"All who had come around as spectators to watch the show, when they saw what actually happened, were overcome with grief and headed home. Those who knew Jesus well, along with the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a respectful distance and kept vigil."
~Luke 23:48-49 (The Message Paraphrase)
Sometimes I struggle with thoughts about the relevance of the cross in these days and times. A cross on a hill. A man who died. People crying out about his innocence after his blood had been spilled. The reasons he died. His acceptance of the mission. His pain.
People stared at a cross and the man who dragged it up a hill and died. Strange.
It’s 2022 and I scan scriptures and speculate. Why does that cross matter? Or, how can it matter? The twenty-four-hour relentless new cycle mentions nothing about a cross.
Inflation. Stocks. Gas prices. Nick Cannon’s newest baby. Herschel Walker’s unmentioned children. Trump supporters. Congress. Balenciaga sneakers. Jobs. Taxes. Mass shootings. Poisoned water. Upcoming recession. Kourtney Kardashian. Vans. Kylie Jenner. BBLs. Virgin suicides. Gender discussions. Do you have enough money to retire? Could you survive on the paycheck of a Starbucks barista? Should you use weed killer on your lawn? Crumbling elementary schools. Wealthy universities. Scandal on scandal on scandal on scandal.
Scandal. The missing link.
The scandal of all scandals. A cross. An innocent man. His blood shed for us.
In 2000 more years, no one will mention Vans, BBLs, or Starbucks. In the years that have passed since Jesus’ resurrected, millions of people still talk about the cross. Still think about it. Still cling to it. Imagine that. Unusual, right? Curious? Extraordinary maybe?
Perhaps a genuine supernatural stranger thing?
Something to think about.