Igneous Quill

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." - 1 Corinthians 1:18 NIV

The solidarity of YHWH with the poor, despised and oppressed of this world is nowhere made clearer than the cross of Jesus.  From Abel forward throughout the biblical narrative God has demonstrated a preference for the underdog.  The weak are embraced and the strong rejected.  

This God called a man, Abraham, from city life to a nomadic existence and granted him and his wife a son, although both he and his wife are said to have laughed at the promise given in their old age.  This God rescued suffering, enslaved Israel from Egyptian bondage, then generations later sent the nation into Babylonian captivity for their wickedness.  What had Israel done?  Among other things, they neglected or abused outright the poor, needy and outcast in their midst.

When God came to live among us, he opted for a humble, poor family of the house of David (who himself had been called from the obscurity of the sheep pasture to the throne).  Loved by many only for the blessings received through him, including healing and food, he was opposed by the religious authority of his day.  Rejected by those who should have thrown arms open wide to him, his words were distorted and falsehoods were concocted against him.  Handed over to the civil authority as a rabble-rouser, Jesus was condemned to the cross.

"...looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." - Hebrews 12:2 ESV

Some well-intentioned believers in our day grumble about the cross. They say that wearing a cross symbol or singing hymns about the cross is like singing about an electric chair.  It was a method of execution.  What these people miss is that the cross, for the people of the first century, was a horror greater than a noose or needle.  The cross was a symbol not of trial-by-jury and (debatable) justice served in a democratic system ruled by laws.  The cross was an instrument of terror and oppression, utilized by the deified state to keep the subjected masses under control.

Roman citizens were not crucified.  This form of execution was reserved for the non-citizen subjects.  It was also a quite common form of execution.  After uprisings hills were often dotted and roads lined with crosses bearing the dead or dying rebels.

Bloodied, unclothed Jesus was subjected to the shame of the cross, and so God himself experienced directly the public disgrace of seemingly failed purpose.

"When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.  When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him." - Colossians 2:13-15 NASB

The ultimate tool of the fallen powers, torture and death, was turned back upon them.  Facing down the systemic evil of this world and the demonic forces that back them, Jesus took the full brunt of their fury and came out victorious.

It is a mistake at the Lord's supper to mention the resurrection.  Of course, we meet on the first day of the week in celebration of our Savior's resurrection.  That is not the point of what some call the "Eucharist."  In the bread and fruit of the vine we commemorate not the empty tomb, but the empty cross.  A common and shameful form of death was accepted by our Lord and used for our salvation.  In the cross we see victory.

"Then he said to them all, 'If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.'" - Luke 9:23-24 NRSV

The course of Jesus' life, and indeed the entire narrative of Scripture, is one that followed the course of humility, hardship and rejection.  It also culminates in ultimate victory and vindication.  If this is true of the way of God with mortals, how can we who invoke his name and claim to follow him expect to experience anything else?