The Holy Cross According to the Teachings of Ethiopian Scholars

which cannot be seen in flesh but can be contemplated, and those Christians who received persecution as bearer of the Cross having faith of the only Son of God Jesus Christ. 

Literally, the Cross is a means for the proclamation of everlasting peace, the throne of love, a sign of peace, and our pride to resist the evil one. 

Based on these, indigenous Ethiopian scholars taught and wrote about the glory of the Holy Cross. St. Yared and the golden age figure Abba Giorgis of Gasicha are among the Ethiopian scholars who witnessed the glory of the Holy Cross. Hence, it is better to present their thought in the following subtitles for Christians when we celebrate the finding of the True Cross.

The Holy Cross is the power and wisdom of God that made devil to be ashamed and flee

“If Satan knew his defeat by the Cross of the Son, he wouldn’t urge Jews to crucify and kill Christ the Nazareth, who is the redeemer.” Satan was defeated by the Cross he implanted with mischief and felt ashamed by his own false advice to the Jews.

“He made a pit and dug it and is fallen in to the ditch which he made” (Ps7; 15) 
St Yared relate his hymn with this psalm of David and amplified the value of the cross for us to be purified from the evil mind and a means to have the sprinkling precious blood of Christ on the Cross which pushed Satan out from believers’ heart. (ICor1; 18) Zemare (a hymn of St.yared.p136) 

In relation to this, when he explained about what was hidden to us before the ages “How amazing is his deed about the Cross-which ashamed Satan, destroyed the consequence of sin on Soul and flesh, avoided corruption of the human body. The power and wisdom of the Cross is amazing and wonderful. “(I Cor 2:7 Haymanote Abew Ze Kidus Athnatewos, The book of Ziq and Mezmur: p.21)

The Cross is the accomplishment of love by which Satan tied up, the love of God for us is revealed. Condemning Satan, we believed in Christ and saved by his Cross. We have seen the love of God for us by means of the Cross.

“By the power of the Cross Satan was arrested. Today the Cross is glorified, the world is saved, God is praised, and man achieved freedom” (Degua-ze Meskel).

The Cross is an altar on which the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, is crucified (Jn. 1:29), a means of joy for those who were saddened, as sung by St. Yared. 

“He was crucified on the Cross by His own will like a meek lamb he followed the slaughterers to be slaughtered. By this the world became bleached, the sad for 5500 years rejoiced, first person Adam who became poor by losing his grace is saved from his poverty.”

By this he meant that the Cross is the way, God revealed His love for us on it, a means that changed the word in our Sinner ears “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness is as filthy rages…” (Isa.64:6/, and enabled us to hear the voice of mercy, accomplishment of love and unchangeable testament. St. Yared praised the Holy Cross in the above hymns that beautified Ethiopia and prospers the human bones. /Rev 13:18, Degua-Zemesekal/ Really the altar of our salivation, the Cross is a shield of body and soul, a real rest for broken heart, and a state of conciliation for disturbed minds, /Zemare: p.82/

The Cross is a charter of reconciliation in which we heard the merciful voice of God and a means of our restoration from migration. “While He was on the Cross, the Son of God, Christ cried to His Father and said “forgive your hand’s work, do not destroy your own creature, do not leave the creature of your right hand as wandering or disappearing.”

“Adam disobeyed the law and ate the fruit of the tree. But, O Father look at the Cross on which they crucified me as a sinner”  Saying this on behalf of Christ, St. Yared tells us that the Cross destroyed our transgression, and brought complete peace to our conscious. The Cross is a means to attain the mercy of God when we sinned against God. /Heb. 9:29/ and a means of restoration from our miserable life. /Gen. 3:22, Zemare Ze-Fasika: p.86, Luke 23:34/

The Holy Cross is an altar on which Christ, the arch priest of the Father, presented Himself as a chosen sacrifice to restore our original state, and to reconcile us with His Father, the Holy Spirit and with Himself. It is a permanent charter or reconciliation according to St. Yared’s hymn in the fifth part of Zemare called Mestir, which is specifically dedicated to the mystery of the Eucharist. (p.163)

