When I survey the wondrous cross

In 1707, English Pastor Isaac Watts was writing one new hymn per week, on his way to tallying some 750 hymns during his lifetime. This is what one can accomplish in life when not distracted by electronic devices. One of his best known hymns is “Joy to the World.”

But Isaac Watts also wrote another hymn that is fairly well known throughout the Christian Church. It is entitled, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” The words of the first verse of that hymn are as follows:

“When I survey the wondrous Cross, On which the Prince of glory died.

My richest gain, I count but loss. And poor contempt on all my pride.”

What a combination of words! Wondrous cross. The cross? Wondrous?

Who in their right mind would ever put the description “wondrous,” with an instrument of wickedness and execution like the cross?

In 71 BC, it was recorded that the Romans put down a revolt by Spartacus and his followers, by crucifying more than 6,000 men on crosses for miles along the Appian Way. The cross was a means to not only agonizingly punish, but to humiliate the defeated. It was meant to scare and intimidate others.

Bringing it into our day, we would be hard pressed to find anyone wearing a miniature electric chair on a necklace or placing a small electric chair in their front yard. And yet, the cross, once a symbol of defeat and humiliation, has been transformed into a symbol of hope and victory.

We have seen that even in our own area. Crosses have appeared in the front yards of many homes to symbolize faith over fear in the midst of the pandemic. We sometimes see a few more white crosses appear as Good Friday and Easter approach in our area.

Indeed, Jesus Christ made the cross wondrous some 2,000 years ago. How so?

The Apostle Paul puts it in these words in Colossians 2:13-14. “God has forgiven all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”

In life, some of us have enjoyed the experience of making the final payment on an item that we have purchased, whether a car or a home. It is such a relief to see a debt, especially a formidable one, marked “Paid.”

For those who trust in Christ Jesus, Paul notes that the cross stands as a symbol of “Paid in full” in regard to each and every wrong we have committed in life. It’s as if Jesus wrote down every incidence in life when I have said the wrong thing, done the wrong thing, or failed to do the right thing . . . and nailed them to the cross with Him. He had no sin. But He paid for ours.

In marking that the payment for all our wrongs was complete, Jesus cried out, “It is finished” from the cross. Three days later, He rose from the dead. Why? The payment was complete.

It’s difficult to drive for more than a few miles in middle Georgia without seeing a cross. Next time you see one, remember! It stands for God’s love and forgiveness given to you in Christ Jesus.

It’s wondrous.

Pastor John Lehenbauer

Christ Lutheran Church

208 Langston Road

Perry, Georgia

christlutheranperry

@gmail.com

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