The Ransoming and Saving Cross

In their daily prayer, Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church believers recite, on the veneration of the holy cross, the following words: “እሰግድ ለመስቀለ እግዚእነ ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ዘተቀደሰ በደሙ ክቡር። መስቀል ኃይልነ፣ መስቀል ጽንዕነ፣ መስቀል ቤዛነ፣ መስቀል መድኃኒተ ነፍስነ። አይሁድ ክሕዱ ንሕነሰ አመነ ወእለ አመነ በኃይለ መስቀሉ ድኅነ” …

I prostrate to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ which is sanctified by His Holy Blood. The cross is our power; the cross is our strength; the cross is our ransom, (and) the cross is the salvation for our soul. The Jews denied, but we (Christians) believe, and we who believe are saved by the power of the cross.” (ተስፋ ገብረ ሥላሴ 1992፡5) 

The word “cross”, in the Amharic version which includes the 27 books*, is repeated for more than 28 times; more than 12 of those are mentioned in the Pauline epistles. This gives us very crucial clue that the teaching of the cross got emphasis not only on the liturgical life of the church but also in the Holy Scripture. When we regard the Pauline understanding of the cross, it is clear that he was proud to mention the importance of the cross for the salvation of the world for on it was the death of humanity crucified with Christ (1Cor1:17f, Eph2:16, Col1:19f). This made him boastfully say, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal 6:14).

As mentioned earlier, the cross has a remarkable place in the lives of Ethiopian Christians. In addition to using the holy cross and its sign in every spiritual performance or service, all believers, from the patriarch to the laity, hallow themselves making the sign of the cross with their hands when they wake up and sleep, when they start and finish their daily personal and communal activities. They display a sign of a cross on their body parts, especially on the forehead, the neck and the hands. They also adorn their traditional clothes and other properties with signs of the cross. Most of them also have jewelries designed in a shape of a cross, or at least contain a cross- shaped part. What is the reason behind?

The reason for their cross-related life could not be other than their belief on the power of the cross revealed to us from the very beginning. According to the tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, after the ascension of Christ, the cross on which our Lord Jesus was crucified performed impressive miracles. Then, the Jews jealously buried it and declared an order to all Israelites to put their house garbage on the site. Over a period of nearly 300 years, the place was turned into a man-made mountain. But the story of the cross did not stop with its burial, and led to its miraculous discovery by Queen Helena, the mother of the great emperor Constantine. (አባ ጎርጎርዮስ 1986፡120) 

It is the power of the cross and its miraculous discovery that makes believers regard the cross as their Ransom and Savior and utter in their prayers “the cross is our power, the cross is our strength, the cross is our ransom, and the cross is the savior of our soul.”

The prominent 15th century Ethiopian church scholar Aba Giorgis of Gascha, in his well known book of periodic prayer and hymn (ሰዓታት se‟atat), showed the magnificence of the holy cross saying:
ጸልዩ ቅድመ መስቀል ኵልክሙ መሃይምናን እንዘ ትእህዝዎ በየማን ወትክህድዎ ለሰይጣን እስመ ተቀደሰ በደመ ክርስቶስ መድኅን ለክብረ ዝንቱ መስቀል ክርስቶሳውያን ንስግድ በፍርሃት ወበረዓድ፣ ኪያሁ ፈጣሪ ህላዌ ወልድ፣ እስመ ቀደሶ በደሙ ወአኮ  በደመ ባዕድ… በበትረ ዝንቱ መስቀል ሐዋርያቲሁ ለዘሞተ እንዘ ይገብሩ መንክራተ ሰደዱ አጋንንተ ወሰበሩ ጣዖታተ በእንተ ዝንቱ አዘዙ መምህራነ ቅዱስ  ወንጌል አምሳለ ፈጣሪ ልዐል  ንስግድ ለመስቀል  ወለማርያም ድንግል። ለማርያምሰ ዘንሰግድ ላቲ እስመ ነሥአ ሥጋ እምሥጋሃ እግዚአብሔር ፈጣሪሃ ወረከብነ ንሕነ መድኃኒተ እምኔሃ፣ ወለመስቀልሂ ከመ ተናገርነ ቅድመ በላዕሌሁ አንጠብጠበ ደመ ቃል ኢሐማሚ  በባሕርየ  ሥጋ ወሐመ፣ ለእሉ ክልኤቱ ፍጡራን ስብሐተ ፈጣሪ ይደልዎሙ እስመ ተዓረዩ በክብሮሙ::

Pray in front of the cross, you all the believers, holding it with your right hand and denying Satan, for it (the cross) was hallowed by the blood of Christ the savior.

