Remembering the cross of Christ, as well as the crucifixion (for clarification, see yesterday’s post) is crucial to our understanding of the atonement, but it isn’t the whole story. That’s likely why I’ve never really liked the old hymn “The Old Rugged Cross”. I get the point, it’s a big part of our faith, but it’s only the beginning. There’s all sorts of metaphors we can make about the piercing of his side and the fact that it remained open, shades of how Adam’s side was opened for the bride to come out. Isn’t it great that Jesus’ side was left open?
You see, we also need to remember to cling to the old dusty grave. Something happened in that grave, something larger than we can ever imagine. Paul says that during the cave time of Jesus, he descended into Hades, and led captivity captive. Thousands of years of Christian tradition have trivialized the grave of Christ, turning his descent into Hades into nothing more than a quaint little phrase we say, usually only on Easter, sometimes on Good Friday, but not nearly enough.
So what was that grave?
The grave of Christ is not just about death of the physical body, some mysterious place where all our physical infirmity was somehow taken away. No, the grave represents the very darkest parts of our human experience. Depression, sadness, loneliness, bitterness, hurt, anger, suicide, murder, rage. That is the grave of Christ. It’s the same cave we all live in from time to time, and the message of that cave (and the grave) is: Jesus has descended into Hades. And not just the metaphorical Hades of lore, but the literal place where our depression leads. The solitude and loneliness produced by death (whether spiritual or otherwise).