The crucifixion of Jesus - horrific yet glorious

Why is it that Christians view the crucifixion of Jesus as both horrific and glorious?

Horrific, yes, but glorious also?

Nailing a criminal onto a cross is a barbaric form of execution. The Romans did it to

thousands of people. Two other men were crucified either side of Jesus but their

deaths could hardly be said to be of world changing significance as is the case with

the death of Jesus.

So, what is different about that man hanging upon the middle cross 2000 years ago?

In short, he acted as if he was God come to earth as man. It was his words, miracles

and purity of character that caused people to ask, ‘Just who is this man?’ - a prophet,

the awaited Messiah or even the Son of God? This was too much for the Jewish

religious leaders who, as guardians of the nation’s faith, couldn’t entertain such an

‘outsider’ challenging the status quo. They conspired to get rid of him. To do this they

needed to turn the masses against Jesus and to enrol the non-Jewish governing

authorities represented by governor Pontius Pilate. They succeeded and Jesus was

judicially murdered.

What was going on here is profound. With Jesus, both Jews and non-Jews came face-

to-face with the very character of God and decided such close proximity to him was

too uncomfortable.

At his sham trial, the people, by committing common sins (e.g. speaking half-truths,

hatred, faithlessness and irreverence), were key players in putting Jesus onto the

cross. We can say that he had to bear the sins of men and women through to death. To

judge and condemn God in Jesus Christ in this way is horrific.

There is another dimension to be told - a heavenly dimension. God, because of his

love for people, had preordained that this was how Jesus was to die. Stay with me

here. Contrary to what many people think, God is a just judge and today we are each

on the guilty sheet. From heaven’s perspective, Jesus was a pure, untainted sacrifice; a

scapegoat, offered so people like you and I needn’t remain condemned for our own

sins. Yes, Jesus died on behalf of others.

The message of Good Friday tells us to take to our hearts this amazing grace. This is

why Christians make such a big deal about the cross of Jesus and see it as glorious.

Jesus versus mere religion

Recently, I heard first-hand the story of how a man came to believe in God i.e. as revealed to us in the unique person of Jesus. This man had been born into a well-to-do religious family. By the time he became a teenager and then into his university years, he was fearful of the sovereign God that his religion presented to him. He became more depressed as he realised that his eliefs gave no assurance that he would enter heaven. He knew that his life was less than perfect and although God might forgive him, then again he might not. The bottom line was that the best he could do was to try and do good things to compensate for the bad, but he saw a problem with this approach. ‘What was the exchange rate? If I told a lie what good thing would wipe this out?’ He didn’t know and no one could tell him. He was in despair and hopeless, believing that he was damned.

Now I don't know enough about this guy's religion to know whether his understanding of it was a fair representation of its beliefs. Nevertheless, the fact remains that how he did understand things left him in a very unhappy place. To cut a long story short, he found himself talking to some Christians and they showed him this verse from the New Testament: ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us…’

For Christians, this is a well-known verse that shows how even when we mess up and let God down there is a way back. If we confess our sins and turn again to God, we can have assurance of full forgiveness. Interestingly, this friend said, ‘What hit me right between the eyes was that phrase “God is faithful and just”’. Until this moment, his understanding was that God, being absolutely sovereign, could choose one day to forgive and on another to withhold that forgiveness.

The declaration that God is faithful and just showed him that God was actually consistent with his own character, and so to be faithful and just one day and different the next was impossible.

The man was keen to learn more and soon became a Christian. He’d discovered how, because of Jesus, we can be assured of God’s consistency and faithfulness.

The love of God

Come November and I think of bonfire night; February and (thanks to St Valentine) I think of love! Most people who have ideas about God will feel on safe ground when they tell us that God is a God of love. This is certainly true but it is not the whole truth. God is also the God of light, justice, truth and holiness but because these make us feel a little uncomfortable, we want to focus on God being loving and kindly. Does God love everyone equally and in the same way? If your immediate response is to say ‘of course’, then is his love for, let’s say, Nobel peace prize winner Mother Teresa on a par with that of Adolf Hitler?

Jesus explains to us in what sense God’s love for people is general and impartial. He says that God sends his rain onto the farmland of both the just and the unjust, and he makes his sun shine on evil and good people alike. So God’s love and kindness reveal his general disposition towards men and women even though they may be his enemies.

During the course of our lives, we each experience pain and suffering, losses and griefs. The hymn Amazing Grace recognises that we pass through many ‘dangers, toils and snares’. Yet there are endless, hidden tribulations that, due to the grace and love of God, will never touch us. If we are willing, we can view these unseen providential deliverances as expressions of God’s love and kindness to each of us even though we have to admit that we don’t deserve them.

But there is more, much more. God has a particular love for a group of people which he calls ‘his own’. Jesus identifies himself as the Good Shepherd of these - God’s own people. He says he knows his own sheep by name and that these sheep recognise his voice, so giving them assurance that they belong to God in a definite way. This group of men and women are given a sense of God’s love and kindness in a way that isn’t common to the experience of everyone. You can know this love of God also. Look up the gospel of John chapter 3 verse 16.