The Godlessness of the Cross

The Great Contradiction

1 Corinthians 2:1–2 NRSV

When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

1 Corinthians 1:1–2 NRSV

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

Betrayed. Charged. Convicted. Beaten. Scourged. Dragged. Nailed. Suffocated. Dead.

Betrayed. Charged. Convicted. Beaten. Scourged. Dragged. Nailed. Drowned. Dead.

The newspapers wouldn’t have noticed. The religious leaders would have celebrated. The Romans would have moved on. One more rabble rouser dead and gone.

But he wasn’t dead and gone. And that re-writes the entire event.

From Jesus Army

“Jesus Christ was executed 2,000 years ago by the Romans. But Christians believe Jesus didn’t stay dead - that Jesus beat death and rose again, beyond death’s reach.

That makes the cross not a sign of death, but a sign of the end of death.”

That is why we wear a symbol of an instrument of execution. That is why we place them prominently in our places of worship. Imagine placing an electric chair or a hyperdermic needle around your neck!

1 Corinthians 1:23–24 NRSV

but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

That Jesus died is just readily known part of the story. How he died is just as much of a story and an important part of our theological understanding of what was accomplished. There were easier ways to execute people. But none that carried the message as well.

The Crucifixion Scene

Total Humilitiation

scourged

either before or on the way to the cross. Tied to a post and beaten with a leather whip with metal knotted into its thongs. Strips of flesh would be hanging from the wounds…and this was the merciful part of the execution for it hastened death.

sign of lower class

The Roman cross was not for Roman citizens or people of high standing in society regardless of citizenship.

The Roman cross was not for Roman citizens or people of high standing in society regardless of citizenship.

To reinforce this, the executions took place outside the city.

naked

Stripped naked and hung upon a cross. Laid bare for all the world to see. Left for the wild animals to devour.

public road outside of town

Crucifixions were intended as a deterrent to others. Therefore, the place chosen was important. It normally was along a well-traveled road where the bodies could be left for sometime before and after death for maximum societal impact.

low to ground

for maximum impact, the cross’ were a few feet off the ground so passerby’s could see, smell, hear, and feel the fullness of death.

long period of time

crucifixion was designed to take a long time. Up to a few days in fact. It was not like the guiltion of electric chair which makes quick work. crucifixion was meant to be painstakingly long to again maximize its impact of shame, rejection and message to others. After death, some times the bodies were left hanging so that the bodies would be eaten by birds and other wild animals.

ultimate sign of weakness

“You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, some down from the cross.”

Total Rejection of Jesus

Religious leaders made the case against him.

To reinforce this, the executions took place outside the city. The very one that the city of David had been waiting on for generations was now escorted outside the city gates and murdered. We don’t want what you have to offer.

Few friends stayed - only John of the Apostles and a few women including Mary Jesus’ mother.

Nailed between two criminals as if he belonged in this place

people expected to stand and gawk (much like lynching).

Matthew 27:39-44

The results

Total Redemption

Certifies for all time the love of God on full display.

For God so loved the word that he gave his only son.

But…Jesus didn’t just show us something on the Cross…something was actually happening that shook the core of all existence.

His death marks the implications for our own sin and transfers the effects from us to him.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

For God so loved the word that he gave his only son.

The cross was an experience devoid of God from every angle except for the fact that God was in the very center of it. In fact, Fleming Rutledge has a chapter in her book on the Crucifixion entitled “The Godlessness of the Cross.”

But it was exactly from this place that God did his great work of redemption and invitation. By his exclusion he provided inclusion. By his death he provides life. It doesn’t make sense. Never has. But it is the very thing our hope is based and our future depends.

I invite you to take a journey this Lent. An uncomfortable and even confusing journey into the depths of an execution. Don’t look away. Don’t try to short cut it. For this is not just any execution, but rather an execution of death itself.

And my prayer is you will find yourself in this execution. That it will grow your faith and even, as odd as it may seem, your love for God and others.