Jesus on the Cross

[Jesus Freak]

All the Catholic crosses i see have Jesus still hanging on it. Why?

Would it not be more appropriate for him to not be on it? Thus showing that he has risen and is has defeated death(the cross)?

[argent_paladin]

Well, why have a cross at all? Wouldn't it be better to have a Jesus in glorified body to remind us that he is risen? Or why not an empty tomb to remind us that Jesus is alive?

Catholics wear the crucifix because in that moment on the cross, our universe and our lives changed. Without the cross, there is no redemption. If you want to be reminded of Christ conquering death, wouldn't you want to see the moment when he conquered death? It was his death that gives us life, not his resurrection. "By his stripes we are healed." God chose this most painful and humiliating death, a criminal's death. But for us Christians, the crucifix is not a sign of death or humiliation, but of life and joy.

The cross didn't give meaning to Christ. Christ, crucified, gives meaning to the cross. Therefore, we are looking in the wrong place if we look at the cross without Christ.

[theculturewarrior]

[quote]For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.[/quote] 1 Cor 11:27 KJV

[i_see_things_upside_down]

I do not see anything wrong with having a small cross around your neck that has Christ hanging from it. But, when I see a full sized crucifix I get a little squeamish. It's almost as if people are trying to proclaim Christ's death instead of resurrection. When it is empty it is a sign that He was once here, but did not remain in the grave!

[cmotherofpirl]

We are to proclaim his death because that is what saved us. The crucifix shows the price He paid to do it.

[Paphnutius]

Not to try to play mod, but perhaps we can all respond on the same thread?

[cmotherofpirl]

extrapolate?

[Thy Geekdom Come]

Theology of the Body answer: the total outpouring of Christ on the Cross is the Consummation of the Divine Marriage. Seems to me like something we should remember.

There is nothing wrong with remembering the resurrection, and it is undeniably tied to the passion and death of Christ (was well as to the incarnation, the nativity, and every other little thing in Christ's life). However, as the memorial acclamation proclaims, "dying [He] destroyed our death, rising [He] restored our life." We cannot have the resurrection without the passion and death, nor is it any less important, for if the resurrection is false, "then we are the most pitiable of people."

However, while the resurrection is a wonderful thing for meditation, it is not the whole story. The Death of Christ is the climax of the story, and proclaiming it proclaims everything related to Christ in a more direct way than the Resurrection does. We can focus on the Resurrection alone, but we cannot focus on the Death of Christ alone. Proclaiming the Resurrection gives us the end of the story (well, in as much as there can be an "end" to eternity), but proclaiming the Death of Christ automatically means proclaiming the Resurrection as well, because we ask ourselves, "what happened next?" In proclaiming the Resurrection alone, we do not ask, "what happened next?"

In short, all of Christ's life, death, and resurrection centers around the Cross. It is a wonderful thing to look to the resurrection, but it is looking at the Cross that we find the full answer.

[Jake Huether]

Many people died on crosses and were taken off. The two thieves come to mind right away.

So although in modern times one knows what you mean when you wear a cross, you are really just wearing a death instrument.

A cross by itself means nothing theologically. It may mean something to you personally, but you are outwardly displaying something that means nothing in and of itself.

When you wear a crucifix (a cross with Christ on it), we know who the cross belongs to, we know what the significance is of it. Theologically Christ on the Cross means God died for our sins.

An empty cross doesn't mean that Christ rose, it only means that He was taken off of it, which every one who dies on a cross is eventually.

My $0.02.

[Paphnutius]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' date='May 3 2005, 11:32 AM'] extrapolate? [/quote]
There was already another thread that was being responded to. I guess he double posted by accident.