He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
(1 Peter 2.24 NRSV)
The Jewish writer Josephus witnessed hundreds of men dying on crosses during the siege of Jerusalem. He called crucifixion "the most wretched of deaths." Normally the ancient sources were reluctant to describe any crucifixion in much detail. It was such a painful and utterly shameful way of dying. The Romans used it regularly to preserve law and order against troublesome criminals, slaves and rebels. In Palestine crucifixion was a public reminder of Jewish servitude to a foreign power.

St. Paul did not exaggerate when he called the crucified Jesus "a stumbling block to the Jews" and "folly" to the gentiles (1 Cor. 1:23). Nothing in the Old Testament suggests that the messiah could suffer such a fate. On the contrary, a crucified person, so far from being sent by God to redeem us, was understood to be cursed by God (Gal 3:13). For nonbelievers it seemed "sheer folly" (1 Cor. 1:18) to proclaim that the crucified Jesus was the Son of God and divine Lord of the world. The extreme dishonor of his dying on a cross counted against any such claims. (7) And yet God used the folly of the cross for our reconciliation. Christ's willingness to experience humiliation and to give his shed blood became a means for divinity and humanity to be joined once and for all.

Loving God, thank you for the cross of Jesus. Amen.

Ron Newhouse

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