Does the Bible Really Say That?: Discovering Catholic Teaching in Scripture by Madrid Patrick

Author:Madrid, Patrick [Madrid, Patrick]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: St. Anthony Messenger Press, Servant Books
Published: 2011-08-24T16:00:00+00:00

Further Reading: Deuteronomy 21:20; Proverbs 21:17; 23:19–21; 28:7; Matthew 11:19; Luke 7:34; Romans 12:1–2; Galatians 5:19–21; Titus 1:12

CCC, 1866, 2290, 2535

CHAPTER 25

Do Catholics “Keep Christ on the Cross”?

Many non-Catholics have an aversion to crucifixes. While they have no problem with an “empty cross,” some (Protestants, for example) object to the crucifix because it depicts Christ dying on the cross. “Christ isn’t on the cross anymore,” they say. “He’s reigning gloriously in heaven. So why emphasize his death?” This is a reasonable question, and it deserves a reasonable answer.

Let’s start by recognizing that Catholics emphasize both the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, not minimizing or downplaying the importance of either. In our manger scenes, stained glass windows and statues, we also depict the Lord as a baby in the manger, as a toddler in his mother’s arms and as a young man teaching the rabbis in the temple. Each of these stages of the Lord’s life is worthy of depiction. But the focal point and purpose of Christ’s Incarnation and ministry is his death on the cross. As he himself said, “For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth” (John 18:37).

On his popular TV show, Life Is Worth Living, Archbishop Fulton Sheen summarized the reason for using a crucifix instead of an empty cross: “Keep your eyes on the crucifix, for Jesus without the cross is a man without a mission, and the cross without Jesus is a burden without a reliever.”

Isn’t it true that when you see an empty cross, your mind automatically “sees” Christ there? After all, we recognize that the cross only has meaning because Christ died on it for our salvation. Catholics use crucifixes to avoid what Saint Paul warned about—the cross being “emptied of its power” (1 Corinthians 1:17).

Christ’s supreme act was to die on the cross as atonement for our sins. His Resurrection was proof that what he did on the cross worked—he conquered death—and it demonstrated beyond any doubt that he was who he claimed to be: God. The Crucifixion was the act that changed history. The Resurrection demonstrated the efficacy of that act.

By his death on the cross, Christ conquered sin and death, redeemed the world, opened the way of salvation for all who would receive it and reconciled his people with the Father (Ephesians 2:13–18; Colossians 1:19–20). That is why the crucifix is such a potent reminder for us of what he did on our behalf that dark afternoon on Calvary.

“Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me’” (Matthew 16:24; see Matthew 10:38). True, resurrection and glory await all those who follow Christ faithfully—but we will only arrive there by traveling the way of the cross.

Saint Paul emphasized the Crucifixion, saying, “When I came to you, brethren, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided

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