St. John of Damascus: "For the resurrection comes after the Cross"
St. John of Damascus: "For the resurrection comes after the Cross"
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So,
then, this same truly precious and august tree, on which Christ has
offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sakes, is to be worshipped as
sanctified by contact with His holy body and blood; likewise the nails,
the spear, the clothes, His sacred tabernacles which are the manger, the
cave, Golgotha, which brings salvation , the tomb which gives life,
Sion, the chief stronghold of the churches and the like, are to be
worshipped.
In the words of David, the father of God, We shall go into His tabernacles, we shall worship at the place where His feet stood. And that it is the Cross that is meant is made clear by what follows, Arise, O Lord, into Your Rest.
For the resurrection comes after the Cross. For if of those things
which we love, house and couch and garment, are to be longed after, how
much the rather should we long after that which belonged to God, our
Saviour, by means of which we are in truth saved. Moreover
we worship even the image of the precious and life-giving Cross,
although made of another tree, not honouring the tree (God forbid) but
the image as a symbol of Christ. For He said to His disciples,
admonishing them, Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in Heaven (Mt 24:30), meaning the Cross. And so also the angel of the resurrection said to the woman, You seek Jesus of Nazareth which was crucified. (Mk 16:6) And the Apostle said, We preach Christ crucified.
(1 Cor 1:23) For there are many Christs and many Jesuses, but one
crucified. He does not say speared but crucified. It behooves us, then,
to worship the sign of Christ. For wherever the sign may be, there also
will He be. But it does not behoove us to worship the material of which
the image of the Cross is composed, even though it be gold or precious
stones, after it is destroyed, if that should happen. Everything,
therefore, that is dedicated to God we worship, conferring the adoration
on Him.
The
tree of life which was planted by God in Paradise pre-figured this
precious Cross. For since death was by a tree, it was fitting that life
and resurrection should be bestowed by a tree. Jacob, when he worshipped
the top of Joseph's staff, was the first to image the Cross, and when
he blessed his sons with crossed hands (Heb 11:21) he made most clearly
the sign of the cross. Likewise also did Moses' rod, when it smote the
sea in the figure of the cross and saved Israel, while it overwhelmed
Pharaoh in the depths; likewise also the hands stretched out crosswise
and routing Amalek; and the bitter water made sweet by a tree, and the
rock rent and pouring forth streams of water (Num xx), and the rod that
meant for Aaron the dignity of the high priesthood (Ex iv): and the
serpent lifted in triumph on a tree as though it were dead , the tree
bringing salvation to those who in faith saw their enemy dead, just as
Christ was nailed to the tree in the flesh of sin which yet knew no sin.
The mighty Moses cried, You will see your life hanging on the tree before your eyes, and Isaiah likewise, I have spread out my hands all the day unto a faithless and rebellious people. (Is 65:2) But may we who worship this obtain a part in Christ the crucified. Amen.
