Posted on 08/21/2015 5:10:19 AM PDT by Gamecock
What really happened on the cross? Was the death of Jesus a human tragedy whereby a good man was brutally and unfairly slain? Was His death an example of faith, obedience, and self-sacrifice? Was it a ransom paid to the Devil? A victory over the Devil? A manifestation of moral influence?
Was the cross an atonement? Did it involve expiation and propitiation for sin? Was it a supernatural act done to satisfy the wrath and justice of God? Each of these individually and several in combination have been set forth as the real meaning of Christ’s death.
How we understand the cross of Jesus in large part is determined by our view of the Bible. If we view the Bible as a primitive, pre-scientific expression of human religion, we will be inclined toward a purely natural view of the death of Jesus. It will represent at best an example of a heroic human act of self-sacrifice. Jesus is the existential hero of self-giving.
If we take the popular so-called neoorthodox view of Scripture, we will take a different approach to the cross. The neoorthodox view of the Bible denies that the Bible gives us propositional revelation. Rather, the Bible is seen as a witness to revelation that takes place in events.
To divide event revelation from propositional revelation is to leave us with a story without an interpretation. The Bible teaches that there was a crucial event, the event of the cross. Jesus of Nazareth was crucified. The significance of that death was not agreed upon by those who were a party to it or spectators of it. For the Sanhedrin, it was an act of expediency. It was necessary for Jesus to die, lest the Jews experience the wrath of the Romans. Likewise from Pilate’s vantage point, it was a matter of expediency for him to satisfy the demand of a raging mob. The thief on the cross saw it as an expression of injustice.
Coram Deo
How do you view the death of Jesus on the cross? What do you believe really happened at the cross? How does it affect you?
Passages for Further Study
Colossians 1:19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Colossians 2:13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the circumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Christ the Wisdom and Power of God
18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Good morning all!
We also see this played out with the crowd that claims that folks back then were just not as sophisticated as we are now. They couldn't tell if someone was really dead.
Well, the Romans knew death. They were very good at killing people. Just as good at it as we are today.
My gripe are the people that claim to be “Spiritual but not Religious”
They are merely mouthing an excuse to not deal with Jesus the the Son of God
The Cross is foolishness to them that perish.
That, in a nutshell, is what the article is about!
Without the willing sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross we are lost.
Of all the other religions in the world ours is unique. We alone have been saved not by our good deeds out weighting our bad deeds, but by the sacrifice of our God.
Thanks for posting. The crux of the matter is the cross.
By the cross, God reconciled the world to Himself. That is, the world has been at war with God and became God’s enemy. But by way of the cross, His human enemies can have peace with Him.
Christ paid the penalty for our sins on the cross. His statement, “it is finished” means “paid in full”.
By the cross, Christ accomplished His mission to save the world.
The message of the cross is the wisdom and power of God.
By the way, the Colossians 2:13 is misquoted above. It refers to the uncircumcision of the flesh, not the circumcision.
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