Cleansing the Unclean: God's Infinite Presence Through the Cross

St. Paul teaches us that "we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews…" (1 Corinthians 1:23). Crucifixion presents an obstacle because the Law states, "anyone hung on a tree is under God's curse" (Deuteronomy 21:23).

The anticipated Messiah was supposed to liberate people from Roman rule rather than become cursed himself. Jesus of Nazareth defied these expectations. He was a humble savior who transformed hearts instead of overthrowing occupiers. However, the entombment itself also served as another obstacle to our redemption.

Torah's Background: Barriers and Categories

Following humanity's disobedience, the world fractured into divisions. The once-unified creation became separated. Eve's choice to pursue material gain and self-interest rather than remain focused on God initiated this fragmentation. When Adam and Eve subsequently became self-conscious about their nakedness, they had abandoned their original state of communion with the divine.

Humanity lost the capacity to perceive God directly, having forfeited its former innocence. Since then, existence has operated through opposing categories: righteous versus wicked, material versus transcendent.

The Mosaic Law represented God's response to this limited, fragmented perception. It categorized foods, locations, and people as ritually pure or impure — separating Jewish from Gentile communities. Although the Jewish tradition held that creation itself manifested God's presence, their observance of Torah laws reinforced barriers between clean and unclean, insider and outsider.

The Law prohibited constructing altars from "hewn stones" (Exodus 20:25), since such carved materials resembled idolatrous pagan structures.

Jesus Cleansing the Unclean

Following Jesus's crucifixion, "Joseph [of Arimathea] bought a linen cloth and, taking down the body, wrapped it in the linen cloth and laid it in a tomb that had been hewn out of rock" (Mark 15:46).

Jesus transitions from the wooden Cross — viewed as accursed — into a stone-hewn burial chamber resembling a pagan sacrificial altar that no Jewish priest would have constructed.

From a legal standpoint, Jesus descends from one category of defilement into an even deeper state. Yet from a Christian understanding, Jesus embraces all our impurity — the sins we offered to darkness — to restore us.

Christ rose and lifted us alongside himself. He did not accomplish this remotely. Rather, Christ elevated us by meeting us in our spiritual degradation, thereby drawing us upward toward his immeasurable sanctity. Christ continues raising us daily without hesitation or disgrace. Let us reciprocate his devotion by boldly declaring Christ's resurrection!

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