Barefoot Before the Cross

Today is quite a meaningful day in the Church Year, though, unfortunately, I fear the weight of it will pass most of us ignorant evangelicals by. It is a feast day in the liturgical calendar, and considered to be one of the greatest. Today is known as "The Feast of The Exaltation of the Holy Cross." It is a day of both solemn and joyous remembrance of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, exemplified by the symbol of the cross of crucifixion.

The following is copied from the Monastery of Christ in the Desert's website:

This feast, known as "The Triumph of the Holy Cross" or "the Exaltation of the Holy Cross" originated in the Western Church about the year 629. According to tradition, it was on this date that the Emperor Heraclius recovered the relics of the cross of Christ from the Persians who had taken them off in 614.

The story is told of the emperor carrying the Cross in procession, but when he reached the Holy Places in Jerusalem, he was unable to proceed further. The Patriarch Zachary, who was by his side, suggested that his imperial finery was not in agreement with the humbleness of Christ when he bore this cross to Calvary. The emperor is said to have changed to simple clothing, and going barefoot continued in procession and placed the Cross where it had been originally. The clergy and people venerated this cross and many miracles of healing were said to have occurred at that time...

This feast ... calls to us to participate in [Christ's] resurrection through the acceptance of the crosses of daily life.

It is a humbling image, that of Heraclius' lessening himself, striving to place himself on the same level of the obedient Lord. It is certainly something to remember, this humility of Jesus, and his "obedience to death, even death on a cross." I work only blocks away from several churches that seem to exalt themselves and their image higher than they even exalt God. The names of their ministries are fixed in sleek logo signs to their towering buildings, or flashed in catchy electronic images across their digital marquees. But rarely is there the image of a cross, or a holding out of Jesus, who is our perfect picture of humility first, exaltation second.

May you and I glory in the cross today, and its exaltation, which is such a strange thing to ascribe to an instrument of death. Even if you hesitate to believe in Jesus as a Savior, take joy nonetheless in the story of a humble man who became exalted, which goes against everything this world (and many of its churches) stands for. Quite a remarkable wonder indeed.