The Silent Voice of the Cross: How Christ Crucified Speaks to All Things

The Sermon on the Mount is perhaps the most famous and well-loved of Christ’s sermons. It was not, however, his greatest. According to Jesus, that designation must go to the silent Sermon on Golgotha. When Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount he spoke with a Galilean accent, but it was not nearly as strong as his accent on Golgotha. It is on the cross that we see God’s greatest self-revelation. The theme of the Gospel of John could well be encapsulated by “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12: 32). How thick is the accent of Jesus? It is as broad as the beam upon which he died. Any other emphasis is off-beam. If this is true, should we not reflect on all things in light of Christ and him crucified so that all things may be put into proper perspective? We will see that idolatry did not merely afflict the ancients. In insidious and numerous ways it affects us to this day. The cross speaks to this condition in regard to such matters as the Bible, science, creation, religion, miracles and human beings. We will see that the cross puts them all in their proper place before God. The cross both exposes idolatry is its cure.