June 28, 2005
“Nancy in Michigan” sent in two more questions which I will summarize and briefly address. The first is what meaning the word “cross” had for the people Jesus was speaking to when He said to “take up your cross daily and follow Me,” since He had not yet suffered and died on the Cross when He spoke those words.
This is a good question because it reminds us how difficult and downright frightening some of Jesus’ statements must have been for His disciples. Every Jewish person in Jesus’ time would know well what a cross is. Crucifixions were a tragically familiar sight, especially in Judea, under every Roman procurator in our Lord’s time. For example, 20 years before Jesus was born, approximately 2000 Jews were crucified by the legate Varus because they attempted rebellion. When we hear Jesus’ call now to take up our cross, it is at least more palatable because of the assurance of the Resurrection. It is only by the power of God’s humble and immeasurable love that such an instrument of torture and degradation could become a sign of hope and salvation; that an instrument of disgrace would become the instrument of His grace.
Nancy ’s other question is also about our Saviour’s crucifixion. She asked about the meaning of the water flowing from the side of Jesus, together with the blood; specifically if it meant that Jesus fulfilled the prophetic vision of water flowing from the Temple.
I can’t give an exhaustive answer to such a powerful image, one which has been extensively written about by doctors of the church and medical doctors alike. Physicians point out the “natural” possibilities of a clear serum collecting in the pericardium due to intense suffering. The Fathers of the Church definitely saw the Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist represented by the Blood, and Saint John spoke of their “testimony” (1 Jn 5:6-8). In God’s re-creation through the Cross, a new genesis, these life-giving streams produce the Second Eve (the Church) from the side of the Second Adam “sleeping” on the Cross. Water symbolized what the Blood of Christ accomplishes – the cleansing away of the debt of our sins. Certainly the Body of Christ is the Temple from which streams of grace flow, as in the Divine Mercy image. This is a question worthy of a lifetime of meditation!
Fr. Richard Roemer, CFR
________________________________________
www.franciscanfriars.com
comments: father benedict @ franciscanfriars.com
