Today’s Epistle reading from Hebrews describes our Lord Jesus Christ in a remarkable way. It calls Him, first of all, a “great high priest who has passed through the heavens.” This makes us think of Him in very lofty terms, and to think of His role as our mediator with the Father. He’s the one who makes a sacrifice on our behalf, to save us and sanctify us. He has gone before us, leading the way into the Kingdom of Heaven.

But He’s also one who knows our weakness. He “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” So He sympathizes with us. He knows what it’s like for us, and has compassion - that is, He suffers with and for us. His love for us leads Him to go through what we go through just to be able to sympathize with us. This is incredible, yet it’s true.

So on the one hand, we have a Lord who is above all, and all-powerful, who does all to provide our salvation and leads the way beyond this world into the Kingdom. On the other hand, we have a Lord who is not at all distant or aloof, but rather, who knows from experience what we go through and has compassion for us in our sufferings. So what is the conclusion? “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

The Cross, which is the focus and theme of this third Sunday of Lent, is the banner that calls us to follow Christ with bold faith. It’s the sign and reminder of His sympathy - His co-suffering - for us. And it is the image of the “Throne of Grace.” We carry it in procession, we bless ourselves and one another with it. We venerate it, reverence it, kiss it. We honor it because through it Christ conquers death not only outside of us, but within us, and because by honoring it we honor Christ.

We are called to carry a cross - whatever cross the Lord gives us. The cross means denying ourselves, denying our egos. It is a burden, but it is a glorious burden, because through this burden we gain our lives. We die to our egos and our agendas. We die to control and success as this world defines it. We die to all the enticements that this world offers. But we find life through this death. We lose all hope in anything else; we despair of any other salvation. And the only thing left is our crucified Lord.

The cross tells us to have this good kind of despair. Because until we do, we will seek other thrones. There are many thrones, although all other thrones are really just versions of the throne of sin. Every temptations is a temptation to bow down before the throne of sin. But as Christians, we’re called to reject the throne of sin and bow down, rather, before the throne of Grace. And not just bow down, but to cling to it and not let go until we receive deliverance.

A beautiful image and example of this is found in the life of St. Gorgonia. She was the sister of St. Gregory the Theologian, the daughter of St. Nonna and St. Gregory Nazianzen the Elder. St. Gorgonia was married and had children, and lived a godly life as a wife and mother. And apparently one thing that St. Gorgonia learned in her family, and in her Christian life, was to pray to God with great boldness and faith. Once she was deathly ill. She had a terrible fever, and was in and out of consciousness. This went on, and doctors were not able to do anything. They held public prayers on her behalf, but she remained sick. But her brother, St. Gregory, says that finally, during the middle of the night, when her symptoms subsided a little, she managed to go to the church. And she went straight to the altar, and grabbed onto it, resting her head on it and weeping. And she prayed to God to heal her, and said that she wouldn’t let go of the altar table until He did. St. Gregory calls this an act of “splendid effrontery,” and compares her to the woman with the issue of blood who grabbed onto Lord’s garment. And in fact, she experienced an immediate healing in response to her bold faith.

So brothers and sisters, let us approach the Throne of Grace also. We are half-way through the Lenten season. And we are part-way through our life, God knows how far. We may feel tired or discouraged. The Lord knows. He knows what’s in our hearts, and He knows the troubles we’ve seen (as the old song says). He sympathizes with our weaknesses and struggles. Whatever those struggles may be, we are called today by the Cross that is set before us to approach the throne of grace and to reject the throne of sin. We must not come half-heartedly, as if we weren’t sure of Christ, or as if we still believed there could be another savior.

Let us approach and pray boldly, even desperately, knowing that Christ is the only hope we have. Let us give up the whole world for Him, and gain infinitely more, knowing that in Christ we “will not taste death”, but will “see the Kingdom of God present with power.”