THE VICTORY OF THE CROSS

Good Friday

A long journey has ended. Christ has won our salvation. Today, good Friday we celebrate a holy event, the passion of our Lord, the victory of the cross. How is it victory? It would be hard, indeed, to see the cross of Christ as a sign of victory. Three words in this long passage attracted my attention: Jesus said: “It is finished”, those were his last words it is finished; which means it is ‘paid in full.’ it is complete; it is done; nothing left; it is over.

I was asking myself: How do we as Christians, react to these last words of Jesus; “it is finished”? Just an example: What will you do, if after worrying so much about how to pay a huge bank debt, somebody approaches you and tells you: “Don’t worry I have paid the whole amount for you,”? “It is finished”. On these last words of Jesus I had a question: “Why?” Why did he do that? It was because of love. Jesus’ act of sacrificing His life was full of compassion, which in its simplest terms means to “suffer with love.’’ We can find no greater proof of God’s love for us than the willing sacrifice of His Son Jesus who died on the cross for love of us. Being Christians is being able to contemplate the cross and discover on it the unconditional love of God for us.

In our life as christians, the cross begins to make sense the very moment we see that love is more powerful than everything; even death. The cross of Christ, far from being a decoration in our homes or just an external badge of identity, it is the very substance of our pain and struggle. It tells us that there is hope for us even at our very worst and seemingly helpless situations. The cross measures our life and gives meaning to it. The cross tell us that God loves us.

 Today, as we stare at the cross and contemplate the selfless giving of Jesus in paying fully our immeasurable debt, let us express deeply our thanksgiving to Him. Let us pray that we too become instruments of His mercy and compassion, that we may give hope to those in despair by bringing them the cross of victory; the love of God.