To venerate this cross, we all Christians shall prostrate in fear and wobbly, for He the creator (and) the existent Son consecrated it of His blood not of a blood of an alien. … Through the rod of this cross, the apostles of the One died (on the cross), doing miracles, casted out demons, and destroyed idols. Thus, for this reason, the messengers of the holy gospel ordered resembling creator the almighty, to prostrate to the cross and Mary the virgin. The reason why we bow to Mary is that God her creator assumed the flesh from her flesh and we gained salvation from her; and to the cross, as we stated before, the blood of the Word, non suffering but suffered in flesh, dropped over it. These two creatures (the cross and Mary), for they resemble in glory, are worthy of glory (veneration). (ገብረ ሥላሴ ብርሃኑ 2000፡533-536)

In the above traditionally significant composition of the church, the place of the holy cross in the heart of the believers is very wide. It is never missed in the hands of the bishops and priests, hanged up over the neck of the servants and the majority of the laity in different sizes, kissed by all, or totally loved and venerated throughout the orthodox Christendom.

The concept of salvation through ransom-ship is theologically understood as a giving of one’s life for others and saving them. In this regard, the only ransom and savior of Adam and his descendants is the one who said in His own words, “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep” (Jn10:13) and “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (Jn15:12). The Caiaphas also witnessed as a prophecy that “one man should die for the people” (Jn18:14). This was considered by different fathers of the church as a prophecy of the anti- prophecy priest.

But in the mind of the Ethiopian church scholars, the labor of ransom-ship then salvation is also endowed to the holy cross. In addition to the eternal salvation, the miraculous healing of the flesh is also considered as salvation. This, however, is more scriptural. When Daniel the prophet says “My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me” (Dan 6:22), he is not talking other than his flesh saved from the teeth of the hungry lions.

Ethiopian Orthodox Christians venerate the holy cross because it saves them in their every day temptations. When they show the sign of a cross, with their hands or with a wood-cross or metal- cross, they create demons-free environment and be saved of evil. Hence they call the cross ‘a ransom and a savior’.

The other reason, which has to get theological focus, is that the cross is seen as a symbol of Christ. When Christ died on the cross, He made a sign of a cross and hallowed the whole world, east to west and north to south with no discrimination, stretching His hands right to left and His whole body head to toe. Conceptually, thus, when we talk or write about the ransoming and the saving cross, we are talking or writing about the crucified Christ. That is why we mention the cross when we say ‘the crucified Jesus is our savior’. 
Among Ethiopian church fathers, St. Yared laid the theological foundation for the significance of the holy cross both as a savior and a symbol of a savior. This 6th century hymnologist and writer of the church gave a very great honor to the holy cross and venerated it. The church honors and venerates with him, being equipped with his hymn and sung on the third Sunday of the Ethiopian year, saying, “በመስቀሉ አርኃወ ገነተ በመስቀሉ ገብረ መድኃኒተ ሰደደ አጋንንተ እመስቀሉ ወሪዶ ቤዘወነ ወሠርዓ ሰንበተ ለዕረፍት” Through His cross, [He] opened the Paradise; through His cross, [He] made salvation [and  He]  chased  away  the  demons;  descended  from  His  Cross,  He  redeemed us,  and established the Sabbath  for  us to rest on it”  (Duggua  Ze-yohannes 1987),  መጽሐፈ ዚቅ ወመዝሙር —pp. 5)

