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CyrilSebastian
Guest
A local Christian inquired: Why is the body of Christ still on the Cross which hangs in the sanctuary of a Roman Catholic church?
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bardegaulois
Guest
“For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord, until he come.” In the place where we do that, to bolster that this is what we are doing to our minds and souls, we thus display the Cross with the dead or dying body of Our Lord upon it.
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dmftx
Guest
This is why we wear crucifixes. I think we all agree that His suffering and death gave us hope and trust in salvation. I don’t understand why other faiths prefer to use an empty cross. No ill will intended.
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Michael_Mayo
Guest
His suffering then gives meaning to our suffering today.
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JerryZ
Guest
Ask yourself, why so many “Christian” denominations have fallen for the obvious lie from the accuser of old, the so called “Prosperity Gospel”.
Did Jesus not say THIS to HIS Disciples? Matthew 10:38 And whoever does not take up his cross, and follow me is not worthy of me.
By keeping a remainder of what Jesus promised us. If we endure HE will make us worthy IF we pick up our cross. This is what Jesus corpse on the cross represents to us, and we rejoice that HE is indeed alive. So alive in fact that HE stays in our churches sacred Tabernacles waiting for us to open up to HIM.
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Did Jesus not say THIS to HIS Disciples? Matthew 10:38 And whoever does not take up his cross, and follow me is not worthy of me.
By keeping a remainder of what Jesus promised us. If we endure HE will make us worthy IF we pick up our cross. This is what Jesus corpse on the cross represents to us, and we rejoice that HE is indeed alive. So alive in fact that HE stays in our churches sacred Tabernacles waiting for us to open up to HIM.
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KEP1983
Guest
I never understood this objection, even as a Protestant. Under no other work of art that portrays a past event do we claim that the depiction implies that the event is still occurring. Yet protestants insist that a sculpture of christ on the cross means that we believe christ is still on the cross… even though we obviously believe that He’s both resurrected and in a glorified body.
Very strange.
Why aren’t these protestants logically consistent? Do paintings of the civil war imply that the civil war is still occurring? Does the film Passion of the Christ imply that all the events in the movie are occurring right now? Does the Abraham Lincoln memorial in DC mean that Lincoln is still alive, sitting on his seat of power, ruling the USA?
I mean, we don’t apply this logic to any other work of art, anywhere. It seems to be very very strange logic to me.
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exnihilo
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I assume this is Protestant who may object to Christ still being on the cross. If so I would say that it wasn’t the cross that saved us but Christ’s willing sacrifice on the cross. The crucifix is a fuller symbol of Christ’s sacrifice.
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boomerang
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The Christ who sits in glory at the right hand of the Father is not the Christ that saves us. The Christ who suffered and died on the cross is the Christ that saves us. To use a plain cross is to forget His suffering, and hence, forget what saves us.
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Kurisu35712
Guest
I can understand the thinking behind the first part of this post, but it’s pertinent to remember that Christ’s sacrifice was for all of our sins for all time. His willing and innocent sacrifice was more than sufficient in God’s eyes to outweigh any possible offense we can ever commit. Not just individually, but even as a species.
Jesus died specifically to save each of us, and to bring each one of us, individually, to Heaven and eternal life with Him. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, but He’s surely unwilling to rest until every one of us is brought into eternal life.
A plain cross, while certainly a potent symbol, doesn’t carry the same depth for me as a full Crucifix. It’s an easier visual reminder of exactly what lengths Jesus has gone and would still go in order to save each one of us. I’ve read a quote before that applies. littlestsouls’s blog has it and quite a few more.
“I would gladly die for the sake of humanity all over again, if it were possible.” – Jesus to St. Bridget (Book 1, Ch 30) source
All that said, I’ve been to at least one Catholic church where, instead of the traditional crucifix, at the front of the church was a cross and Jesus was depicted resurrected beside it, which was interesting, and something I hadn’t seen before. Also, in Italy (and probably other countries in Europe), the church in the town I was staying in, during Easter, removed the statue of Jesus from the cross behind the altar and placed a beautiful statue of resurrected Jesus. There was actually a ceremony during the Easter vigil mass involving fireworks and a bunch of volunteers running the statue from the back of the church to the altar at the stroke of midnight.
