My understanding of the cross was expanded recently by Jeremy Treat, who said, “When I look to Scripture, I see that you can’t understand the kingdom apart from the cross and you can’t understand the cross apart from the kingdom. And it’s Christ himself who holds those together. He is the King who goes to the cross in establishing his kingdom and ransoming us into it. In this kingdom, the throne is a cross and the king reigns with mercy and grace.” The cross a throne! Paul wrote of Jesus, “He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Even death on a cross. We preachers sometimes talk about Jesus having to push his raw and bloodied back up against the rough cross in order to breathe. But notice that the gospel writers did not do this. Though the physical suffering on the cross was extreme, the Bible emphasizes the shame, not the pain.
The Roman soldiers crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them. Jesus was naked on the cross. And Jesus was mocked on the cross. Passersby wagged their heads at him and said, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” They mocked the King, saying, “Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” The Gospels highlight the shame, because this was a shame and honor culture
In a shame and honor culture, the pinnacle of shame, surely, was to be crucified. Jesus “endured the cross, despising the shame” for you and me. He disregarded the shame and suffering for the future joy of accomplishing our forgiveness. We all, as Paul wrote, “have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” That is the shame we are born with and can do nothing about in our own strength. That is the shame that Jesus chose to take upon himself for our sake, so that we might be saved. The cross of humiliation became the throne of the King. Jesus said earlier that week, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Then he said it again, in reference to the cross: “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.”
The hour Jesus referred to was his death. It was on the cross that Jesus was glorified and given the name above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. I know the disciples did not understand this and were in mourning, or even hiding, after Jesus’ death. But we need not preach it that way anymore. We need not say, as I have been guilty of saying, “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming.” As if Jesus had lost the battle but we knew he would win in the end. No, it was on Friday that Jesus was enthroned as King. He cried a victor’s cry: “It is finished!” The word is “tetelestai,” a cry of victory from one who crossed the finish line and won. It was a cry of triumph from the cross.
Instead of saying that Jesus proved he is King when he was raised from the dead, we should say that the resurrection revealed on Sunday what was true on Friday at 3pm. Jesus defeated the devil. Jesus conquered sin. Jesus reversed the curse for you and me. On the cross. Then he rose again and 40 days later he ascended to heaven. If either of those had not happened, we would have no hope. But they did. If Jesus does not come again to take us to be with him where he is, we have no hope. But he promised to come again and the Lord keeps his promises. We have hope because of his victory on the cross.
Jeremy Treat wrote, “Herein lies the paradox of the gospel. The self-giving love of God transformed an instrument of death into an instrument of life. The cross is the great reversal, where exaltation comes through humiliation, glory is revealed in shame, victory is accomplished through surrender, and the triumph of the kingdom comes through the suffering of the servant.”
Our victory was won on a wooden throne.
J. Mark Fox 