He also made a very important connection between Christ and the cross in the following Sunday’s hymn of the cross bestowing the ransom-ship and saving work to the holy cross: “ንሕነ ነአምን ረድኤተ ወኃይለ ዝንቱ ውእቱ መስቀል ፅንዕነ ቤዛነ በማዕከለ ፀር ዝንቱ ውእቱ መስቀል ኃይልነ ወጸወንነ ወሞገስነ ዝንቱ ውእቱ መስቀል”  We believe the aid and power [to be made through the Cross]; this is the Cross, our strength in the midst of enemy; this is the Cross, our power and cage and our grace; this is the Cross” (Duggua Ze-yohans (1987)፣ መጽሐፈ  ዚቅ  ወመዝሙር፣ —pp. 4).
 
The renowned 5th century teacher, St. John Chrysostom, agrees with the Ethiopian singer in his words “the Cross is a great good, the armor of salvation, a shield which cannot be beaten down, a weapon to oppose the devil” (St. John Chrysostom (Schaff Philip (1819-1893) (Editor)), On the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Philippians (NPNF1-13) Homily XIII, Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, pp381). Its goodness here is not of only the past, but of the future too; being a shield to defend and a weapon to attack the enemy of salvation, and made salvation true.

These all made the Ethiopian Orthodox church celebrate the feast of the finding of the true cross with great pride. She uses the cross to bless her children and the holy instruments, she applies the cross to defend her enemies, she equips her children with the holy cross, the sign of victory, that they defeat the earthly life and enjoy the heavenly one. As an armor  of  victory  and  saddle  of  the  eternal  kingdom,  the church needs to use the cross to triumph over death and evil as Christ her head used the ransoming and saving cross to nail and blot out the handwriting of ordinance against us (Col2:14). 

I hope we will conquer all our weaknesses and be strong that we inherit the heavenly kingdom with the help of the victorious cross. I glorify the three with the concluding manifestation of my fathers and I urge all to do the same: “ስብሐት ለእግዚአብሔር ኪያነ ዘፈጠረ ከመ ናምልኮ፣ ስብሐት ለማርያም እመ አምላክ እግዝእትነ ወመድኃኒትነ፣ ስብሐት ለመስቀለ ክርስቶስ እፀ መድኃኒት ኃይልነ ወጸወንነ።” Glory be to God, Who created us that we worship Him; glory be to Mary, the mother of God our Lady and our savior, glory be to the cross of [our Lord Jesus] Christ, the tree of life, our strength and embracement”; Amen.
Footnote 
* In the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church tradition and canon, the New Testament comprises 35 books including 8 books of orders (Tensae Publishing House (1996), The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Faith, Order of Worship and Ecumenical Relations, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, p45-47. 

Sources:  

• Holy Bible, King James Version .
• St. John Chrysostom (Schaff Philip (1819-1893) (Editor)),  On  the  Epistle  of  St.  Paul  the  Apostle to  the Philippians (NPNF1-13) Homily XIII, Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal LibraryTensae Publishing House (1996).
• The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Faith, Order of Worship and Ecumenical Relations, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia www.facebook.com (for the images).
• መጽሐፍ ቅደስ፣ የብሉይና የአዱስ ኪዲን መጻሕፍት፣ 1962 ዓ/ም፡፡
• ተስፋ ገብረ ሥላሴ (1992)፣ ጸሎት ዘዘወትር፣ ውዲሴ ማርያም፣ አንቀጸ ብርሃን ምስለ ይዌድስዋ መላእክት፣ ተስፋ ማተሚያ ቤት አባ ጎርጎርዮስ (1986)፣ የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተክርስቲያን ታሪክ ሁለተኛ እትም፣ አዱስ አበባ፡፡
• ገብረ ሥላሴ ብርሃኑ (2000)፣ መጽሐፈ ሰዓታት ከነምልክቱ ምስለ ኵሉ ጸዋትዊሁ ወባሕረ ሐሳብ፣ አዱስ አበባ፣ ኢትዮጵያ ትንሣኤ አሣታሚ ድርጅት(1987)፣ መጽሐፈ ዚቅ ወመዝሙር፣ አዱስ አበባ፡፡