Just a Thought about the World's Most Important Subject

Thinking about the cross in Lent. I think there are three ways of talking about the cross. 1. being specific about the details of the crucifixion. This is the Passion of the Christ method. The NT doesn't do this because everybody at that time knew what a crucifixion was and how it was performed. So we don't get many details. 2. discussing how it fits in the gospel and redemption narrative. 3. teaching the church what it means. This is what Paul and Peter did, among other epistle writers.

Jesus predicted the cross, taught that it was necessary, went through it, and accomplished our salvation through it. But verse for verse, he didn't talk about it a great deal in the gospels. When he was here, he was announcing that the kingdom--that is, the king--was here. He spent his time "proving," if you will, who he was. In the Acts and the epistles we learn all the implications and ramifications of the cross. We start with "substitutionary atonement," but there was even more than that. And as my SS ladies pointed out today, there's a lot more about the resurrection than we pay attention to.

My point is that if Jesus is not who he said he is, the cross was just another execution. The cross matters because it was Jesus dying, and because he conquered it. It's a package deal, so to speak.