The Paradox of a Crucified Messiah
Those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross." So also the chief priest, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross, and we will believe him; for he said, 'I am the Son of God.' " And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. Matt. 27:39-44, RSV.
How would you have responded to such people whom you were dying to save? If it were me I would have gotten off my cross and given them exactly what they deserved. I would show them in no uncertain terms who I was. They would be sorry that they had ever mocked me. I could, of course, destroy the whole mess of them by a limited atomic display. But then a slow fire would be more to my liking. Soon I would have them all begging and bowing.
We can be thankful that Jesus wasn't like me. But the interesting fact of the situation is that Jesus is the only crucified individual in history who could have gotten off His cross. He could have used His divine power to escape it. But the One "who knew no sin" chose to stay on it and die in our place, to become sin..., so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor. 5:21, RSV). "I lay down my life," we read in John's Gospel. "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again" (John 10:17, 18, RSV). Jesus had a choice. And He decided to do God's will rather than His own. He chooses to remain on the cross.
The truth of the matter is that the Jewish leaders were quite correct when they shouted out "He saved others; he cannot save himself." The facts of the case are that if Jesus was to save anyone, He could not leave the cross. For Jesus it was a physical possibility, but not a moral or spiritual one. To flee the cross would be to reject His role as the Lamb of God who was to die for the sins of the world (John 1:29).
Such is the paradox of paradoxes--a crucified Messiah, a dying Savior.
Today we can thank God that Jesus hung on the cross to the bitter end. It is because of that sacrifice on Calvary that we can share Paradise with Him for eternity.
Those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross." So also the chief priest, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross, and we will believe him; for he said, 'I am the Son of God.' " And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. Matt. 27:39-44, RSV.
How would you have responded to such people whom you were dying to save? If it were me I would have gotten off my cross and given them exactly what they deserved. I would show them in no uncertain terms who I was. They would be sorry that they had ever mocked me. I could, of course, destroy the whole mess of them by a limited atomic display. But then a slow fire would be more to my liking. Soon I would have them all begging and bowing.
We can be thankful that Jesus wasn't like me. But the interesting fact of the situation is that Jesus is the only crucified individual in history who could have gotten off His cross. He could have used His divine power to escape it. But the One "who knew no sin" chose to stay on it and die in our place, to become sin..., so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor. 5:21, RSV). "I lay down my life," we read in John's Gospel. "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again" (John 10:17, 18, RSV). Jesus had a choice. And He decided to do God's will rather than His own. He chooses to remain on the cross.
The truth of the matter is that the Jewish leaders were quite correct when they shouted out "He saved others; he cannot save himself." The facts of the case are that if Jesus was to save anyone, He could not leave the cross. For Jesus it was a physical possibility, but not a moral or spiritual one. To flee the cross would be to reject His role as the Lamb of God who was to die for the sins of the world (John 1:29).
Such is the paradox of paradoxes--a crucified Messiah, a dying Savior.
Today we can thank God that Jesus hung on the cross to the bitter end. It is because of that sacrifice on Calvary that we can share Paradise with Him for eternity.
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