Great Friday: Teaching 1 (What Do the Three Crosses of Golgotha Preach To Us?)

Great Friday:
Teaching 1

(What Do the Three Crosses of Golgotha Preach To Us?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Christian brethren! I want to transfer your reverently disposed thoughts and feelings to Mount Golgotha, from where our help came, and precisely at the time when the great mystery of our salvation was being accomplished. There we see three crosses. Let us stand at their foot with an open heart and listen to what they will preach to us.

II. a) Before us first of all is the cross, upon which the eyes of all Jerusalem are directed, the cross in the middle. What is this cross? It is the tree of our life, our sign, strength and salvation, the most precious cross to us; the one hanging on it is our Lord.

Why was He raised up here? Why such a shameful and despised execution? Not by chance, for this is not characteristic of God. "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree," says the Scripture, and the Lord Jesus Christ wants to show in an obvious way to the whole world that He took upon Himself the curse of sin that weighs upon the world, so that the world is already free from this curse and there is no longer a partition between man and God. The immeasurable dishonor of sin must be washed away by the most shameful execution. But this is not the only reason for the Lord's suffering on the cross. His execution on the cross was also the most painful. What did the Divine Sufferer not endure until He gave up the ghost! Nailed to the cross after many tortures, nailed and hanging on it in unbearable torments and in disgrace to everyone, rejected by the earth and not yet accepted by heaven, what did the Sufferer feel?! What kind of punishment could correspond to that terrible power of evil for which the Lord was pleased to take upon Himself the punishment? Yes, the power of human evil is immeasurable, and the punishment must have been unparalleled. With what gratitude shall we render to You, Sweetest Jesus, for Your ineffable longsuffering for our sake!

But let us listen to what the cross of Christ preaches to us.

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34) – this is the preaching of the cross of Christ, this is the preaching of love and complete forgiveness to His enemies. Let us also forgive and pray for our enemies. And let us not think that this is impossible. If it were so, then the Lord would not have told us: "Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart" (Matt. 11:29). If it were impossible for a person to imitate the Master, then how, for example, could Saint Stephen the First Martyr pray for the Jews who stoned him: "Lord, hold not this sin against them" (Acts 7:60)? The saints could imitate the Master, and that is why they became saints because they imitated Him, and we are all called to be a holy nation, sons of God, brothers of Christ, and therefore we will cultivate in ourselves with all our might the feelings of all-forgiving love that the Lord commanded us: "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35); "Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:44).

The words of the Lord: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," apply to all who took part in His condemnation, and most of all to the soldiers who crucified Him. But were the latter guilty, so that they could be forgiven? They did only what they were ordered. What did they know, rude pagans, and could they care who was the One upon Whom they were executing the sentence of the highest authority? Yes, they hardly knew what they were doing, at least they did not know completely. But were they completely free from guilt? If this were so, then why did the Lord pray for the soldiers and ask their forgiveness? One prays not for those who are out of danger, but for those who are guilty. True, he who commits a sin with full consciousness is subject to much greater condemnation than he who acts half-consciously, like a fool. But if it were not for the powerful intercession of the Crucified, then the soldiers would not have had any justification for their sin. Let this serve as an instruction for us not to justify ourselves in our sinful life by ignorance, by darkness. However, hardly any of us can say that he does not know what he is doing: good or evil. If we crucify our Savior, reject, despise, slander Him with our sins, then we hardly know what we are doing? No, we know, and therefore we have even less justification for our sins, if the Lord our intercessor does not ask forgiveness for us from His Father. Let us ask Him earnestly, with all our hearts. The merciful Father still forgives and the Son of God still accepts intercession, let us not weaken.

b) But is this means of salvation available to everyone? Let us turn our gaze to the second cross of Golgotha. A villain hangs on it. We do not know what his crimes were. And why should we know? What is important to us is not what he was before, but what he is now, in the last minutes of his life. He suffers and already feels the cold breath of death over him, but he has not yet lost his courage; he wants to show that he is still capable of gloating and mocking. And so, in tune with the crowd surrounding the crosses and slandering the Lord, this villain turns to Him with mockery: “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us” (Luke 23:39). Perhaps in these words one can hear the terrible voice of despair, but in any case there is no awareness of one’s own criminality, no repentance, no faith in Christ, and consequently no hope for salvation; these are the words of a hardened heart, incapable of having good feelings.

What does this cross preach to us? The Lord is silent. He has not a single word, no reproach, no threat for this villain. But in this very silence of the Lord lies the entire power of the preaching of this cross; its meaning is the Lord’s complete abandonment of the unrepentant sinner, abandonment in the most terrible hour of death and eternal punishment: what fellowship does Christ have with Belial and his accomplices!

Let us also remember this terrible truth and be attentive to ourselves. Sin imperceptibly strikes us and takes possession of our will. If we do not fight it, it will not take long to reach such a state that the call of God's grace will be in vain for us, our heart will harden so much that we will not be able to take advantage of God's help; both heart and lips will freeze for prayer.

c) But let us leave the cross of this terrible bitterness. Before us is a picture full of consolation and mercy - this is the third cross of Golgotha. On it there is also a villain, whose previous life is also unknown to us, about whom we know only what he received according to his deeds. What is so consoling in it? That in it we see an image of the true conversion and salvation of a sinner. This thief has everything that every sinner who seeks heaven should seek. Here we see the consciousness of sins, and repentance, and faith, and the fruits of faith and, finally, justification - in a word, the beginning and the end of salvation. "Consciousness of sins!" What great thing can they say if a villain is aware of his crimes? Very much. Here is the beginning of repentance, correction and justification. Was it not the consciousness of sins that led the publican to justification? If the consciousness of sins is a small matter, then why are there so few people who are sincerely ready to confess that they are great sinners and deserve greater punishment and are ready to endure it without complaint? Are there not more who justify themselves in a pharisaical manner? The consciousness of sins and the feeling of self-accusation lead the thief to faith. He calls Jesus Christ Lord, although it is not known that he saw His lordship. He does not doubt that He is the King, as Pilate wrote, that His kingdom is not earthly; that He is the conqueror of death and can help him. What is lacking here? The fruits of faith? Oh, no! The thief still has time for this: he admonishes another, preaches repentance to him - this is the fruit. He prays: "Remember me, Lord, iwhen You come into Your Kingdom," and by this he reveals the strength of his faith. He gives consolation to the dying Savior by his sympathy, when everyone has abandoned Him. If a cup of cold water which we give to one in need is not forgotten, will it be despised? No. "Today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). These are the words of the Lord, imprinted on the third cross and preached to us. The Lord not only did not despise the repentant, but gave him His Kingdom first. And look at the mercy of God! It gives more than the sinner asks for. The thief asks the Lord only to remember him in the Kingdom of Heaven. The Lord gives the Kingdom itself and wants to be with the thief Himself: the sinner becomes a friend of God. And when? Not sometime later, but today. The Lord does not postpone His mercy, as the sinner often postpones his conversion.

III. Brothers and sisters of Christianity! We are all sinners and worthy of punishment. But let us not darken our hearts with despondency. Let us use the example of the prudent thief: let us ask God for mercy, let us repent and bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. "Behold, now is the favorable time, behold, now is the day of salvation." Amen.  

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.