September 8, 2019

The Mystery of the Cross

The cross teaches us to believe in hope even when there is no hope. The wisdom of the cross is hidden deeply in a profound mystery. In fact, there is no other way to heaven than taking up the cross of Christ. On account of this we must beware that the active live with its good works, and the contemplative life with its speculations, do not lead us astray. Both are most attractive and give peace of mind, but for the very reason hide real dangers, unless they are tempered by the cross and disturbed by adversaries. The cross is the surest path of all. Blessed is the man who understands this truth. Martin Luther (1518)

· Realizing that the relevance of Christianity depended upon maintaining its identity, they made every attempt possible to uphold the distinction between their beliefs and those in the world around them. Alister McGrath

Anselm of Canterbury “I believe, in order that I may understand.”

Augustine of Hippo, “unless you believe, you will never understand.”

For Luther, real Christian theology was based upon a direct and frightening encounter with the living God, in which the believer was made aware of the seriousness and difficulty of the subject: ‘living, or rather dying and being damned make a theologian, not understanding, reading or speculating.’

OSS: Paul’s Christian experience began with a remarkable revelation of the glory of the risen Christ.

Acts 9:3 NASB95

As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him;

Acts 22:6 NASB95

“But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me,

Acts 22:11 NASB95

“But since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus.

Acts 26:13 NASB95

at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me.

1 Corinthians 9:1 NASB95

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?

1 Corinthians 15:8 NASB95

and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.

Galatians 1:15-1

Galatians 1:15–16 NASB95

But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood,

1 Corinthians 1:18–2:5 NASB95

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

THE WHOLE UNDERSTANDING OF CHRISTIAN EXISTENCE AND EXPERIENCE IS GROUNDED IN THE FATE OF THE CRUCIFIED CHRIST.

The Christian is forced to concede that he must live and struggle with the reality of his earthly situation, while continually looking forward to the future resurrection and interpreting the present in its light.

Acts 2:31–33 NASB95

he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay. “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.

1 Corinthians 2:7–8 NASB95

but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;

Romans 1:3–4 NASB95

concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,

Galatians 3:13 NASB95

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”—

Alister McGrath: The cross is a key by which the ambiguities of human existence may be unlocked, casting light on the situation in which the Christian now finds himself in the world. Knowing that the one who was crucified was raised, and knowing that he himself has been crucified was raised, and knowing that he himself has been crucified with Christ, the believer may make the crucified Christ the guiding principle of his life. He is freed from the anxieties of the world, in that the cross discloses to him that anxiety is unwarranted in the light of the resurrection. As Paul himself puts it, in a remarkable statement:

(NASB95)

14 But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

For the believer, the knowledge that he will share in both the ‘suffering of the present age’ () and in the glory of the risen Christ means the anxieties and concerns of the world are put to an end. The world is crucified, to use Paul’s daring phrase.

1 Corinthians 15:1–4 NASB95

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

To encounter the crucified Christ is not just to encounter a dying and rising God, but to encounter a specific human individual with a definite life history.