Was the veneration of the cross of Christ predicted in the Old Testament?
In the Old Testament, everything by which and how the Lord saved us was predicted. There were also prophecies and types of the cross of Christ and its veneration.
What predictions do we find in Scripture about the cross of Christ and its veneration?
The Psalmist David prayed to the Lord: "Give a banner to those who fear You, that it may be displayed because of the truth. That Your beloved may be delivered" (Ps. 60:4-5, paraphrased).
Also, the prophet Isaiah predicted that the Lord "will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth" (Is. 11:12).
The wise Solomon also speaks of the cross of the Lord, and precisely thus: "Blessed is the wood through which righteousness comes" (Wis. 14:7).
And the prophet Isaiah also points to the threefold composition of the cross of Christ and its glorification: "The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress, the pine, and the box tree together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious. Also the sons of those who afflicted you shall come bowing to you, and all those who despised you shall fall prostrate at the soles of your feet; and they shall call you The City of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel" (Is. 60:13-14). The cross, indeed, according to tradition, was made of cypress, pine, and boxwood and became an ornament of the temple of God. A multitude of pagans accepted Christianity and thus bowed and bow to the cross of Christ—the glorified footstool of the Lord's feet.
What types of the cross of Christ do we find in Scripture?
There are very many types of the cross of Christ in Scripture. The main one is the following: The Lord delivered the firstborn of Israel from death by giving this command: "And they shall take some of the blood (of the Passover lamb) and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses... Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt" (Ex. 12:7, 13). Just as the doorposts and lintel, smeared with the blood of the Passover lamb, protected the Jews from destruction, so the cross of the Lord, stained with the blood of the spotless and pure Lamb—Christ—protects Christians from spiritual death and the attacks of the devil.
The cross with the Savior crucified on it was also prefigured by Moses' outstretched hands during the war of the Israelites with the Amalekites. "And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed... And his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people..." (Ex. 17:11-13). Exactly so, by the cruciform crucifixion of the Lord, or by the sign of this crucifixion, Christians strike the spiritual Amalek, our enemy—the devil and his hosts.
The cross of the Lord was prefigured by the bronze serpent set on a standard in the wilderness. Because of the murmuring of the Israelites, "the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died... Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, 'We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.' So Moses prayed for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.' So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived" (Num. 21:6-9). And the Savior indicated that the bronze serpent set on the standard prefigured Him. "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:14-15). And so, just as one bitten by a serpent in the wilderness was healed when he looked with faith on the bronze serpent on the standard, exactly so are freed from spiritual sickness and spiritual death those who are wounded by the devil and look with faith on the cross with the image of the crucified Savior on it.
How do Christians regard the cross of Christ?
Remembering the Lord's sufferings on the cross and His victory over the devil, Christians honor the very cross of Christ as the means of our salvation.
Is it not contrary to reason to honor the cross of Christ, which was the instrument of a shameful execution?
The cross was an instrument of shameful execution until the time when it became the means of our salvation. But when Christ suffered, as was predicted of Him (Acts 3:18), on the cross, died, rose again, and by this saved us, the rightly believing—then the cross became a victorious instrument, desirable for Christians. The devil wanted to destroy Christ and chose the cross as the instrument for this, but the Lord by His death conquered the devil, and thus the cross became for Christ a victorious instrument in His struggle with the tempter. Just as in war, if they defeat the enemy, they capture the enemy's weapons, and it is no longer terrible for the victors, but joyful, and the victors are proud of it, so also the terrible instrument of execution—the cross, after the Lord struck the devil with it, ceased to be terrible for Christians who conquer the devil, but becomes desirable and evokes joyful feelings in them. Therefore, the Apostle said that for the death on the cross, the Lord was exalted. He "humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him..." (Phil. 2:8-9).
Is it said in Scripture that the Lord, precisely by the cross, put the devil to shame?
