From the crib to the cross (Part 1)
From the crib to the cross (Part 1): You have to travel this road to the end
This is the first of a series of lessons that are provided to us by Mr Gerhardt Rossouw, our new contributor, who is taking care of the Afrikaans translations for English articles while we translate his articles for our English readers.
6And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. – Luke 2:6-7
Here we read the opening scene of the most important event ever in human history, the birth of Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of Lord. Instead of a birth in the best private hospital, as befit royalty, He is wrapped in swaddling clothes, in simplicity. Wise men would later honour Him, and the world, for a moment, is captivated by this event. However, few would have thought that the road that started here would lead to an excruciating death on a cross in the blazing Judaean sun.
Jesus walked the long and winding road between the crib and the cross. During this journey, He was tempted, ridiculed, despised, denied, and deserted. Eventually He is nailed to a cross on a hill; Golgotha. With a last gasp of air, He calls out: Tetelestai! It is finished, it has been completed.
This is also our journey and right now all of us are finding ourselves somewhere on this road between Bethlehem and Golgotha. Each of us is on our own road of suffering:
- The road of the crib is one of laughter, hope, trust, and faith;
- The road of the cross is where we are sombre, disappointed, defeated, and cynical.
Each of us walks this road of sin, enticement, and defeat, somewhere between the crib and the cross. Often, we then wonder:
- Is this maybe not simply how life is?
- Is life supposed to be just sweet, beautiful, and good?
- Is life not supposed to be experienced, and understood, each emotion between crib and cross lived out to the full?
Sometimes we wonder if we are supposed to experience the sombre seasons in our lives so that we can understand the other seasons. Sometimes, just sometimes, we wonder if the writer of Ecclesiastes experienced this when he penned these words:
2Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. – Ecclesiastes 1:2
Or maybe life is just Spring and Summer.
Sometimes we look for snow in Summer; for green Summer fields of grass in Winter. It is then that we realise that sometimes we are living totally out of step with the season in which we are. Then suddenly we realise that we should experience God in every season. We cannot just know the innocent Child in the crib. We must also know the Man on the cross. Our spiritual journey to reach the cross has a natural flow of which we become more and more aware as we move deeper in our experience of God.
Sometimes this journey takes us past the crib, and often it leaves us speechless and overpowered at Golgotha. Then we realise: Life is not just Summer.
All the best
Gerhardt