THE CROSS

by FRENCH L. ARRINGTON

MAN DIED on a Roman cross more than 19 centuries ago. His death took place outside the walls of Jerusalem. What could that obscure exe- cution have to do with us in the 21st century? No one can read the story of Jesus without realizing that His crucifixion was not an ordinary death. No doubt it was the most cruel and painful death. Contemporary writers speak of the brutality and the horror of crucifixion, but that is not what makes Jesus’ death unique. Thousands had under- gone the same horrible torture. His death was different from all others. The uniqueness of His death was determined by who He was and the purpose for His dying.

THE MIRACLE OF THE CROSS

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The Importance of the Cross

Jesus was more than a Jewish prophet put to death by reli- gious authorities, more than a revolutionary teacher who had a message ahead of His time, and more than a reformer who suffered martyrdom for His cause. His death was different from all others. He was the Son of God, and God acted through the death of His Son to provide salvation for all humankind. God on a cross, God on two pieces of wood, staggers the human mind. Even so, at Calvary “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19 NKJV) and dealing with the problem of sin. What God did on the cross was nothing less than a pure miracle.

The Cross never fades into the background in the New Tes- tament, but stands at the center of the gospel. This miracle— “Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8)—demands an explanation.

Without Christ and His cross there would be no Christianity. The writers of the four Gospels had no doubt about the supreme importance of the Cross. In fact, each writer devoted a dispro- portionate amount of space to the last week of Christ’s life and death in comparison with the rest of His life and ministry. About two-fifths of Matthew’s Gospel, three-fifths of Mark’s, one- third of Luke’s, and about half of John’s Gos- pel describe the events between His triumphal entry into Jerusalem and His ascension into heaven. Biblical scholars have divided John’s Gospel into two equal parts: “The Book of Signs” and “The Book of Passion.” In light of the centrality of the Cross in the Gospels, it comes as no surprise that Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3 NASB). The

8 EVANGEL • APR 2010