The Apostle Paul writes to Christians from the Jews that the Lord, through death, "might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Heb. 2:14-15).
In another epistle, the Apostle writes that God "wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it" (Col. 2:14-15).
Therefore, the preaching of Christianity was a preaching about the Crucified One and about the Cross of Christ. "For I determined not to know anything among you," writes the Apostle Paul, "except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2).
How did unbelieving people from among the Jews and pagans relate to this apostolic preaching?
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Cor. 1:18). And elsewhere: "But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness" (1 Cor. 1:23).
How then should Christians relate to the preaching that seems so strange to unbelievers?
For Christians, the preaching about the Crucified One and about the cross of Christ should evoke joy: "the message of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Cor. 1:18). In another place, the Apostle Paul writes: "But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal. 6:14).
Do sectarians boast in the cross of Christ?
Sectarians hate the cross of Christ and call it a scaffold and a gallows.
Do sectarians act well if they relate thus to the cross of Christ?
No, they do not, because by this they become like the devil, who, after being put to shame by the cross (Col. 2:14-15), hated the cross of Christ. Just as a dog fears and runs from the stick with which it was punished, exactly so the devil hates, fears, and flees from the cross of Christ, by which the Lord put him to shame. And the sectarians, as seduced by the devil, as minions of satan, fear the holy cross of Christ, along with the demons.
What do the sectarians say in their justification if one points out to them their diabolical hatred of the Savior's cross?
Sectarians usually say that although they reject the visible cross of Christ, yet they love the spiritual cross of the Savior, namely, His sufferings.
Why do the sectarians justify themselves thus?
Because they perfectly understand that no one can verify this spiritual love of theirs; and by this lying justification of theirs, they deceive the trusting: if they loved the spiritual cross of Christ, then they would not reject the visible, material cross of Christ.
Do Orthodox Christians honor the spiritual cross of Christ, i.e., the sufferings of the Savior?
Orthodox Christians deeply honor the Lord's sufferings and draw from them strength to fight the devil, as Christ the Savior also fought him, not heeding any sufferings. By honoring the visible cross of the Lord, Christians thereby constantly remind themselves of the sufferings of the Savior and are comforted, fully convinced that no matter how much the devil torments them, their sufferings on this earth can never compare with the sufferings of Christ. If the Lord, being innocent, endured sufferings without complaint, much more must we endure sufferings without complaint, always being guilty before God.
Why do Christians honor the cross as a sacred object?
The cross of Christ is the sacred New Testament altar on which the Savior offered Himself as a sacrifice. In the Old Testament, the high priests and priests offered "sacrifices: first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself" (Heb. 7:27). It is clear to all that Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice on the cross for our sanctification. "By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Heb. 10:10). "Christ," says the Apostle Peter, "Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness" (1 Pet. 2:24). Thus, the cross of the Lord became the New Testament altar.
Why do we consider the New Testament altar—the cross of the Lord—a great sacred object?
The Old Testament altar, on which sacrifices were offered according to the law of Moses, was considered a "great holy place." The Lord commanded to anoint with holy chrism "the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils... And you shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy; whatever touches them must be holy" (Ex. 30:28-29; cf. Lev. 8). Blood taken from the Old Testament altar sanctified everything. "And you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar, and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments, on his sons and on the garments of his sons with him; and he and his garments shall be hallowed, and his sons and his sons' garments with him" (Ex. 29:21). If the Old Testament altar, on which animals were offered, was a "great holy place," and the blood from this altar sanctified everything, then is not the New Testament altar, stained with the most pure blood of the Savior Himself, to a much greater degree the greatest sacred object?!
Can a material sacred object sanctify?
Sectarians do not believe that a material sacred object can sanctify. But we have seen that the Old Testament sacred objects sanctified everything that touched them. The Lord Savior also acknowledged this, saying that the temple sanctifies the gold of the temple (Matt. 23:17), and that the altar sanctifies the gifts offered on it (Matt. 23:19).
