09/11/2026
May we always remember that the Cross we carry is not a sign of defeat, but of Christ’s victory. 🙏🏼❤️
Beautifully written by Vahe Sargsyan.
The Cross: A Sign of Victory
by Vahe Sargsyan
One of the most difficult scenes to watch in The Passion of the Christ is Jesus carrying the Cross toward Golgotha. He is already beaten and exhausted, yet He is forced forward under its weight. The physical pain and humiliation are horrific. And even a film that shows suffering so vividly can only give us a glimpse of what Christ endured. The full physical and spiritual weight of the Cross is beyond our understanding.
Recently, I overheard a conversation between two Christian women. One had been in the faith for many years; the other was newer to Christianity. At one point the younger woman exclaimed, “I just don’t understand why Jesus would say, ‘Let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.’”
Her question stayed with me.
Those of us who have heard Christ’s words for years may no longer find them surprising. But think about what He actually says: deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me. How does that fit with Christ’s promises of peace, hope, salvation, and eternal life?
With the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross approaching, it is worth remembering that the Cross has two meanings that cannot be separated.
Yes, the Cross means struggle.
Christ says, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24). Following Him requires us to confront pride, selfishness, fear, anger, lust, dishonesty, and every other passion that pulls us away from God. Sometimes our cross comes through illness, family difficulties, loss, responsibility, or suffering. Sometimes it comes from trying to remain faithful when the culture around us tells us to live differently.
The Cross is therefore a road toward holiness. It challenges us. It strips away what should not remain in us.
But the Cross is not only a burden.
The Cross is a sign of victory.
The Romans used crucifixion to humiliate, torture, and kill. Christ took that instrument of death and made it the instrument through which death itself was defeated. St. Paul writes that through the Cross Christ “disarmed principalities and powers” and “made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15).
St. John Chrysostom describes Christ carrying the Cross as “bearing the Cross as a trophy over the tyranny of death.” He calls it “the symbol of victory.”
That is the Christian paradox. We carry a Cross, but we are not carrying the symbol of our defeat. We are carrying the sign of Christ’s victory.
For Armenians, the Cross is everywhere. It rises above our churches. We carve it into khachkars. It fills our manuscripts, paintings, ornaments, rugs, and textiles. We wear it around our necks—sometimes quietly and sometimes as large pieces of expensive jewelry. We make the sign of the Cross when entering church, before prayer, before meals, and in moments of fear. Sometimes we have even mixed it into superstitious customs that have little to do with Christianity.
When something becomes this familiar, there is a danger that we stop thinking about what it means.
The Cross can become decoration. Making the sign of the Cross can become an automatic movement. We can wear crosses, surround ourselves with crosses, and still forget what the Cross asks of us.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem says, “Let us not then be ashamed to confess the Crucified.” He calls the Cross “the Sign of the faithful.”
So when we make the sign of the Cross, it should not be a pretentious movement to show others how religious we are. Neither should it be superstition. It is a confession. It reminds us that we belong to the Crucified and Risen Christ. It reminds us that we are called to deny ourselves, struggle against sin, and follow Him. But it also reminds us that the struggle does not end in defeat.
The Cross was meant to bring death. Christ made it the sign of life.
It was meant to humiliate. Christ made it glorious.
It was an instrument of ex*****on. Christ made it a weapon of victory.
So yes, take up your Cross.
But never forget Whose victory you are carrying.
