March 29, 2013
Artifact: Crucifix
Date: circa 1868
Size: 17.75 x 9 x 38.5 inches (w x d x h)
Significance: This wooden crucifix was used in the second sanctuary of Immanuel Lutheran Church, Saint Louis, located at 15th Street and Delmar Avenue from 1868 to 1919. Immanuel was one of the four congregations that made up the Saint Louis Gesamtgemeinde (joint congregation) under C. F. W. Walther.
Mark 15:22-26, 33-39 (ESV):
And they brought [Jesus] to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour when they crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.”
And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land
until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
May God bless you this Easter as we rejoice in Christ’s resurrection, securing our salvation from sin and death.
