Come Down From the Cross

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Keraza Magazine issue 37-38 September 30, 2016

On the cross, Christ received two invitations from two different groups of people, yet the message was the same. The first invitation came to Him from the passersby: "If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross" (Matthew 27:40). As for the second invitation, it "likewise" came "also" from the chief priests with the scribes and elders: "If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him" (Matthew 27:42). Divine revelation did not use the words "likewise," and "also" without intent, wanting to reaffirm that Christ's invitation to come down from the cross came from two different sources: the passersby, and the chief priests. The common factor between these two groups was wrapping the invitation in sarcasm and challenge. The subject of the challenge differed; the first concerned His Sonship to God, while the second concerned His being the king of Israel.

The Christian person walking along the Golgotha after the Master, carrying the cross every moment with all faithfulness and fidelity, will unavoidably encounter the same temptation as Christ while hanging on the cross. "Come down from the cross" is the voice of the old man within us resisting the narrow gate. "Come down from the cross" is the movement of the body that rebels against the spirit. "Come down from the cross" is the banner of the ego that seeks to be freed of the yoke of the commandment. "Come down from the cross" is the voice of the world that calls us to the wide gate. "Come down from the cross" is the enemy's own invitation to forsake the struggle and escape any pain. "Come down from the cross" is the invitation from those closest to you—your spouse, your children, parents, or siblings—to forsake Christian perfection which pleases the Lord, as Job's wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast to your integrity?" (Job 2:9), and as Jesus' relatives "went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, ‘He is out of His mind'" (Mark 3:21).

On the other hand, it was said of the governor's soldiers that "sitting down, they kept watch over Him there" (Matthew 27:36). If the passersby and the chief priests had invited Christ to come down from the cross, the governor had commissioned his soldiers to guard the crucified lest He come down from the cross. God, in His love, knows human weakness and well knows that accepting pain is above our fallen nature, therefore, He coordinates His children's lives in a way that makes them "nailed" to the cross, so they do not come down from it. He furthermore hires the "governor's soldiers" to guarantee that His children will remain on the cross, so they do not spoil His plans for their salvation and lose the kingdom, as it is written, "For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives" (Hebrews 12:6). The governor's soldiers are illnesses, accidents, natural disasters, wars, etc., to which a person is compelled to submit unwillingly, yet they become a guarantee of entering the kingdom if one receives them with thanksgiving.

As we celebrate the Feast of the Cross, we thank God from all our hearts for the "governor's soldiers" who exist through His divine providence in our lives, guarding our cross, and we ask the Holy Spirit to shut our ears to the war of "come down from the cross," so that if we are equipped with the intent for accepting pain, we may cease from sin and become qualified for seeing His kingdom.

Bishop Youssef
Bishop, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States