The Empty Cross

๐™๐™š๐™–๐™™

๐˜•๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ข ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜‘๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฉ, ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜‘๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ˆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข. ๐˜๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ข ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ญ, ๐˜ข ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ; ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜Ž๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ. ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜—๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜‘๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ด. ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฃ ๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ. ๐˜๐˜ต ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜—๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜š๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ. ๐—Ÿ๐—จ๐—ž๐—˜ ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฏ:๐Ÿฑ๐Ÿฌโ€“๐Ÿฑ๐Ÿฐ


Read also ๐— ๐—”๐—ง๐—ง๐—›๐—˜๐—ช ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿณ:๐Ÿฑ๐Ÿณโ€“๐Ÿฑ๐Ÿต; ๐— ๐—”๐—ฅ๐—ž ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฑ:๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฎโ€“๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿณ; ๐—๐—ข๐—›๐—ก ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿต:๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿด.


๐™๐™š๐™›๐™ก๐™š๐™˜๐™ฉ

The cross is the primary symbol of Christianity. Jesusโ€™ death on the cross has forever changed what it originally meant. While it used to only signify torture, suffering, pain, and humiliation, it now carries a message of hope and victory. The true message of the gospel lies in the truth that Jesus was not only crucified on the cross; He was also taken down, buried, and resurrected.ย 


The cross of Christ is empty. This means that Jesus really took our place and died the death we should have died. He did not pretend to be dead and then silently came down. He did not escape in the dead of the night and hid so that He could leave His disciples with the message that He is just โ€œsomehowโ€ dead. People knew and saw that His body was taken down, prepared, and buried. His death signified that He really did what He said He would doโ€”He really died and suffered for all our sins.ย 


The empty cross is also proof that Christโ€™s sacrifice is sufficient and complete. He did not stay on the cross or have to go back to it. His work is done. It is finished! Unlike others who died on the cross, His death was not hopeless or a dead end. Because He truly died but did not remain dead, His cross is a symbol of hope and victory. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐—–๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—›๐—ถ๐—บ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—–๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜†, ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐˜๐˜† ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜€.ย 


This Black Saturday is usually a picture of grief and despair based on the idea that Jesus is dead. But Christโ€™s death was a preparation for the ultimate victory. At the dawn of Christโ€™s resurrection day, He provided the ultimate blow against death and He conquered its sting. Today, we can rejoice and celebrate that the cross stands empty.


โ€œThe Old Rugged Crossโ€ by George Bennard

๐˜๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ด, ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ

๐˜ˆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ

๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ โ€˜๐˜ต๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜‘๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ง๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ

๐˜›๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜บ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ


๐˜š๐˜ฐ ๐˜โ€™๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ด

๐˜›๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฏ

๐˜ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ด

๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฏ


๐™๐™š๐™จ๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™™

โ€ข Knowing that the message of the empty cross is that Jesusโ€™ death is real, what are the struggles and issues in our life that we need to put to death together with Christ?ย 

โ€ข As we reflect on the empty cross, are there times that we feel that our faith is empty and hopeless? Why?ย 

โ€ข What are the areas in your past that still bring shame and guilt? How can you live a life of confidence in Jesusโ€™ death and sacrifice at the cross?


๐™‹๐™ง๐™–๐™ฎ๐™š๐™ง

Lord, today, remind me and help me understand Your death on the cross. Remind me of how true and complete Your death is so that I can live confidently in You. Thank You because the old has passed away and I am no longer who I used to be. Make me understand that because of the empty cross, Your sacrifice is complete. I no longer need to trust myself and instead live a life of complete trust in You. Amen.ย