"Forty Day Focus on the Cross" Day Four

The Shadow of the Cross

Walking down the road at sunrise or sunset, just as the sun beams over the horizon, the shadows of things around us are very long; and the more prominent the object, the longer the shadow. At midday these same things appear to have almost no shadow at all. But at the beginning or the end of the day, the shadow is huge.

We are on day four of our 40-day walk toward the cross and the tomb. The cross is a long ways from us. And it was for Jesus too. The Raising of Lazarus from the dead is still ahead. There is much teaching and preaching and healing to do between Galilee and Jerusalem of Judea. And the long week of Jesus’ last Passover and all its events are still in the distance. I’m sure the disciples and the others who gather around Jesus and travel with Him weren’t even thinking about it yet. But it was always on Jesus’ mind. I believe it was on His mind from the time He came into this world in a way. I believe He knew His earthly destiny when He was twelve and went to the Passover with His earthly parents and got separated from them, ending up in the temple listening to the elders of the people debate and answering their questions. We see it in how he answered His mother who was frantically looking for Him: “Did you not know I would be about my Father’s business?” Also, from the time He began His ministry His death of the cross was always before Him. He told people in His first messages, “the Kingdom of God is at hand.” He knew His purpose here was to bring in the Kingdom by His death on the cross. He knew what He came to do, and where He would do it. That shadow was long, and it loomed over Him even as the journey began.

What about you? Does the shadow of the cross darken your path? Can you see the light shining far ahead of you, that light that dawns in the hearts of all men, but that has to shine over the cross as well? Even from this distance that shadow, the shadow of the cross, should loom over all. It should be a daily reminder of the great love of God and the gracious gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. And it should be a directional beacon, of sorts, that keeps our eyes, and our hearts, and our feet pointed to the cross, which points us Home.

Keep your eyes on Jesus, my friends. Onward. Face to the cross, our back to the world.