Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
1 Corinthians 1:22-25 NIVUK
For every Christian in the world, the cross is a symbol of love, of reconciliation, or redemption, of hope. This massively torturous method of killing has become a symbol of life and hope and peace with God, because of Who died on it and what He achieved. Every Christian, without question, loves the cross.
But not everyone feels the same way.
Cross-shaped jewelry has long been in fashion. Celebrities wear clothes with crosses in them. They are iconic symbols. But I am sure their wearers give little thought to what exactly they are wearing.
In some countries, a cross has a completely different connotation. When the Red Cross was founded in 1859 by Henri Dunant of Switzerland, the Ottoman Empire wanted it to operate on their territory too. But to do so, they demanded it changed both its name and its logo. And so the Red Crescent was created.
Why did they do that?
The Ottoman Emperor Saladin had fought against the Crusaders to retain control of Jerusalem and the Holy Land. The Crusaders believed they were on a mission from God to rescue the Holy Lands from the heathen Turks, and so bore crosses in their clothing and shields.
The cross had become offensive to Turks. Even now, after all these years, it still is.
Crucifixion was, and still is, a terrible way to kill anyone. As the Roman politician Cicero said, it was 'the most hideous and cruel of tortures'. Physically and psychologically, there can't be anything worse than being flogged raw with a cat 'o nine tails, before being paraded naked through a crowd baying for your blood, forced to lie on the ground while soldiers bang metal spikes through your hands and feet, dropped roughly into a hole so that every joint in your body is dislocated, and then left, exposed to the elements, wild birds and the unrelenting hatred and disgust of your own people.
Even the Romans only preserved this for the worst of the worst and the lowest of the low.
And that is why it still jars for many that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, willingly subjected Himself to this utterly gruesome horror for our sake.
That is why His own disciples were completely shaken to the core that He underwent it.
That is why many religious groups and eminent scholars - even those who claim to be evangelical - have such a hard time taking in the painful reality of the cross.
As Paul says, the very fact that Jesus was crucified was a huge stumbling-block for Jews. They believed that anyone left hanging on a pole was cursed and, in their law, they could not be left there overnight (Deuteronomy 21:22-23). Jesus hung on a cross and hung there overnight.
To the Greeks, and other Gentiles, this was utter foolishness. How can anyone who is a great teacher be sentenced to such a lowly death? To them it didn't make sense.
Even today the cross is a massive stumbling-block for millions. Muslims believe that it wasn't Jesus on the cross but one of his followers. That is utterly implausible. Do we not think that Roman executioners, who were highly skilled and ruthless at their job, would make sure they got the right man?
Others, their senses dulled with so-called 'woke' ideals, struggle with the idea that God the Father could send His Son to the cross. They don't get it.
But the entire point of the Gospel is that He did, and that it was part of His plan:
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:4-6 NIVUK
Throw out the truth and reality of Christ on the cross, dying for our sins as part of God the Father's plan for our salvation and you throw out the whole Gospel message with it.
There can be no Gospel without a crucified Christ.
So if we call ourselves Christians, then we must accept that He was crucified. And there's more. Much more. Even Jesus Himself stated several times that we must be willing to follow Him:
Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Matthew 10:38 NIVUK
Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.
Matthew 16:24-27 NIVUK
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.’
Mark 8:34-38 NIVUK
Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
Luke 9:23-26 NIVUK
But what does this mean?
I do not believe for one second that involves the brutal practice in parts of the Philippines, where some Catholics are voluntarily nailed to crosses to demonstrate penitence for their sins.
That is utter foolishness.
No, what it means is that you are willing to suffer reproach, to deprive yourselves of things this world considers to be good and to give yourself for others, even those who don't understand or appreciate it.
In other words, you are prepared to be Christ, even in places and with people who have no respect for either Him or you.
The reactions we see in the verses we are examining are often the same reactions Christians have when they are asked to take up their cross.
We need to realise that the cross is the single most scandalous event in human history, and even more so in its historical setting. It is not a work of art. It is not a piece of attractive jewelry. Yes, it is a thing of absolute beauty for those who believe. But principly it is a tool of brutal torture, a killing machine made beautiful only because of the One who died on it and what He achieved.
So as we study the reactions of those who were faced with the awful violence and disgrace of the cross, let's not be too judgemental against them.
Because many still have the same reaction.
And the first reaction is DISBELIEF.
댓글