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JerryZ
Guest
Because it is extremely important we have to keep Jesus on the Cross. Read the words of St. Paul just how important this is to our faith.
It is the unbroken tradition of both the East and West Churches. The East with their beautiful Icons and the Western with their Statues. They both depict the same. Jesus on the Cross TEACHES us.
What would be the meaning of an empty Cross be?
What can it teach? To a non believer it is just a piece of wood in a strange shape.
Remember art has to have meaning for it to be able to teach us anything.
By seeing HIM there, it should be a reminder us, that it is our sins of TODAY that HE suffered for. Do we really want to pile on HIM more?
Until we come to this realization we will not have experienced a true conversion.
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BartholomewB
Guest
Do Protestants who display an empty cross in their church believe that the cross of Jesus is still standing empty on Golgotha?
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Dorothy
Guest
I know that He is Risen! The large crucifix in the church, and the one around my neck reminds me of His sufferings for me.
It also reminds me that when I have sufferings of various kinds, that I cannot change, I can offer them up in union with Jesus on the cross to the Father.
It also reminds me that when I have sufferings of various kinds, that I cannot change, I can offer them up in union with Jesus on the cross to the Father.
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clem456
Guest
We don’t believe Christ is still on the cross because we portray the crucifixion, any more than I believe my wife is still standing on the altar wearing a wedding dress because we have our wedding picture on the mantle.
The crucifix is a good reminder, because there is no resurrection without the cross. There is no redemption without the cross.
The crucifix is a good reminder, because there is no resurrection without the cross. There is no redemption without the cross.
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andrewstx
Guest
Not I. I am wearing a replica of the Holy Father’s Good Shephard cross.
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clem456
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The cross is simply unavoidable for a Christian. It is not the end, but the greatest challenge in any person’s life is to accept the cross. Christ has paid the price once and for all, but his redemption demands an unavoidable response on our part: to embrace his way, not ours. His way is the only way, and it goes through the cross. Christ asks us to die to our old selves in order to rise with him.
I think it is disingenuous for our Churches to shun the reminder of the only way to salvation.
I think it is disingenuous for our Churches to shun the reminder of the only way to salvation.
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TARRAT
Guest
Christ’s dying on the cross is what redeemed us. His resurrection shows us what is to come.
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pablope
Guest
From the Bible Christian Society:
I had a friend ask me why Catholics have Crucifixes in our churches…don’t we believe Jesus has risen? Why do we keep Him on the cross?
biblechristiansociety.com/apologetics/two_minute#5
First of all, you would want to check out 1st Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 23. Paul says, “…but we preach Christ crucified…” Why does Paul preach Christ crucified? Doesn’t he know Jesus has been raised from the dead? Of course he does! But, he knows that it is through the power of the crucified Christ on the cross that the bonds of sin and death are broken. As Paul says in verse 24, Christ crucified is the “power of God”.
1 Cor 2:2, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Again, didn’t Paul know that Jesus had risen from the dead? Of course, he did.
Paul preaches Christ crucified because an empty cross has no power. The cross that bears the beaten, battered, and bloodied body of Jesus Christ, however, that cross is the “power of God”. This is why, we “keep Jesus on the cross,” because we, too, preach Christ crucified. The Crucifix reminds us not only of God’s power, but also His love for us - giving His only begotten Son up for suffering and death.
Also, here in this life we do not share so much in the glory of the Resurrection, as we do in the suffering of Jesus on the cross; after all, we must take up our cross daily if we are to follow Jesus, as it says in Lk 9:23.
And, we must die with Christ in order to live with Him as Romans 6:8 tells us. Where did Christ die? On the cross. The Crucifix serves to remind us of these things.
One other passage to keep in mind is Galatians 3:1, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?” Did you catch that? Jesus was publicly portrayed, before their “eyes”, as being crucified. Sounds kind of like they may have been looking at a Crucifix, doesn’t it?
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clem456
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Excellent.
This is what the Christian life asks us to embrace. The death of selfishness greed lust sloth pride etc…aka sin. There is no other way. The statues of the risen Christ do remind us that the cross has a point, so it is good to keep our final destiny in mind. But most of us are not there or even close.
