christ died for us because of his great love for us. Resurrection Sunday brings a deeper sense of joy when we remember the depth of his agony on Good Friday.
He endured the old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame. Jesus died the gruesome death of a criminal, though He did nothing to deserve it. Jesus, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2). To appreciate the joy, we must lose sight of what He endured for our salvation.
This is our God; the One who endured what we deserved, the old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame.
In Christ, Pastor Alex
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