The Cross as the Throne
Death Conquering through Death: Reflections on Passion Week Part 2
Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the Cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” John 19:19
When John describes that Lamb standing as if He had been slain in the midst of the throne, it is an apocalyptic image that speaks of a present reality. John is the same one who declares in his gospel that Jesus is the Lamb who will take away the sin of the world. John also illustrates Jesus on the Cross with a crown of thorns and the judgment written on the Cross “The King of the Jews.” Paul declares that if the princes of this world had known the power of Christ’s death, they would never have crucified him. Although the principalities and powers thought that Jesus was defeated and taken as spoil into the empty tomb, this very death spoiled them.
The mystery of His death was hidden. The truth was that by His death, He conquered death and sin. Death is no longer the victor but is now a door to life. The blood of the Lamb upon the doorposts of our hearts brings about an exodus where we pass from death into life.
The empty tomb became a womb through which new creation would be born. Therefore, it was through His death that Christ reigned over death. The Cross was not a place of defeat but was where the King of the Jews reigned with a crown of thorns. The Lamb is amid the throne because the Cross is the throne.
The throne is the mercy seat where, in the Old Testament, the blood of the sacrifice was placed on the Day of Atonement. It cleansed the sacred space, so God would appear in the cloud to sit upon the mercy seat and dwell among Israel. This seat was also called the throne. Paul declares that Jesus is the mercy seat.
It is from that same mercy seat that the blood still speaks. It is the language of the Son that the Father still speaks, and that language is a blood language. His voice brings a shaking, translation, and transcendence from the kingdom of darkness that is being shaken into the kingdom of His dear Son. His language is one of blood, and it is a language of fire that will purify us because our God is an all-consuming fire.
Do not refuse the voice that invites us to the wedding feast of the Lamb where His wife has made herself ready.
The throne of Jesus Christ is the Cross upon which he gave his life for the world, and those who wish to follow him must be prepared to sacrifice everything. The Teacher's message is clear: while the great of the earth build themselves 'thrones' for their own power, God chooses an uncomfortable throne, the Cross, from which he reigns, giving his life. Jesus says, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Pope John Francis