Can the life-giving cross of Christ sanctify?
If everything brought to the Old Testament altar was sanctified, then to a much greater degree does the New Testament altar—the cross of Christ—have the power of sanctification.
Why is the cross of Christ called life-giving?
Because through its mediation, the Lord gave life (made alive), raised a dead man at the finding of the cross of the Lord by Queen Helena, and also through the mediation of the cross of Christ, many other miracles are performed.
Is it possible for miracles to be performed through the cross?
In the Old Testament, there were many miracles from the ark of the Lord (1 Sam. 5; 2 Sam. 6:6-7). Miracles were also performed by the bronze serpent, which Moses set on a standard: whoever of those bitten by serpents looked at the bronze serpent was healed (Num. 21:8-9). The bronze serpent on the standard prefigured Christ on the cross (John 3:14-15). If the bronze serpent on the standard healed from serpent bites, then much more will the cross of Christ heal from spiritual and bodily wounds.
What should be said to the sectarians when they point out that the pious king Hezekiah destroyed the bronze serpent on the standard (2 Kings 18:4), and that therefore the cross should also be destroyed?
Hezekiah destroyed the bronze serpent because the Jews began to deify it "and called it Nehushtan," i.e., "the bronze god." Christians, however, never call the cross of Christ a "wooden or any other god," but honor it as an object that reminds them of the sufferings of the Savior and sanctifies them with the grace of God.
Perhaps in the New Testament, miracles from material objects are impossible, as they were in the Old Testament?
In the New Testament, the Lord did not diminish, but increased His grace for believers. "Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them" (Acts 19:11-12). If miracles proceeded from the objects of the Apostle Paul, then much more can and do miracles occur from the cross of the Lord!
It is impossible that the first Christians threw away, as unnecessary things, the "handkerchiefs and aprons" of the Apostle Paul, through which miracles were wrought. Much less could and can Christians be indifferent and even malicious towards the cross of the Lord, sanctified by the Savior's blood.
On what basis do Christians worship the cross of Christ?
On the basis that people have always worshiped material sacred objects. They worshiped the temple and the ark of the covenant (Ps. 5:7; 138:2; Num. 20:6; Josh. 7:6; 2 Kings 18:22; Is. 36:7). If the great Old Testament righteous ones worshiped the temple and the ark of the covenant, then much more should one worship the cross of Christ.
Was the worship of the cross of Christ predicted in the Old Testament?
The prophet David exclaimed: "Let us go into His tabernacle; let us worship at His footstool" (Ps. 132:7). The footstool of the Savior's feet is the cross of the Lord. The patriarch Jacob prophetically honored the cross when "by faith... ," says the Apostle Paul, "he worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff" (Heb. 11:21). Jacob believed that the Lord would deliver people through the cross and prophetically worshiped the cross of Christ.
Sectarians often ask us Orthodox Christians why we have not only the original cross of Christ, but also many varied representations of the cross of the Lord. What to answer to this?
Answering the sectarians, we must ask them: why do they have many copies of the Gospels, and not only the originals written by the Apostles? Many books of the New Testament Holy Scripture are printed so that Christians may more conveniently learn the faith from them. Exactly so, many representations of the cross of the Lord are made so that, looking at them, Christians may always and everywhere easily recall the saving sufferings of Christ, guard themselves with the grace of God, and learn to suffer without complaint.
On what basis do we call all representations of the cross crosses of Christ?
On the basis that they depict the cross of Christ. If the sectarians say that the Savior's cross is only one, then they need to be shown that in Scripture, not only the actual cross of Christ is called His sign, but also the likeness of the cross. Before the second coming of the Lord, "then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matt. 24:30). Of course, not the material, not the actual cross of Christ will appear in heaven, but its likeness!
How do sectarians relate to this passage of Scripture?
They dislike this prophecy very much, because it is they who will have to weep when they see the sign of the cross of Christ, which they hate, in heaven.
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