“… when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” — 1 Corinthians 2:1-12
This week is Holy Week. It’s an extremely significant time. More than any other week of the year, we reflect on the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior. The event we are remembering this week is the center of Christianity. It is the crux of our faith and hope of our salvation. It is what differentiates Christianity from all other world religions. The entire message of the Old Testament culminated on the Cross. The entire New Testament (and beyond) was fueled by the empty tomb.
When people think of Christianity, many times they think of the Cross. We see crosses on top of churches and as jewelry around people’s necks. We see them as stickers on cars and printed on clothing. In our culture, the cross can seem like such a clean, wholesome image; it’s almost something you want to be connected with. We can associate it with people who are trying to live a good life. The truth is, however, the Bible speaks of the Cross in a very different way.
Crucifixion was the most brutal and degrading way that a person could be executed in Jesus’ time. During His execution, He was beaten with whips made of leather and little pieces of bone and stone. He was beaten, almost to the point of death, and then dragged outside the city where He was stripped naked. His body was stretched out on rough pieces of wood; His hands and feet were nailed to them. He was raised up and forced to hang by His hands. The point of crucifixion was the long process of asphyxiation. It was meant for the worst of criminals. The humiliation of slowly suffocating was obvious to anyone watching it happen.
Crucifixion was not something that people wanted to be associated with. Yet, it was the symbol that the early church boasted in. The Apostle Paul said in Galatians 6:14, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” He was not talking about pretty gold jewelry and the decorated wooden crosses we see on buildings. He was speaking of the bloody, horrific and humiliating Cross.
To the human mind, the Cross is utter foolishness. As 1 Corinthians 3:19 says, “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, “He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness.” However, the death of Jesus is in fact, the most absolutely beautiful love story ever in the history of the world. It’s a universe-altering truth that a perfect God stepped into humanity to die the most humiliatingly gruesome death — for those He loved.
So, I ask you, “Are you boasting in the wisdom of the world? In your good works and strength? In the cleaned up wholesome image of religion?” Or, “Are you boasting in the foolishness of the Cross?”
Ultimately, the reason we can boast in the foolishness of the Cross is because we know the story didn’t end there. We can set our hope in the fact that Jesus wasn’t just humiliated on the Cross. He overcame that horrible death. He conquered sin and death for us. Herose from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of God the Father. We know He is risen — He is risen, indeed!
Boasting in Jesus,
Posted in A Word from the Pastor