The third possible reason for the Jews’ murmuring mentioned above, the stumbling-block of a crucified Messiah, brings us, at last, to our final two references, the ‘scandal’ of the cross. The noun is found twice in this context in Paul’s epistles, in the first letter to Corinth, and in Galatians. In the first chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul sets out what might now be termed his ‘mission statement’: “Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified” (or “a crucified Messiah”), to Jews a stumbling-block, and folly to gentiles; but to those who are God’s chosen, both Jews and gentiles, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (vv.22-4). We have seen that the idea of a Messiah who died was hard for Jews to accept; perhaps a Messiah killed fighting heroically in battle might just have been acceptable, but a Messiah hung on a cross to die was unthinkable, an oxymoron (‘moron’ is the Greek for ‘folly’ in this passage), a contradiction in terms – in short, a scandal. The reason for this is that the Jews regarded a cross as the Roman version of a tree, and in their law it is written: “utterly cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” (Deut. 21.23). This meant that someone who was crucified was not just being punished by the Romans as a criminal, but was a sinner cursed by God. How could the Messiah, God’s servant and king, die under God’s curse ? It is easy to see why the cross of Christ was such a major stumbling-block for Jews. Paul quotes this verse from Deuteronomy in Galatians 3.13, but a little earlier he has quoted another verse from Deuteronomy (27.26): “utterly cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the commandments written in the book of the law to observe them.” No one, argues Paul, can meet such an impossibly high standard, therefore everyone is under God’s curse. But “Christ bought us back from the curse of the law by becoming himself a curse on our behalf”. This is why Paul describes the message of the cross as the “power of God and the wisdom of God”, and this is why, when he arrived in the great city of Corinth “in weakness and fear and trembling”, he decided “to know nothing among you except Christ, and him crucified.” This is also why Peter, twice in his sermons and once in his first letter, refers to the cross as the ‘tree’ ('xulon' in Greek).
Thursday, 5 January 2012
SKANDALON 5: the scandal of the cross (a) a Messiah under a curse
The third possible reason for the Jews’ murmuring mentioned above, the stumbling-block of a crucified Messiah, brings us, at last, to our final two references, the ‘scandal’ of the cross. The noun is found twice in this context in Paul’s epistles, in the first letter to Corinth, and in Galatians. In the first chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul sets out what might now be termed his ‘mission statement’: “Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified” (or “a crucified Messiah”), to Jews a stumbling-block, and folly to gentiles; but to those who are God’s chosen, both Jews and gentiles, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (vv.22-4). We have seen that the idea of a Messiah who died was hard for Jews to accept; perhaps a Messiah killed fighting heroically in battle might just have been acceptable, but a Messiah hung on a cross to die was unthinkable, an oxymoron (‘moron’ is the Greek for ‘folly’ in this passage), a contradiction in terms – in short, a scandal. The reason for this is that the Jews regarded a cross as the Roman version of a tree, and in their law it is written: “utterly cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” (Deut. 21.23). This meant that someone who was crucified was not just being punished by the Romans as a criminal, but was a sinner cursed by God. How could the Messiah, God’s servant and king, die under God’s curse ? It is easy to see why the cross of Christ was such a major stumbling-block for Jews. Paul quotes this verse from Deuteronomy in Galatians 3.13, but a little earlier he has quoted another verse from Deuteronomy (27.26): “utterly cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the commandments written in the book of the law to observe them.” No one, argues Paul, can meet such an impossibly high standard, therefore everyone is under God’s curse. But “Christ bought us back from the curse of the law by becoming himself a curse on our behalf”. This is why Paul describes the message of the cross as the “power of God and the wisdom of God”, and this is why, when he arrived in the great city of Corinth “in weakness and fear and trembling”, he decided “to know nothing among you except Christ, and him crucified.” This is also why Peter, twice in his sermons and once in his first letter, refers to the cross as the ‘tree’ ('xulon' in Greek).
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