Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Christ crucified
1 Corinthians 1:18
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
The period we now refer to as Easter is coming. In churches all over, we will discuss the death of Jesus and that the death that He died was central to everything that God was doing in human history since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden.
In his Epistle to the Christians at Corinth the Apostle Paul spent much time in establishing this truth – that everything revolves around the Cross of Christ.
The cross, as a symbol, has become way more than the focal point of a belief system. It has become, over the years, fashion and art. Pendants and other items of jewellery, and now tattoos, feature the cross without any necessary connection to belief or faith.
The song, “Just for Me” from well-known Gospel singer Donnie McClurkin, (written by John C. Popper) is very instructive at this point.
What does the cross of Jesus mean? / It’s more than songs we sing, yeah / Much more than that emblem on your chain / But it means I’m free, yes from the chains of slavery / And the blood that shed won’t let my sins remain, oh my / Upon the cross my Saviour died, the Lamb was crucified / Showed us love that this world had never known / Oh what love, divine so divine, true a love you’ll never find / So that we might live, love came and died alone, Hallelujah / Well the Cross will always represent the love God had for me / When the Lord of glory, Heaven sent gave all on Calvary / He did it just for me, just for me, Hallelujah / Jesus came and did it just for me
In the passage, 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, Paul unpacks Easter and contextualises it in the philosophies and religious doctrines of his time, and at the specific place where his letter was addressed. The dominant approach to religion was Judaism and the Greeks were the leading philosophical thinkers. Paul addresses both with the scandal of the cross.
“For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:22-24
To pious Jews and the cultured Greeks of 2000 years ago the Christian message of Christ and the Cross sounded like folly – imagine today!
Just last Easter many of the major news outlets in print, on TV, and Online screamed the headlines that “Jesus is a Myth” and that stories of his life were made up decades after the time we believed He lived and that in any case their stories probably came from many different persons and were rolled up into one person.
Atheist writer David Fitzgerald claims there is no evidence Jesus existed. The San Francisco based author instead says Jesus was a literary allegory created by combining old Jewish stories and rituals along with rival cults. He insists it is time to stop believing in Jesus Christ as a historical figure. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk)
The Christian message is simple, though not simplistic. God created the world and put men in it; men sinned – transgressed God’s law; relationship with God was broken; Christ came to re-establish relationship with God by paying on the cross the penalty for man’s sin; Christ died – Christ rose again – Christ has ascended – Christ will come again!
We must wonder why the Jews had a problem with this message. It would seem that for the Jews, their understanding of the books of Moses would not allow them to consider one who died like a criminal could ever have been the Messiah, Deuteronomy 21:23.
Also, by that time the Jews were looking for a great political messiah. Even the followers of Jesus had their minds fixed on a great political deliverer. At the last moments of Jesus’ life on earth, some of the disciples were still asking about the political revolution that was on the Jewish mind, Acts 1:6.
Finally, the Jews were big on signs. They were always looking for great signs, maybe on the scale of the parting of the Red Sea. We notice, from reading the Gospels, that the Gospel writers, Matthew especially, often referred to the miracles of Jesus as signs.
As for the Greeks, their problem was not about the difference in religious approach, they often wondered about religion altogether even though various religions were practiced. To the Greek philosophical mind, the gods in the pantheon were not subject to feelings and emotions and neither were they interested in the trivial affairs of humanity. As a result, the idea of a man, who could be forced to die on a cross being God incarnate, was ludicrous!
These Greek thinkers needed high sounding wisdom, deep reasoning and very broad logic. To them, the Christian gospel was too simple.
For us though, we believe that Jesus was born of a Virgin, that He lived, that He was crucified at Calvary, that He was buried, and that He rose from the dead on the Sunday morning after that Friday event. And we believe that we have the evidence! Here is the evidence – We have met personally with Jesus and we know with certainty that He is alive within us. Our experience confirms that and so no science or history or philosophy is required!
The cross stands immovable as the fundamental reference point for our faith. True faith begins “At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light, / And the burden of my heart rolled away.”
The cross is the image of the Christian life and the focal point of our faith.
Think on these things:
- When you think about the cross, do you see your own sin and salvation there?
- Can you think of any popular religious or philosophical approach to life that confronts your faith in Jesus?
- How would you respond today to persons who pose the same challenges to your faith that the Jews and Greeks of Paul’s time posed?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would truly appreciate the weight of the death of Jesus on the cross.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex