Part 15 — The Cross
"He himself bore our sins in
his body on the tree." 1 Peter 2:24
Christian has now come to the place Bunyan has been preparing
him for. He has been through the Interpreter's House and has been shown lesson
after lesson about sin, grace, temptation and judgment. Yet through all of
this, the burden is still upon his back.
Then he sees the Cross.
Bunyan tells us that as Christian looked upon the Cross, his
burden loosened from his shoulders, fell from his back, rolled down the hill
and disappeared into a sepulchre. Christian then says, "Blessed Cross!
Blessed Sepulchre! Blessed rather be the Man that there was put to shame for
me!"
I think Bunyan is being very deliberate here. Christian does
not simply draw our attention to the Cross or the sepulchre. He draws our
attention to the Man who was put to shame for him. That Man is the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Cross cannot be separated from Christ, because it is
Christ who bore the sinner's guilt and suffered in the sinner's place.
This also makes me think about how easily we can become caught
up in the symbols of Christianity rather than the Person to whom those symbols
point. A cross can be worn around the neck, a crucifix can become the focus of
attention, and religious practices can become familiar, but none of these
things is Jesus Christ. We can become so accustomed to the symbol that we lose
sight of the Person.
I can say this because I have seen something of it in my own
life. When I was in Mykonos, Greece, I bought a silver cross. Looking back, I
realise I was unconsciously attaching a spiritual meaning to it. Somehow, I
believed that buying the cross might help me become more religious. It was my
way of acknowledging Jesus.
Another occasion made this even clearer. One day, while I was
looking for fish with a speargun and snorkel, a fisherman's boat dropped me
about two kilometres from the shore. As I swam, I came across a very deep
channel. I couldn't see the bottom, and it was so deep that I remember thinking
sharks may use this route. Almost instinctively, my hand went to the silver
cross around my neck, as though it somehow had the power to keep me safe.
Looking back, that moment says something to me. I was reaching
for an object because of what I believed it represented, but the silver itself
had no power to protect me. It could not hear me, protect me or save me. If I
was going to look to Christ, I needed to look beyond the object to the One the
cross represents: the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is why Bunyan's wording matters. Christian does not stop
at the Cross. He says, "Blessed rather be the Man that there was put to
shame for me!" Bunyan turns our eyes from the symbol to the Person. The
Cross points us to Christ, but Christ Himself saves.
Christian has carried this burden from the beginning of his
journey. He knew it was there and that he needed to be rid of it, but he could
not remove it himself. All the instruction he received could show him his
condition, but none of it could take the burden from his back.
Now he comes to the Cross, and the burden falls away.
Peter tells us that Christ "bore
our sins in his body on the tree."
(1 Peter 2:24).
Bunyan gives us a picture of that truth through Christian's
experience. What Christian could never accomplish for himself has been
accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ.
And yet Christian has reached the Cross without understanding
everything. He has learned much in the Interpreter's House, but he still has
much to learn and a long pilgrimage ahead of him. Coming to the Cross does not
mean that Christian suddenly understands everything about the Christian life.
I think we sometimes forget this. We do not understand
everything at the beginning of our journey, nor do we understand everything
when we come to the Cross. Christian certainly does not. Yet that does not
prevent him from coming to Christ. He comes as a man who knows he is burdened
and cannot save himself. But come we must…
Looking back on my life, I recognise something of this. There
were changes in me before I understood why they were happening. Things that
once seemed perfectly normal began to lose their appeal, and things that had
once been easy to pursue became strangely difficult. At the time, I could not
explain what was happening. I only knew that something was changing.
Only afterwards could I look back and begin to see that God
had been dealing with me before I understood what He was doing. I know that God
showed me a patience I did not deserve, and I continue to see that patience in
my life.
Bunyan then introduces the three Shining Ones. One tells
Christian that his sins are forgiven; another clothes him in a new suit of
raiment; and the third marks his forehead and gives him a sealed roll.
Something has changed in Christian. His burden has
been lifted, his sins have been forgiven, and he has been clothed. Bunyan’s
warnings were not meant to leave Christian without hope. They were preparing
him to understand the seriousness of his condition and why he needs the Lord
Jesus Christ.
I
can understand something of this from my own experience. I had already
responded to an altar call, yet I was still carrying a burden. I remember
wrestling with Scripture and asking myself, “What have I done?” There had been
much back-and-forth with family and friends, but eventually I found myself
alone, with my Bible open before me. I remember praying something like,
“Father, I am not sure what I am doing, but I believe Jesus died for my sins,
and you have forgiven me.”
And immediately the burden was lifted. I remember feeling as
light as a feather in a gentle breeze. I had not suddenly understood
everything. I had simply come to believe what Scripture told me about the Lord
Jesus Christ and what He had done for me.
The seriousness of sin does not diminish the greatness of
God's grace, nor does the abundance of God's grace make sin any less serious.
At the Cross, we see both together, because Christ bore our sins and was put to
shame for us.
There is a
crucial fundamental that we must recognise: the seriousness of our sin when
we stand at the foot of the Cross. Miss this, and we miss the magnitude of
Christ's sacrifice.
Paul writes, "God shows his love for us in that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
Yet Christian still has a long road ahead of him. The Cross
has removed his burden, but it has not removed the pilgrimage. There will still
be temptation, suffering, false teaching and spiritual conflict. The Parable of
the Sower comes to mind because Jesus shows us that hearing the Word is not the
end of the matter. Some receive it with joy, but when tribulation or
persecution arises because of the Word, they stumble.
Christian has reached the Cross, but he still has to continue.
The burden has been lifted, his sins have been forgiven, and he has been
clothed, yet the pilgrimage is only beginning. There will still be temptation,
suffering, false teaching and spiritual conflict. The Parable of the Sower
comes to mind because Jesus shows us that hearing the Word is not the end of
the matter. Some receive it with joy, but when tribulation or persecution
arises because of the Word, they stumble.
Christian still has much to learn, but he now knows where his
hope rests. It does not rest in a symbol, in his own goodness or in his ability
to save himself. His hope rests in Christ.
And the journey continues.
Signing off
Tyrone
Scripture
References: John 3:14-16;
Matthew 13:20-21; Romans 5:6-8; 1 Peter 2:24; Colossians 2:13-14; Galatians
6:14.
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