Denver Seminary

IT IS HARD TO IMAGINE A MORE UNLIKELY SYMBOL OF LIBERATION THAN A CROSS. IN JESUS' DAY, THE ROMAN CROSS WAS A SYMBOL OF POLITICAL CONTROL, TERROR, AND SUBJUGATION. MASQUERADING AS A JUST PUNISHMENT FOR CRIMINALS, CRUCIFIXION WAS DESIGNED TO DEMONSTRATE THE POWER AND MIGHT OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, AND TO DETER THOSE WHO WOULD CHALLENGE ROME'S SOCIAL OR POLITICAL ORDER. IT WAS RESERVED FOR REBELLIOUS SLAVES, DANGEROUS CRIMINALS, AND INSURRECTIONISTS. VICTIMS WERE TORTURED AND HUNG NAKED AT A CROSSROADS, A THEATER, OR ON HIGH GROUND TO ENSURE THEIR UTTER DISGRACE. DEATH WAS SLOW AND PAINFUL. IN MARTIN HENGEL'S WORDS, CRUCIFIXION WAS "A FORM OF EXECUTION WHICH MANIFESTS THE DEMONIC CHARACTER OF HUMAN CRUELTY AND BESTIALITY." 1 It's remarkable that this symbol of humiliation was transformed into a symbol of salvation through the crucifixion of one man: Jesus of Nazareth. Even though Rome crucified many thousands of people through the course of its reign, only Jesus' crucifixion has reverberated through the millennia. This transformation of the cross can be found in some of the earliest Christian writings: the letters of the apostle Paul. The cross occupies a place of prominence in some of Paul's earliest work (e.g., Galatians) and in his last writings (e.g., Philippians). Paul boasted in the cross of Christ, proclaimed Christ's power over it (2 Cor. 13:4), and even claimed that he had been crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20). Paul insisted that Christians should engage in cruciform (cross-shaped) living (Gal. 5:24; Rom. 6:6). He expected his followers to be "people of the cross." Make no mistake, this expectation was ludicrous and offensive. Even though Rome crucified many thousands of people through the course of its reign, only Jesus' crucifixion has reverberated through the millennia. How did a symbol of violence and death become a symbol of salvation and God's great love for the world? Why is the cross central to Paul's proclamation of the gospel? According to Paul, the cross is the symbol of Christ's triumph over sin and death. On a barbaric instrument of torture, God poured out His love for humanity and absorbed both divine wrath and human violence. Melito of Sardis wrote that on the cross, "He who suspended the earth is suspended, he who fixed the heavens is fixed, he who fastened all things is fastened to the wood; the Master is outraged; God is murdered." 2 On the cross, God took violence and wrath upon Himself, bringing peace out of the horrific (Col. 1:20). For Paul, the cross communicated the breadth and depth of God's goodness and love, because only God could take a symbol that horrifying and turn it into something triumphant. Thus, the cross is the symbol par excellence of God's upside-down kingdom. What once brought shame is now a source of boasting (Gal. 6:14), what once signaled defeat is now a sure sign of victory (Col. 2:14–15), and the ones who appeared to be cursed and scorned are now glorified with Christ if they suffer with Him (Rom. 8:17). The cross signals that the old age has ended (Gal. 3:13–14), and sin and death have been defeated (Rom. 6:6; Gal. 5:24). THE CROSS IN THE CENTER Bible scholars are sometimes accused of missing the forest for the trees by focusing on minute details, like Greek grammar. But little words like therefore are often pregnant with meaning—as is the case in Philippians 2:9. Right in the middle of the Christ hymn, which was probably sung by early Christian congregations, we read that Christ "humbled himself by becoming obedient to death" (Phil. 2:8). Next Paul inserts the line "even 8 FALL 2017 MAKES YOU THINK 1 Martin Hengel. Crucifixion, 1977, p. 87. 2 Melito of Sardis, "Paschal Homily," 96. Shutterstock

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