As far as the wisdom of this world is concerned, we are all wasting our time by being here at St. Paul Lutheran Church this morning. Your prayers and hymns are heard no farther than the walls that surround us. Our readings from this book that we call the Bible represent nothing more than myths and fantasies written by some over-zealous and misguided fanatics. The Scriptures that we hold to be inspired by the Holy Spirit are nothing more than short-sighted and often intolerant ramblings of men that have no relevance to the world we live in today. Jesus of Nazareth – if, indeed, he ever lived at all – was just an ordinary human being like you and me who had a human father, who didn’t work miracles, and who died and remains dead. What we call The Lord’s Supper is just a stale, tasteless mixture of flour and water and some Mogen David Concord grape wine. There is now – and never has been – a god. “Sin” is a meaningless word that hypocritical people use to judge others. There is no afterlife; no heaven, and certainly no hell. And if you’re foolish enough to profess any of these things as actually being true – well, then you’re just a fool.
I am hoping that those words offended you. That they scandalized you. That they made you angry. Because they should offend you and scandalize you and make you angry.
And while I’m at it, I want to point out the single most offensive symbol in the world today. No, it’s not a swastika, it’s not some other symbol that’s full of hate. It’s right there on our Altar – that shining, brass cross. It’s over there by the hymn board – our processional cross. It’s up there – that beautiful stained glass window depicting Jesus Christ hanging on the cross. It’s right here next to this pulpit – the largest cross we have here at St. Paul but still probably smaller than the cross that stood on Golgotha on Good Friday. It’s the symbol that I have already made three times in this Worship Service and will make many more times before we leave this Church today – the sign of the cross.
In today’s Epistle lesson we heard these words: “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom.” Two thousand years ago, when St. Paul was writing his first letter to the Corinthians – that is, to members of the Christian Church in the Greek city of Corinth – many of the first Christians had been born and raised in the Jewish faith. Paul’s reference to the Jews demanding “signs” is a direct reference to the situation Jesus had faced when unbelieving Jews repeatedly demanded that He show them some sort of powerful and undeniable “sign” from heaven to prove that he truly was the Messiah. On one occasion Jesus replied: “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” In other words, the Jews demanded a sign and Jesus pointed to His own death and resurrection. Jesus had already given many signs by His miracles and His fulfillment of Scripture, but those signs were never enough, never satisfied the crowds. They wanted a Jesus who could perform on demand – something like “do this right here and now, Jesus, and we’ll believe.” But Jesus wasn’t a sideshow performer sent by God to dazzle the people with amazing displays of all sorts of things that they couldn’t do. Jesus was – and is – the Son of God who came for no other reason than to save us from our sins. Yes, the signs were there, but they were ignored.
The Greeks liked signs, too – but more than that, the Greeks valued wisdom. The Greeks were great thinkers and voracious learners. The ancient Greek historian and writer Herodotus once said that “all Greeks were zealous for every kind of learning.” Greek history had produced legendary philosophers like Plato and Aristotle and Sophocles. In Acts chapter 17 we read of the occasion when Paul addressed some of the leading Greek philosophers in Athens and they asked Paul to explain this “new teaching” that he had brought for the first time to their city. This “new teaching” that was becoming known to the world as “Christianity.”
Returning to our Epistle lesson, Paul writes: “but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.” Now we begin to get a better understanding of why the cross is so offensive. Remember that the Jewish people had this conception of the Messiah as a mighty warrior – someone like, perhaps, King David – an invincible military leader who would triumphantly ride into Jerusalem at the head of a great army that was going to drive out – once and for all – those hated Romans who ruled them and oppressed them. They were waiting for a Messiah who would reestablish the great and powerful nation of Israel, a nation that simply ceased to exist following the conquest of the north by the Assyrians and the conquest of the south by the Babylonians.
