But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. Galatians 6:14
Some 70 years ago, many of the farmers in Nova Scotia purchased barbed wire that was left over from the Second World War, to use as fencing for their cattle. It was cruel-looking wire, with long rusty barbs, and many more barbs than are usually found on fencing wire for agricultural use. I was helping our next-door neighbour to run a strand of the war surplus wire along his pasture line, wearing thick gloves because of the sharp and rusty barbs. Our neighbour told me how the wire was used in the war, to prevent soldiers from crossing an area. He said when the soldiers had to cross, one man would fling himself down on the hoops of wire, and allow the other soldiers to run across his body to reach the other side. ‘They speak of the glories of war’, he said, ‘I don’t see any glory in that!’ And yet, the soldier who sacrificed his own body for the sake of his comrades was deserving of glory, just as our Saviour was when he became our sacrifice at Calvary.
The crucifixion of the Lord Jesus was an ugly, gruesome scene that would cause people in our gentle society to cringe in horror. It was nothing like the splendid, lavish presentations that can be seen in cathedrals of Rome and other religious organizations. Bloody, lacerated men nailed to horrible crosses, screams of agony, curses aplenty, shouts of derision by onlookers, no, a crucifixion, including the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, was not naturally a glorious sight. And yet, as we review that scene today, its glories capture our hearts like no other scene of earth.
Across that bloody and violent scene we see the glory of the love of God in sending His Son to such a place to purchase our redemption. We also see the glory of the sacrifice, exceeding the worth of all of Israel’s bullocks, lambs, and doves. We see the glory of the preciousness of the blood that our Lord freely shed for us. We hear the glory of the great cry, Tetalestai!, as Jesus proclaimed that the work of redemption is finished fully and forever.
Oh, there is glory in the cross today, glory that we rejoice in and wholeheartedly embrace, as we consider how He bore our sins in His own body on the tree. -Jim MacIntosh