Of course, being a man of sorrows, surely He has borne our grief and carried our sorrows, and crucified in order to free us from the bondage of sin. /Gen. 3:6, Isa 53:3, Saint Yared/

As it is written in the book called “Metshafe Kidan”, “our reliance is on the cross to praise it.” Because of the first Adam everybody was dead, but, by the Cross of  the second Adam all became alive. “We are ransomed by the blood of the Cross and sin will not rule on our body again.” /Rom. 6:8, Icor.15:2/  We are also heard that He opened the paradise by His Cross. (Saint Yared)

After St. Yared, who always remembers the cross in his entire life saying, “how sweet are the words of the cross to my throat” Abba Giorgis of Gasicha, the great scholar of the 14th century, explains the theology of the Cross in a very deep mystery as the following.

The Cross is a vessel which contains the bread of life, and in it the Christ’s mystery of salvation is fulfilled.” The Lamb of God was slaughtered on the Cross by the hands of the crucifiers and a dining table of blessing is prepared for the believers.”

“Truly, pure sacrifice is Jesus of Nazareth, the son of holy calf.” By saying this elaborated the role of the Holy Cross in our salvation in his detail and deep taught. /Eph.1:7, Metshafe Mestir p.140, Monday’s Arganon/ The one who eats from this meal of blessing will not be hungry again and will have an everlasting life. For this purpose, Christ Himself was the lamb for the sacrifice, the priest who presented the sacrifice and the Cross was an altar. With these circumstances our salvation is accomplished and He proclaimed His love by mercy./Jn.6:51/

The one who has no any blame, our paschal lamb, Christ was slaughtered on the Cross, Because, of this, the meal of life is prepared for believers./1Cor.5:7/ And again, Abba Giorgis, who is called the pillar of religion, when he explained about the perfect salvation acquired by the Cross, said, “the Cross, which is the redeemer of all humanity, deserves salutation”  By saying this, praise with contemplation, he translated Christ’s mystery of salvation by interrelating with the word of the Apostle. /2Cor.5:19, Teameho Egzi’e Zezeweter/

The Cross is the Foundation of Faith and the pillar of Religion
“Your Cross is the foundation of faith and a pillar of religion for those who believe and relay on you. Having said this he witnessed that the Cross is a pillar which cannot be shaken by demons, a means to mortify those who stood on us, and a sign which is given to skip from the face of the arrow.” Ps 59:4, Wedasie Meskel (Prasise of the Cross) by Abba Giorgis/  In addition, when he explained the glory of the Cross, he said: “Christ is the light which daily shines on His saints and His Cross is the stand of the light in the church. And the blood of Christ for the redemption of the world is shaded upon it.”

In general, though it is difficult to summarize the theology of the cross in this short article, as mentioned in the introduction, the Cross transmits a message of reconciliation and agreement, a means for the salvation of Adam, who was given for destruction, a tree of life which restored Adam to his original state. A tree for the remission of sin, a source of life, foundation of our salvation, above all things the prophecy of prophets, Apostle’s sermon, paradise of the saint’s joy, rest for sinners, and retreat for Satan. Having the inspiration of the Holy Spirit both these indigenous scholars taught the theology of the Cross as mentioned above./2pet, 1:21,Zemare P.155/

The church, who follows the footsteps of the apostles, on the bases of the patristic taught, witnesses saying “we received grace and we have gained life by the power of the Cross of Jesus Christ. Because of this witness, members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, who washed their clothe by the blood of the lamb, have special place in their heart for the love of the Cross./ Rev.17;14/ They say, “Our hope in the heaven and on Earth is this Cross.” With this song of victory, they have celebrated the anniversary of the True Cross for centuries and it will be continued without having lost its special place of honor until the end of the world. 

  Praise be to the Cross of Christ, the tree of medicine, which is our power and strength!

Source: Taken from “Bulletin” prepared by Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Publication Committee for 2008/2016 anniversary of the True Cross.