All our spirituality emanates from the Cross by which we came to our salvation. Not only is It an icon by which we are blessed, but also It bears meanings glowing in us. Our Lord indeed surrendered voluntarily to sufferings and pain, for we conclude the prayers of the Holy Week by saying: “O Christ, our real God who laid down Himself and suffered for our salvation.” No one takes His life. He lays it down for the sheep. And the believer shall similarly give his life, for the Lord has claimed: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” To follow the Christ means to renounce your desires and your illegitimate interests and to abjure the worldly temptations, for the sake of being with the Christ.
In this regard, Paul declared: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). He means that I was with the Lord and in His heart when He was crucified and He has given me life, for “I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Just as the Christ is given for me, I shall give myself for Him and the others.
The apostle continues his epistle to the people of Galatia by saying: “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (6:14).The “world” means the world of trespasses. If I live with the Christ, I am in no way related to the world of trespasses and these are dead for me. On the other hand, if the world of trespasses is present in me, then I have no existence. My complete separation from sins makes me crucified with the Christ. Therefore, as He triumphed over evil through the Cross and has risen, I have also triumphed over evil and been liberated from it.
The Cross is indeed our way to the true life that is our pleasure in Christ and our acquiring His virtues and beauties. We do not boast in torture or in the means of torture. We shall not boast except in the victory given by the Lord to His loved ones. Thus we shall not rejoice in our sins, bad habits, domination or false glory, but rather we shall rejoice in Christ.
As a result, I will be convinced that it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, just as Paul claimed. Before embracing the Crucified, my existence was based on my desires, glory and pride. But I have been set free from all of these and filled with the presence of Christ in the Holy Spirit who purifies me.
If I love the Christ, He will become my personality, and I shall have nothing at all to be fully dedicated to the Christ. I would be denying myself and following the Christ, regardless of the troubles I might encounter. These hardships will turn into joys. Then I can follow the Christ to the Calvary, or I would be having the Cross as a way of life, and taking it up – on my shoulder – on my path to the resurrection.
Translated from Arabic –02.04.10
Original Text: “الأنا المصلوبة” – 01.10.95
