YOUR CROSS IS BEAUTIFUL

LORD,
As I think of you dying on the cross,
and  as I look at your cross today,  
I think of all the crosses I own.
The gold one – engraved so beautifully;
the silver one – plain but wonderfully faceted;
the one encrusted with diamonds;
the polished one – that looks perfect;
the holding cross – which I can feel with my hands;
the glass cross – given to me by a dear friend;
the cross I made one Good Friday  
from two pieces of rough wood  
and a few well-placed nails.
All these crosses so beautifully crafted
BUT.....
the reality of YOUR cross was very different –
the pain you suffered was so severe  
that I am genuinely moved to tears
when I think of how you suffered for me.
Your back was ripped apart by the scourging
and I cannot begin to understand the pain,  
the exhaustion, the loss of blood,  
the severe cramps, the agony
and the difficulty in breathing you faced.
You were nailed to the cross
and the strain on your wrists,  
arms, body, shoulders and legs
would have caused your lungs to collapse
and your heart almost fail.

The crown made of thorns was  pressed onto your head
with such force  that it gouged out lumps of flesh  
and then blood oozed down your face -  
that sinless face -  
but now disfigured by your own blood.
How can I even bear to look?
But I must look!
You were willing to suffer and die for me  
on that cruel cross –
not a beautifully carved cross,  
but a rough-hewn one  
with long, spiked nails holding you there  
that brought pain and agony to your whole body.
You loved me SO much that you were willing  
to endure all that shame and pain  
so that I could be saved.
And even after all this you said,
“Father, forgive them.............”
You, who was “without sin” was “made sin”  
and died a criminal’s death to save me,
because you loved me.
WHAT sort of love is that?
WHO am I,  
that you were prepared to die in my place?
You bore the sin of the world,
because you loved us,
because you loved ME.
Yet you died ALONE...
Cut off from God -  
calling out to Him,
“Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?”
“My God, my God,  why have you abandoned me?”
Your life was given for me,
Your blood was shed for me,
You died for me.
What can I do for you?

Lord as I look at your cross today,
and remember  how you died,
help me NOT to sanitise it,
but – help me to understand
that because of your death
your love lives on in me, a
and for that reason
YOUR CROSS IS BEAUTIFUL.

© Maureen Iles 2012