The Wisdom of the Cross

By Fr. Anthony C. Mbanefo

The Wisdom of the Cross by Fr Anthony C. Mbanefo, MSP, is a refreshing reflection of the power of the Cross. The authors generous use of Sacred Scripture gives a perspective from before and after. Fr Mbanefo stresses the liberation of the Cross and how it is shared in our baptism and in the moment of our redemption. Like his other works, Fr. Mbanefo challenges the reader to use the Cross as a benchmark for our own commitment to discipleship. Ultimately, The Wisdom of the Cross leads to the love that God has for each of us.
+ Most Reverend Gregory J Hartmayer, OFM. Conv. Bishop of Savannah, GA
This book is an invitation for all Christian believers to confront the challenges of life with profound faith and docility to Gods will. Gods love for mankind is made visible in the suffering and death of Christ. Fr Mbanefo demonstrates how the passion and death of Christ makes the day to day sufferings of our human condition full of meaning and purpose. I recommend this book to all those who believing in Christ as their hope want to discover from him, the strength that will aid them in confronting the difficulties of life.
+Most Reverend Kevin J. Boland, Bishop Emeritus of Savannah GA

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 23, 2012
• ISBN: 9781479704972

Fr. Anthony C. Mbanefo

Rev. Anthony Chukwudumeme Mbanefo MSP, PhD, is a Nigeria American Catholic priest of the Missionary Society of Saint Paul. Born in Ogidi near his town Eziowelle of S. East Nigeria on November 25 1965, he had his early education and priestly formation in Nigeria. After his priestly ordination on July 1 1992, he worked for two years in Nigeria before proceeding to The Gambia where he worked successfully for ten years towards the building of the Christian faith in the predominantly Muslim country. Fr Mbanefo started his ministry in United States in January 2005. He has served as associate pastor and pastor of different parishes in United States. He is presently the pastor of Holy Redeemer Parish McRae and Saint Mark’s Parish Eastman GA. He is a gifted preacher and writer. Fr Anthony fluently speaks four languages. They are Igbo, Wolof, English and Spanish. He also speaks small French. Fr Mbanefo is a systematic theologian and holds PhD in theology.

Book preview

Copyright © 2012 by Fr. Anthony C. Mbanefo M.S.P.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-4797-0496-5

                eBook           978-1-4797-0497-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Scripture quotations marked NJB are from The New Jerusalem Bible, copyright © 1985 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd. and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc. Reprinted by Permission.

Front Cover Photo Attribution

image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/80824546@N00/5546004168>Historic Ireland - Glasnevin Cemetery Is A Hidden Gem And Well Worth A Visit via http://www.imageslike.com>free images https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license)

Rev. date: 10/06/2015

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CHAPTERS

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION:

SIGN OF CURSE TO SIGN OF VICTORY

CHAPTER TWO: THE CROSS EXPOSES THE FOLLY

OF THE WORLD

CHAPTER THREE: CROSS THE ROAD TO LIFE

CHAPTER FOUR: THE CROSS IS AN ESSENTIAL

INGRIDIENT OF LIFE

CHAPTER FIVE: CALVARY, THE ROAD TO FREEDOM

CHAPTER SIX: THE CROSS IS A POINT OF

CROSSING THE TRESHOLD

CHAPTER SEVEN: MEANS OF HEALING AND RECONCILIATION

CHAPTER EIGHT: FOR THE BENEFIT OF MANY

CHAPTER NINE: CROSS, EVIDENCE OF LOVE

CHAPTER TEN: CONCLUSION

Cover picture

The cover picture is that of Celtic crosses at Glasnevin Cemetery Dublin by the courtesy of infomatique photo stream.

BOOKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR

• The Seven Words of Jesus on the Cross

• Grace And Nature, A Dialogue Between God And Humanity

• The Wisdom of the Cross

"The Wisdom of the Cross by Fr Anthony C. Mbanefo, MSP, is a refreshing reflection of the power of the Cross. The author’s generous use of Sacred Scripture gives a perspective from before and after. Fr Mbanefo stresses the liberation of the Cross and how it is shared in our baptism and in the moment of our redemption. Like his other works, Fr. Mbanefo challenges the reader to use the Cross as a benchmark for our own commitment to discipleship. Ultimately, The Wisdom of the Cross" leads to the love that God has for each of us.

+ Most Reverend Gregory J Hartmayer, OFM.

Conv. Bishop of Savannah, GA

This book is an invitation for all Christian believers to confront the challenges of life with profound faith and docility to God’s will. God’s love for mankind is made visible in the suffering and death of Christ. Fr Mbanefo demonstrates how the passion and death of Christ makes the day to day sufferings of our human condition full of meaning and purpose. I recommend this book to all those who believing in Christ as their hope want to discover from him, the strength that will aid them in confronting the difficulties of life.

