Eastertide 32: Sunday #6 of 7.

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.

 (Colossians 1:20)

The Cross Event is too big for any one image to capture. The thing itself remains hidden in God. We speak of it in word (gospel) and sacrament (gospel made visible—taken and eaten). The N.T. exhaust language and imagery to speak of it: “we have been justified,” “saved,” “reconciled,” “redeemed,” “atoned;” and so forth. The Bible scatters and mixes such imagery. Maybe it is helpful to gather these scattered images something like this…

1.             1)   O.T. Worship–Sacrifice:  “Christ is the atoning sacrifice for our sins…” (1Jn 2:2)

2.             2)   Legal Court–Justification:  “We have been justified by his blood” (Ro 5:9).

3.             3)   Commerce–Redemption: “It was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1Pt 1:18-19).

4.             4)   Personal Relationships–Reconciliation: “God reconciled us to himself through Christ” (2Cor 5:18).

5.            5)   Restoration–Salvation: “He will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:21).

Of course the Cross Event itself overflows our categories. As the hymn goes, it “is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell” (The Love of God, Claudia Mays, 1917).