In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
We now stand before the Holy Shroud of our Lord Jesus Christ, on which He is depicted taken down from His Cross and prepared for His burial. We make an annual commemoration of the mystery of salvation, which our Lord performed once and forever, for all times. This is why the Shroud is presented before us. And we venerate it, mentally transporting ourselves to the hour when these events took place, giving thanks to the Lord, our Creator and Saviour.
But how could it happen that the Son of God was crucified? Certainly, it could happen only because He Himself let it happen, otherwise who could have caused Him any harm?
Lawless Pharisees and high-priests committed this crime, having displayed the most terrible side of human nature: envy, malice, slander, ungratefulness and cruelty. However, even though they acted out of malice and envy, they were only instruments of God’s wisdom. They accomplished that, which was foretold by the Prophets hundreds of years earlier, because the mystery of salvation of man was pre-established in the Divine Council of the Holy Trinity even before the creation of the world.
How was our salvation accomplished through the Cross of Jesus Christ? This is God’s mystery, which our limited mind cannot fully understand, as well as the other mysteries of our faith. The prophets, apostles and teachers of the Church explain for us some aspects of this “dread and indescribable sacred act”, as St Basil the Great calls it.
As we look upon the Shroud of Christ, let us not forget at what a great price we have been delivered from eternal death. Sin is a great evil. Every committed sin is a disaster. There is no greater evil in the world than sin! In order to save man from slavery to sin and the devil such a great sacrifice was necessary.
The Lord wrought the most incredible, surpassing understanding thing: He came down from the heavens, “He stripped Himself of His glory, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men” (Phillip. 2:7). He lived with people, taught them by word and example, He called all to His Kingdom, even the most desperate sinners, at last, “He humbled Himself…to the point of death, even the death of the cross”- all these indicate a divine love, surpassing understanding.
Jesus Christ is “the Lamb of God who takes upon Himself the sin of the world.” (John 1). He took upon Himself the sins of all men; He, as it were, adopted our sins, made them His own, and then died on the cross for the sins of all, from Adam to the last man born on earth, for all and for everyone. He died, so that our souls would never die, and after earthly life they would inherit the eternal Heavenly Kingdom.
Having fulfilled the mystery of our salvation, the Lord ascended to heaven, from whence he had come; He sent out his messengers, the apostles, to announce the good tidings to the world and summon all into His Kingdom. He doesn’t force anyone, He leaves it to everyone’s free will to accept or reject His Cross, but the Cross of Christ, as a “balance of justice”, stands before everyone’s conscience. “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16)
The Cross of Christ will appear visibly in the skies before the second coming of the Lord: “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Math. 24:30)
Those will mourn who denied the cross of Christ, who remained indifferent to the great mystical sacrifice, which He accomplished on the Cross.
May the sign of the Son of Man, the Cross of Christ, always remind us of God’s boundless love. May our hearts be established in faith in Christ crucified for our sins.
Amen.
