Prelude: Is the Cross Necessary?

Armodoxy for Today: Is the Cross Necessary?

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, is one of several Christian celebrations focusing on the Cross of Christ. This week, we look at the Holy Cross with reflections. St. Paul writes, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (I Corinthians 1:18)

Let’s begin these reflections with a very fundamental question, Is the Cross necessary for  salvation?  Or more simply, Is the Cross necessary in Christianity? … the Christian experience?

Writer Nicholas Kazantzakis, best known for his novel “Zorba the Greek,” first pondered these questions in his 1955 novel, “The Last Temptation of Christ.” What if Jesus had not accepted “the cup,” as was his prayer in the Garden of Getsemani (Luke 22:42). What if he did not accept or refused his appointment with the Cross? Deeper still, was it even possible for Jesus not to take the cup, not to rise to the Cross? And if he had not, what would that have meant (or not meant) for us today?

This week we look at the Cross, biblically and in the prayers offered by the Holy Church. We begin with St. Nersess Shnorhali’s 14^th hour of prayer, Upholder of all creatures, preserve by the sign of your cross, my soul and body, from the allurements of sin, from the temptation of evil, from unjust people, and from all dangers physical and spiritual. Have mercy upon your creatures, and on me. Amen.

Cover: Gregory Beylerian, 2014