The Glory of the Cross

D. Joshua

Samuel M. Zwemer was a University graduate with a burning passion for the perishing souls.  He was driven to the Muslim world inspired by the prayers under the “Haystack” along with his like minded brothers in the 19th Century.  As the Cross was a stumbling to the Jews and the Muslims, he focused on the glory of the cross.  His meditations on the cross are memorable and worth mentioning.

“When the Portuguese traders, following the trail of the great explorer, Vasco da Gama, settled on the South Coast of China, they built a massive Cathedral on a hill crest over looking the harbour.  But a violent typhoon proved too severe and three centuries ago the great building fell – all except the front wall.  The ponderous facade has stood as an enduring monument, while high on its triangular top, clear cut against sky and defying rain, lighting and typhoon, is a great bronze cross.  The builders of that ancient cathedral are forgotten but the cross they reared in memory of the “crucified remains.” 

Crucifixion occupies a major portion of the New Testament.   It is mentioned in every book except in three short epistles, Philemon and the Second and third of John.  In the book of Acts all the preaching centres in the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  This is the Good News!

The Cross of Christ is the Centre of the Universe and history.  It is man’s only glory or it is his final stumbling block. 

“In the cross of Christ I glory,
Towering o’er the wrecks of time,
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime. – Sir John Bowring