Instead, they got Jesus of Nazareth. A man who was, indeed, a descendent of King David but was born in utter poverty in a barn. A man who was dogged by rumors that His “father” Joseph was not really His father. A man who refused to lead an army, who resisted any thoughts about making Him a military or political leader. A man who spoke not words of war but words of peace. Words like we heard in today’s Gospel lesson: “Blessed are the poor in spirit … Blessed are the meek … Blessed are the merciful … Blessed are the peacemakers … Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” A man who entered Jerusalem not riding on a great horse at the head of a great army, but riding on a donkey. Jesus didn’t meet any of the preconceived notions of what the Messiah would be, even though he was exactly what the prophets had said that He would be. Jesus wasn’t the Messiah that the Jews expected nor the Messiah that the Jews wanted. Everything He was – and everything He did – was a stumbling block. And the ultimate stumbling block, of course, was His death on the cross, for the Jews considered crucifixion to be the most shameful death possible. Every Jew knew that anyone who was hung on a tree was cursed by God – it was right there in Deuteronomy chapter 21.
As far as the Gentiles – as far as the Greeks – were concerned, the very idea of a Messiah being crucified was just plain ridiculous. Crucifixion was a form of execution used only for the lowest of the low – for rebellious slaves and for hardened criminals. It was illegal for a Roman citizen to be crucified. It was unheard of for people of wealth and stature and importance to be crucified. The word “Messiah” denotes a person of royal dignity and authority, but one who was crucified had no dignity, no authority, no status if any kind. To the Greeks and their keen sense of wisdom, it made no sense at all that a crucified criminal would be declared a Messiah or would be called the Son of God. The words and the concepts just don’t go together. From what they could understand, these Christians were worshiping a dead man. It was, as Paul said, “folly to the Gentiles.”
We’ve been talking here about people and attitudes from some 2,000 years ago, but now let’s jump back to the present day, to January 30, 2011. Why is the cross so offensive today? Let me suggest this: the cross is offensive today to millions, possibly billions of people, because the cross represents the Gospel. The Gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ – Jesus the Messiah – Jesus, true God and true man – died for our sins and rose from the dead. The cross represents Christianity, and many in our world are firmly convinced that Christianity is just a false religion or just a lot of nonsense.
After all, if you’re a Christian, you believe that you were born in sin and that you will die in sin. If you’re not a Christian, you reject the whole concept of sin.
If you’re a Christian, you believe that unbelievers will spend an eternity in hell, while believers in Christ will spend eternity with Christ in heaven. If you’re not a Christian, you reject the existence of both heaven and hell, of any kind of afterlife.
If you’re a Christian, you believe that Jesus died for your sins. If you’re not a Christian and you don’t believe that sin even exists, then you don’t need or don’t want someone to die for you.
If you are a Christian, then you see the cross as the defining moment in history gave you life – eternal life. If you’re not a Christian, then you see the cross as just two meaningless pieces of wood.
If you are a Christian, the cross is a symbol of God’s love and God’s grace. If you’re not a Christian, then the cross is a symbol of something that you loathe and detest and reject.
If you are a Christian, you rejoice that Jesus rose from the dead and that the tomb in which He was laid is forever empty. If you’re not a Christian, you would prefer for Jesus to die and stay dead. Because if He’s not dead, then you’re wrong. If He’s not dead, then by His resurrection Jesus truly did show Himself to be the way, the truth and the life. If He’s not dead, then all of those words of the Bible and all of those things that those Christians have been saying really are true.
The cross represents the penalty of sin and rebellion against God. If you’re not a Christian, you don’t even want to think about that penalty, you don’t want to even think that you might be headed to hell when you die. It’s a lot easier to be in a state of denial. Deny the cross. Hate the cross. Take your chances. Wait and see what happens.
Today’s Epistle lesson begins with these words: “The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Two thousand years ago, Almighty God sent His Son Jesus to our world, in a human body just like our human bodies. He sent His Son not to be a mighty warrior, but to be a seemingly weak and powerless man who would suffer a form of death reserved only for worthless slaves and worthless criminals. But in that terrible and shameful death, Jesus took our sins on His tortured body and undeservedly suffered the death that each and every one of us truly has deserved. He suffered the agonies of hell. He died. And He rose from the dead. And because He suffered and died and rose from the dead, our sins have been forgiven. Our death sentence has been replaced with a promise of eternal life. To those of us who have been brought to faith as believers in Christ – to those of us who are being saved – the word of the cross truly is “the power of God.”
The cross represents our salvation, our life, our faith, our Savior, our Messiah. The world will continue to reject and revile it, just as the world will continue to reject and revile us. But that’s OK. That’s what we expect. For when we are reviled and rejected, we can gain comfort and strength in the words of Jesus our Messiah, the final words of today’s Gospel lesson, where Jesus tells us: “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
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