Luke 22:14-23:56
O Lord Christ, Lamb of God, Lord of Lords,
call us who are called to be saints, along the way of thy Cross;
draw us, who would draw nearer our King, to the foot of thy Cross;
cleanse us, who are not worthy to approach, with the pardon of thy Cross;
instruct us, the unmindful and short-sighted, in the school of thy Cross;
arm us, in the quest for holiness, by the might of thy Cross;
bring us, in the fellowship of thy sufferings, to the victory of thy Cross:
and seal us in the kingdom of thy glory among the servants of thy Cross,
O crucified Lord; who with the Father and the Holy Ghost
livest and reignest one God, almighty, eternal, world without end. Amen.
That prayer is from Eric Milner-White, one-time Dean of Chapel at King’s College Cambridge. His name may not be familiar but something he gave us is: the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at Christmas. He also the author of familiar words in that service, “Beloved in Christ, be it this Christmas Eve our care and delight to prepare ourselves…in heart and mind to go even unto Bethlehem.” Today, Milner-White has us go in heart and mind to a hill outside Jerusalem, asking in prayer that we who are called along the way of the cross will receive from God wisdom, forgiveness, and life made new. He asks that we, “unmindful and short-sighted,” will be instructed in the school of the cross.
Only ‘school’ here doesn’t mean the way that you learn multiplication tables in math or subject/verb agreement when you are writing. ‘School of the cross’ means more than having biblical truths and mysteries easily explained to make them convincing to skeptics. If our care and delight at Christmas is to go in heart and mind to Bethlehem, as we enter into Holy Week our care and delight is to learn how the best of heaven and the worst of earth meet at the cross; to recognize and confess the sin and brokenness of the world and of our lives; to contemplate in wonder and awe what has been accomplished for our redemption and for the life of the world. “We are,” Tim Keller says, “more sinful and flawed than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” That is the school of the cross. To be instructed in the school of the cross is to face the truth who we are and of what God has done for us because of who God is. “Through Christ, God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.”
This peace and reconciliation begin with Jesus’ first word spoken from the cross. “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” Just as Jesus is crucified between two criminals, from a wounded and agonizing place, our Lord’s first word is not one of suffering or surrender, but of power. Because that is what forgiveness is: the power of God in the world and for our lives.
You may remember an episode early in Jesus’ ministry when he forgave someone in need of healing. Do you remember the response of the crowd at what Jesus said and did? “Who can forgive but God alone?” That question is its own answer: Jesus is God, the God who forgives, the Son of God who pours out the power of forgiveness in his life and on the cross.
Our Lord is not a victim of circumstances, or a tragic hero caught up in a dilemma beyond his control. When Jesus prays, “Father, forgive them,” he is not simply saying, ‘Let bygones be bygones,’ or offering a stoic, ‘It’s ok; think nothing of it.’ No. In the face of violence, terror, and atrocity, Jesus prays not for retaliation but forgiveness. On the cross, and in praying “Father, forgive,” Jesus demonstrates something he said early in his ministry. “I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” How much do we need those virtues today—wisdom, forgiveness, and life made new? In Jesus, the worst of earth and the best of heaven meet. He offers life to the very people who would take life from him. “Through Christ, God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.”
And this peace and reconciliation are for you. For us to be instructed in the school of the cross is to contemplate in wonder and awe what Jesus has done for us and gives to us. Because Jesus’ words of forgiveness are prayed not only for the people directly responsible for his death. Forgiveness in Christ reaches out beyond the hill outside Jerusalem to permeate and envelop the world in prayer. And you. His forgiveness is for you.
Haven’t we all, at one time or another, known the strange and wonderful joy of being forgiven by someone we have offended, of hearing a word of grace from another person, a word that lifts our guilt and gives us the power to get on with our lives. To be forgiven is to be given new life; and we are not the same. How much more in Jesus? “We are more sinful and flawed than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” This is what we learn in the school of the cross. Or, to put it biblically, “Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.”
The old expression, “To err is human, to forgive, divine,” is true. And it is true most of all in Jesus at the cross, from the cross, and in his prayer, “Father, forgive.” It is human error, arrogance, and ignorance—the depth of human brokenness and sin—that lead Christ to the cross. There, the worst of earth and the best of heaven meet. And the divine power of the Crucified One forgives.
Let us then go in heart and mind to a hill outside Jerusalem and, in this great and Holy Week, be instructed in the school of the cross with its forgiveness, wisdom, and life made new. Here we can face the truth who we are, each of us individually and together as a people in the world, and be astonished by who God is and what God has done—the strange, wonderful, and grace-filled joy of being forgiven and called to new life in Jesus Christ: reconciliation and peace through the blood of the cross.
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