“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
—1 Corinthians 1:18
Today the Church commemorates Holy Cross Day, or the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. This feast commemorates the cross as the instrument of salvation on which Jesus hung in our place. The earliest celebrations of this feast are traced back to the 6th century A.D., as ancient Georgian Iadgari (or chantbooks) record its celebration in Jerusalem in the early 6th century. In the West, its earliest noted commemoration on September 14 is from the 7th century A.D.
In antiquity, two feasts concerning the Holy Cross were celebrated. The first was “the Finding of the Holy Cross,” which celebrated the alleged discovery of the cross by Saint Helena in 327 A.D., and the subsequent dedications of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher that took place with pieces of the true cross. The second observed the restoration of the true cross to Jerusalem in 629 A.D. after it had been stolen in the Sassanian Conquests of Jerusalem in 614 A.D. Pope John XXIII combined the two feasts in 1960, establishing a single feast of the Holy Cross on September 14.
In Lutheran tradition, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross has been celebrated with lesser concern for the history of the “true cross” in the Church, as historical reports of its alleged discovery cannot be read with full certainty, nor do we concern ourselves with venerating the actual cross used in the Crucifixion. Instead, we celebrate this feast with a greater emphasis on the Crucified Christ, whose broken and lifeless body gives the cross its power. For without the Body of Christ, and the precious Blood spilt on its mysterious sinews, the cross is for naught. It would mean nothing to us if Christ’s Body never suffered and His Blood was never poured out on the cross.
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross reminds us that Christ’s suffering is not only the act of salvation, the moment at which redemption is won. It also reminds us that it is the heart and core of Christianity. It is the fullest moment of divine revelation. It is not merely a symbol of Christianity, or an intricate reminder of Christ, but the very essence and substance of faith.
It does not truly matter where the true cross is, or whether it was actually discovered, for the true essence of the cross lies in the One who suffered its ugly torment. This is not to say that the cross’ history in the Church is unimportant, but rather that the importance and liturgical significance of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross must lie in its instrumentality as the Savior’s throne of suffering.
While some venerate the cross as a relic, something that has power within itself which warrants its veneration, we hold simply that any veneration of the cross must take place as true worship of the King, whose name was inscribed above the place where His thorn-crowned head rested. And while veneration of the cross does exist in Lutheran liturgical tradition, such as the Veneration of the Cross at Good Friday Mass, it is done with careful instruction that is it not a veneration or idolization of the cross itself, but the One who suffered upon its hardened arms.
Thus, the true veneration that must take place today—and everyday—is a spiritual veneration, that is true worship, of our Redeemer. In the liturgy, we bow before Him, yes, even genuflect before His mysterious presence, and those good and right things which point to Him, such as the cross, in praise and worship for what He has done, for what He comes to bring, for His precious gifts of Word and Sacrament. He is our focus. His grace, mercy, and love is our only foundation. Upon Him all things rest, just as to Him all traditions must point.
The cross is not merely a relic. It is the instrument of salvation.
On Holy Cross Day, we remind ourselves of the infinite love of God in Christ Jesus and the unimaginable torment that Christ endured on our behalf. We remind ourselves that whenever we behold the cross, we behold the Suffering Servant. We remind ourselves that every liturgical rubric, every ecclesial tradition, every doctrine to which we hold is not only good in itself, but is good because it points to Christ.
For this reason, several traditions involve the cross. Prominently, we make the sign of the cross upon ourselves in remembrance of our baptism and the redemption we have in Christ Jesus. We also make unbounded use of the cross in liturgical art, spaces, and rubrics. The cross is the focal point of the sanctuary. A cross adorns the center of the altar, and is often used elsewhere in the sanctuary, such as processional crosses. And just as the cross is the focal point of the altar, processions, and the like, the focus of our preaching is likewise the cross. For St. Paul writes:
“For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”
1 Corinthians 2:2
All worship, preaching, and instruction points to Christ crucified. How necessary it is that we preach Christ crucified not only today, but everyday. Everyday ought to be, in its own right, a “holy cross day,” for the cross should be continually before us, reminding us of our Crucified Savior. The cross must always be placed before us as the instrument by which Christ won salvation for us. The cross must likewise be placed before all the world, as it is our festal banner and seal of triumph. As Christ once died upon the tree in bitter anguish, so also is the cross His throne of triumph, for it was on the cross that He defeated Satan and destroyed sin and death.
Raise high this festal banner, dear Christian! Upon your head and your heart make the sign of the holy cross, for it is your sure defense against the taunts and temptations of the devil! Exalt the cross on which the Crucified Christ was hung, and from which His Body and Blood are given and poured out for the remission of sins! The cross is our courage, our weapon, and our hope, not for its own merit but the merit of the One whose suffering, death, and resurrection grant life, forgiveness, and salvation to all who believe.
As it is sung in the ancient Good Friday hymn:
Faithful cross above all other,
One and only noble tree!
None in foliage, none in blossom,
None in fruit thy peer may be!
Sweetest wood and sweetest iron,
Sweetest weight is hung on thee!On the Cross the offered victim
Of the sacred Body hangs—
Which the serpent sees, and straightly
Fails the venom of his fangs—
He with hissing neck is stricken
And succumbs to deadly pangs.Bend thy boughs, O Tree of glory
Thy relaxing sinews bend;
For a while the ancient rigor
That thy birth bestowed, suspend;
And the King of heav’nly beauty
On thy bosom gently tend!Thou alone wast counted worthy
This world’s ransom to uphold;
For a shipwrecked race preparing
Harbor, like the Ark of old;
With the sacred Blood anointed
From the smitten Lamb that rolled.—selected verses from “Sing, My Tongue, the Glorious Battle.”