Week 3 Glory Only in the Cross
March 15 – Galatians 5:16 – 6:18
Our Jesus, we praise You, for You are Salvation. You are Hope. You are Peace! We love You and want to draw near to You. Be with us as we come together to spend time with You and worship You.
I live a lot of life in my second language, American Sign Language (ASL). One of the most fascinating things about the language (and there are tons) is that it uses techniques to visually describe something. You can: compare and contrast, use opposites, draw in the air, shift your body, putting people and things in a specific location in space, etc… The one technique I use often is opposites. Such as, these very overly simple examples: ‘This cup is small (show size). This small? (Show a little smaller size). No, this small (show original size).’ Or, ‘This book is old. Is it new? Nooo, it is old.’ It is a beautiful way to set something apart by putting it against a background that is opposite to it. It makes it visually pop and become clear, less ambiguous. You are giving parameters in which the object fits.
Paul is masterful in this technique. He often uses ‘this or that’ in his communications which leaves little room for confusion or misunderstanding. It is like getting the whole picture versus just half of it. And Paul uses it like wow in these verses! Did you pick up on it? For his audience of the day the word cross and glory would have been so far apart from related as possible, not even able to say it in the same sentence. In fact, I have read that they did in fact not say crucifixion or cross, they used a much more polite phrase. Why? Because that word was filthy, disgusting, shameful, unhonorable, humiliating. Crucifixion was used for the worst of the worst, the lowest of the low. So when Paul joins it with God’s glory all in the same breath?! It was WOWWWW!!! This would have turned their heads inside out trying to comprehend what he was saying, I would imagine! And it only actually makes sense through the lens of heavenly logic.
When we talk about ‘the cross,’ just what are we actually referring to? The wood itself or something else? Take some time to ponder what it means to you and what it meant to Paul. You can look back at 1 Peter 2:34 or 1 Corinthians 2:2 and Romans 6:6. Are there other verses you found to help guide you? Feel free to share them in the comment section below!
My Verse: Galatians 6:14, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
My Response: God of wonder, You are completely and utterly logical. You knowingly give us just what You know we can handle and leave us just enough to be curious and wonder, to seek out Your truths. Thank You for Your perfection, for blowing our minds with Your wonder, and for loving us so very much.
