In the Shadow of the Cross

Being plunged into darkness. That is what is happening. We are being plunged into darkness. We don’t generally go into darkness easily. It is natural to want to be in the light. Darkness is for sleeping. Darkness is for secrecy and underhandedness. As we prepare for Holy Week, we choose to step into darkness. At the shadow of the cross we stand.

Theologically, the last days of Jesus life on this earth were full of secrecy, underhandedness and shadows. To willingly go to that place in our own hearts where we confront the darkness of our own lives is to confront that which Jesus came to die for. It is for our sinful selves that Jesus took his place on the cross. We remember his life and death as we mark our own sin and confess our need for Jesus. The Gospel of Mark tells us that “darkness came over the whole land” at the death of Jesus. We know that darkness. We know that place where our sin and his grace meet – in the shadow of the cross.