Image: Via Dolorosa Jerusalem Cross

John 20:30-31

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

The Jerusalem Cross, and variations of it can be traced by historian to Armenian Christians in the 4^th century and in 1099 when the first Western Europe Crusader’s captured Jerusalem it became the symbol of that state. Even as the Crusaders were overthrown in Jerusalem in 1291, the Jerusalem Cross remained a symbol of Christian faith and its roots being within Jerusalem. The large central cross symbolized the centrality of Jesus and the four smaller crosses surrounding believed to symbolize the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each Gospel having a different audience and sometimes telling different stories, or even the timeline of events within varies from Gospel to Gospel but all pointing to that central figure, Jesus. As John’s Gospel comes to a close and emphasizes, so that YOU may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah.

Prayer

Spirit of the Living God, we give You thanks that through the words alive in scripture we encounter Christ. We are connected to where he was rooted as Jesus walking the streets of Jerusalem. Continue to guide us on our own journeys to grow closer to our Lord and Savior, showing compassion and grace. Amen.