embrace the cross

Mark Noll in Turning Points:

[Martin] Luther’s “evangelical breakthrough” was an excruciatingly long time in coming for himself, but it also had a remarkable effect once announced, because [his] denunciations of a theology of glory seemed so fanatical, so excessive, or what we might today call so counterintuitive. But for those who could follow Luther’s chain of reasoning or, as was more often the case, who recognized the pilgrimage of their own hearts in what he wrote, there was great reward. A theology of the cross did not only destroy, it also opened up. And what it opened up was God’s everlasting “yes” to those who had come to the end of themselves. Here is how Luther put it [The Magnificat]:

For where man’s strength ends, God’s strength begins, provided faith is present and waits on him. And when the oppression comes to an end, it becomes manifest what great strength was hidden under the weakness. Even so, Christ was powerless on the cross; and yet there he performed his mightiest work and conquered sin, death, world, hell, devil, and all evil. Thus all the martyrs were strong and overcame. Thus, too, all who suffer and are oppressed overcome.

With these words, Luther echoed what the apostle Paul had said to the Corinthians. If humans embrace the cross, they may be scorned as spineless and foolish. But that is not the last word, for to embrace the cross is also to embrace the world as it actually is in its most essential reality. We also come to know “the mystery of God . .  . Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2: 2– 3). To embrace the scandalous cross is to be embraced in turn by Jesus. The blood-streaked figure enfolds those who come to him and ushers them into the kingdom of God. The theology of the cross shows how to become a child of God.

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Luther’s significance was in providing a timely, effective reminder that the hope of the Christian, now and forever, rises from the transaction that occurred at the cross and the empty tomb that his weeping disciples encountered on the third day.

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Luther in The Collects:

Almighty God, who by the death of your Son has brought to nothing sin and death and by his resurrection has brought again innocence and everlasting life so that, delivered from the devil’s power, we may live in your kingdom: Grant us that we may believe this with all our heart and, steadfast in this faith, praise and thank you always; through the same your son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.