Reflections on the Appointed Gospel Readings for Lent Six Palm Sunday/Sunday of the Passion Luke 22:1-23:56 or John 12:20-43

Reading through and meditating on each of the past Sundays lessons, reminds me of the Latin professor who used an old Latin coat of arms to teach the concept of “dative of possession.”  “CHRISTI CRUX EST MIHI LUX”.  The literal translation would be, “Christ’s cross is to me light”.  But the dative “to me” should be translated in good English, “my”; or “Christ’s cross is my light.”

That Latin statement of confident faith is even more powerful when juxtaposed with the readings from both Luke and John where darkness seems to be the predominant tone and setting.  In Luke 22, it is in “darkness” that Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested by the temple guard and tried by the High Priest and elders.  It is in “darkness” that Peter denies even knowing Jesus.  In Luke 23, as Jesus hangs on the cross, “darkness” covers the land from the sixth hour (noon) until the ninth hour (3pm).  (That’s when the sun should be at its zenith!)  Jesus then commended His spirit to the Father and breathed his last.  In John, where Jesus responds to the inquiry of some Greeks, he predicts his death as a “kernel of wheat falling (into the darkness) of the ground and dying.”  (Jn. 12:23)  Later in John 12:35, Jesus warns his listeners that “darkness” is coming and will overtake them; and he encourages them to “put (their) trust in the light, so that (they) might become sons of light.”

On this past Sunday of the Passion, there is a theme of “darkness” as we view the cross and the Crucified Son of God.  Darkness.  Darkness.  Darkness.  All is darkness.  How can we state with any confidence, “Christi Crux Est Mihi Lux”?  How can Christ’s cross be my light?

Christ’s cross is my light even in the darkness of sin and shame, denial and death because I know “the rest of the story.”  As a redeemed child of God, you know the rest of the story too.  It’s not just a story from a story book of fables or human interest.  It’s the “Good Story”.  It’s the “Good News”.  It’s the Gospel.  The cross is the centerpiece of our hope and the light of our lives as Christians because, as John writes in the first chapter of his Gospel, “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”  The rest of the story is that Jesus is risen from the dead.  Darkness does not have the final word.  Because of His resurrection, his cross has become the light and life-giving sign of hope, of forgiveness, of rescue, of life!  At the cross, in the midst of its darkness, God’s light has shone on our sins and on His justice.  The price has been paid.  The cross of Christ is INDEED my LIGHT!

This is the hope-filled and transforming message every Christian is privileged to have and hold in spirit-worked faith; and, with faith-filled joy, share with others who desperately need to hear it.  Why would we keep this Good News to ourselves.  With the Greeks who came to Phillip (Jn. 12:20) we recognize that people are seeking deliverance from darkness and are asking in a myriad of ways, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus,” is what they are saying and they don’t even know it. 

Friends, people are not impressed with our nice facilities or busy program-burdened church calendars as much as they are by friendship, genuine concern and caring, and inevitably the loving witness to the Light of the cross of Jesus and his triumph over death, sin, and Satan.

Our real business as the body of Christ in our denomination (LCMS), is the business of encouraging and resourcing congregations, individual lay members, along with pastors and other church-workers, to be about the task of introducing people to Jesus … as did Philip.  Every Baptized believer is commissioned to be light (the light of the world, Mt. 5:14) and to witness and direct people to Jesus, His cross and resurrection. 

Point people to the Light – Jesus Christ - the light of the world! (Jn.8:12)  People trapped in the darkness of sin and Satan’s powers will never be transformed by our political gyrations and internal squabbles.  They aren’t impressed with a person’s position or credentials or degrees. But, by the grace of God, they are transformed when they are led by the Holy Spirit through our witness to stand in the Light of Christ’s Cross. 

By the Holy Spirit may they too confess with us: CHRISTI CRUX EST MIHI LUX!