+Most Reverend Kevin J. Boland, Bishop Emeritus of Savannah GA

Dedication

This book is dedicated to all those who go through

the trails of life with a deep faith in God

and in Christ Jesus our crucified Savior.

ACKNOWLEDGEMNTS

My greatest gratitude goes to God the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ the inspiration and guidance of whose Spirit has made the writing of this book a reality. I thank my bishop, Most Rev Dr. Gregory John Hartmayer OFM and the bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Savannah, Most Rev Dr. J. Kevin Boland for their wonderful support. I am equally grateful to Very Rev. Fr Paul Ofoha MSP, the Father General of the Missionary Society of St Paul and his council for their support. I thank my regional superior Very Rev. Fr Desmond Ohankwere MSP for his help. I owe many thanks to my friend Fr Efiri M. Selemobri MSP for his advice and encouragement. I am also indebted to Fr Anselm Eke MSP who helped me a lot in editing this work. I sincerely thank the Xlibris Corporation for undertaking the publication of the book. Finally, I am most grateful to Mrs. Regina Mbanefo, my beloved mother, the great woman whose love, goodwill and prayers have mostly been the source of my success not only in this publication but in many other enterprises of my life.

Rev Dr Anthony Chukwudumeme Mbanefo MSP

OPENING HYMN

O loving wisdom of our God!

When all was sin and shame,

A second Adam to the fight

And to the rescue came.

O generous love! that he who smote

In man for man the foe,

The double agony in man

For man should undergo;

And in the garden secretly,

And on the cross on high,

Should teach his brethren, and inspire

To suffer and to die.

Praise to the Holiest in the height,

And in the depth be praise,

In all his words most wonderful,

Most sure in all his ways.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION:

SIGN OF CURSE TO SIGN OF VICTORY

Saint Paul was right when he told us that the hidden wisdom of our God which we proclaim as a mystery is a wisdom that none of the masters of our age has known or they would not have crucified the Lord of life (Cf.1 Corinthians 2: 7-9). How for example could the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate have handed the Lord Jesus Christ over to the Jews to be tortured and crucified if he had known the origin and identity of the man standing before him. The paradox of the situation however is that God used the ignorance and folly of the masters of our age as a means to achieve his wise plan. In this way the foolishness of the world has been converted into divine wisdom (Cf. 1Corinthians 1:27). It was the Romans of old who had invented the crucifixion as the most ignoble and inhuman way of killing the worst type of criminals of the non Roman race.

When Pilate, after the his insincere game plan with Jewish leaders which ended in the crucifixion of Jesus, placed an inscription on top of the cross, "Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews (John 19:19) clearly to be read in the three major languages of the place Hebrew, Greek and Latin, it was clear that the governor, far from intending to eulogize Jesus, was making a mockery of the highest order of his race. It was like saying: Look you Jews; here is your great reformer, and hero. There is nothing that he is worthy of except the most ignoble kind of death meant for the worst and the most wretched of criminals". The Jewish leaders caught the joke immediately, and that was why they protested instantly: "You should not write ‘King of the Jews’ but that the man said, ‘I am King of the Jews’ (John 19:23). Pilate knew quite well what he wanted to do so instead of backpedalling because of the protest of the Jews, he used the occasion to consolidate his position. To them he answered: what I have written, I have written’ (John 19:24). He obviously did not want to go home without his pound of flesh. They, out of their mischievousness have twisted his hands and compelled him to sentence a just man to death on the ground that his failure to do so will result in their implicating him before his master, the Roman emperor. The only way that he could exact his vengeance was to use the occasion to insult them in a subtle way and to use the rudest kind of language to tell them what he thought of them and the stock of which they were made. This is a cursed race, a race whose king is worth nothing but the most shameful death of the cross."

Yes, the cross was a curse both for the Jews and for the Gentiles of Jesus time. Even the scripture testified to this when it said, "Cursed be every one who hangs on a tree" (Galatians 3:13[RSV translation]). It was not only that the Romans scorned the cross as was evident from the inscription of Pilate, subsequent events also showed that Romans despised Christians because they identified them as the disciples of the one that underwent the ignoble death on the cross. The Roman world of the first three centuries A.D was a hostile world to the Christian people. They were despised, persecuted and killed by the Romans, but there was something surprising which even their most bitter persecutors and adversaries could not deny. They were progressing and flourishing in the midst of bitter persecution. The oppressed were happier than the oppressors, the persecuted were having more peace than the persecutors, and the victimized were living in greater freedom than the victimizers. What was the source of their joy and peace and freedom? They were living the life of righteousness which was the