Was there ever so stark a scene? There, mangled and broken, the Lord hangs upon the cross. Hands and feet pierced by the nails, blood flowing liberally from those wounds and the many others inflicted by lash and thorn. Laboured breath, body writhing in agony. Could anyone’s heart not be moved? Surely, too, our cheeks should glisten, tears expressing eloquently distress, hope, and love.

Though innocent, he suffers a criminal’s death. Though Son and King, he is made low for our sake. For it is not for his crimes that he suffers, but for ours. For ‘He was wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities.’ (Isaiah 53:5) He takes upon himself our lowliness, our slavery to sin, and in him all this is put to death. Crucified! He became a slave so that we might be the children of God.

As we contemplate the cross, let’s not occupy a purely abstract space.

This is personal!

In my prayer, I often put myself before the Cross of Christ. In my mind’s eye, I see the Lord, blood running down his legs and upon his feet; my head is bowed, and I dare not make eye contact. My sins put him there. Yet grace bids me raise my gaze. His battered face looks down upon me, eyes penetrating. It is not anger, or resentment, or reproach I see in those eyes, but love — supreme, uncompromising, strident.

This is personal!

I firmly believe and know it to be true. I have seen it in his gaze. If I (or you) were the only one to have been saved by his suffering and death, he would have died for me and me alone. In the end, it is not nails that hold him upon the cross, but love.

by Fr Michael Grace