The cross is not the end in itself, but for me, just embracing the cross is very difficult. The cross reminds me of the radical love that is needed for me to be:
child of God
good husband
good Christian servant to the community
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Faithful_Seeker
Guest
Pablope, Thank you for the beautiful explanation, I agree wholeheartedly! 
For me personally, the Crucifix has a profound meaning, it is my personal connection to Jesus Christ. When I step into the Church, or see a Crucifix anywhere, I cannot help being reminded of just how much I’m loved and the price that was paid for me to know that.
Any sin I may have committed, no matter how small or perhaps not something I did but something I did not do or say takes on a truer depth of the gravity and seriousness of the offense when I contemplate Christ on the Cross and his suffering for me. For us.
In fact, at the very beginning of my conversion to Catholicism, reading, seeing images of the stations of the cross, contemplating the sufferings of Jesus, enabled me for the first time to have an almost indescribable very profound realization of the true depth of all my sins,a depth of understanding I’d never experienced before seriously considering His sufferings and enabled me to ask for forgiveness with true sorrow. I KNOW I was forgiven absolutely, I actually had what some protestants may call a ‘born again’ experience.
Thank God the priest had given me a book on Christ and some pamphlets!
The very first time I walked into a Catholic Church, I felt the very presence of God. And I still do each and every time I enter our Church. I thank God for RCIA and the wonderful people connected to it.
His suffering on the Cross and the presence of the Crucifix, the forgiveness and love that are possible through Christ is what brought me to my Christian Home. I’m so grateful for the Crucifix.
For me personally, the Crucifix has a profound meaning, it is my personal connection to Jesus Christ. When I step into the Church, or see a Crucifix anywhere, I cannot help being reminded of just how much I’m loved and the price that was paid for me to know that.
Any sin I may have committed, no matter how small or perhaps not something I did but something I did not do or say takes on a truer depth of the gravity and seriousness of the offense when I contemplate Christ on the Cross and his suffering for me. For us.
In fact, at the very beginning of my conversion to Catholicism, reading, seeing images of the stations of the cross, contemplating the sufferings of Jesus, enabled me for the first time to have an almost indescribable very profound realization of the true depth of all my sins,a depth of understanding I’d never experienced before seriously considering His sufferings and enabled me to ask for forgiveness with true sorrow. I KNOW I was forgiven absolutely, I actually had what some protestants may call a ‘born again’ experience.
Thank God the priest had given me a book on Christ and some pamphlets!
The very first time I walked into a Catholic Church, I felt the very presence of God. And I still do each and every time I enter our Church. I thank God for RCIA and the wonderful people connected to it.
His suffering on the Cross and the presence of the Crucifix, the forgiveness and love that are possible through Christ is what brought me to my Christian Home. I’m so grateful for the Crucifix.
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pablope
Guest
You should thank the author of the article, John Martinogni, an apologist on EWTN.Pablope, Thank you for the beautiful explanation, I agree wholeheartedly!
For me personally, the Crucifix has a profound meaning, it is my personal connection to Jesus Christ. When I step into the Church, or see a Crucifix anywhere, I cannot help being reminded of just how much I’m loved and the price that was paid for me to know that.
Any sin I may have committed, no matter how small or perhaps not something I did but something I did not do or say takes on a truer depth of the gravity and seriousness of the offense when I contemplate Christ on the Cross and his suffering for me. For us.
In fact, at the very beginning of my conversion to Catholicism, reading, seeing images of the stations of the cross, contemplating the sufferings of Jesus, enabled me for the first time to have an almost indescribable very profound realization of the true depth of all my sins,a depth of understanding I’d never experienced before seriously considering His sufferings and enabled me to ask for forgiveness with true sorrow. I KNOW I was forgiven absolutely, I actually had what some protestants may call a ‘born again’ experience.
Thank God the priest had given me a book on Christ and some pamphlets!
The very first time I walked into a Catholic Church, I felt the very presence of God. And I still do each and every time I enter our Church. I thank God for RCIA and the wonderful people connected to it.
His suffering on the Cross and the presence of the Crucifix, the forgiveness and love that are possible through Christ is what brought me to my Christian Home. I’m so grateful for the Crucifix.
I have kept that verse with me whenever a protestant asks me why we have Christ still on the cross.
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