Cross, Crucifixion

The importance of the cross as a theological motif in the New Testament is impossible to overestimate. It stands as the center of the New Testament theology of salvation and is the starting point for not only soteriology, but all of Christian theology. It is the means by which we finally and fully understand the work of Christ on our behalf. The Gospel of Mark indicates that it is at the cross that we recognize Jesus as God's divinely appointed Savior of the world ( 10:45 ; 15:39 ). While the larger notion of the death of Christ may carry a broader and even deeper significance in New Testament theology, the cross as a symbol of God's action in Christ and a motivator for us to follow is worthy of discussion.

The cross of Christ is the center of the work that God did in Christ, "reconciling the world to himself" ( 2 Co 5:19 ). Paul emphasizes this work most notably in the early chapters of 1 Corinthians. The emphasis there is on power; the cross is held up as the power of God, which is seen as weakness by men. The statement of 1:17 belongs with the passage before, and introduces the thought Paul develops in 1:18-2:5. He is concerned "to preach the gospelnot with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power, " and declares the message of the cross to be foolishness. However, this foolishness of God destroys the wisdom of the wise and is therefore central to the biblical notion of the salvation of God being a wise salvation because God is a wise God. The wise man, scholar, and philosopher of this age are dumbfounded by what appears to them to be foolishness.

The link of the cross with God's wisdom and power is intriguing, but perhaps most significant is the linking of the cross to Christ himself. Paul says that he preaches "Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God" ( 1 Cor 1:23-24 ). The structure of this sentence equates the "Christ crucified" with "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." Hence the cross is seen as a defining revelation of who Christ is: the messianic wisdom of God and the dynamic power of God predicted in the Old Testament.

The cross is also seen as God's deliberate choice. He did not stumble onto it by accident but chose the weak and foolish things of the world in order deliberately to confound the wise and to shame the strong. Thus, a fourth element, and perhaps the most radical, of God's character is demonstrated in the cross: the love of God for the despised of the world. The cross is a symbol of shame in the Old Testament ( Deut 21:23 ; cf. Gal 3:13-14 ) and thereby serves not only to state the radical nature of Christ's humiliation, but by implication to judge the world and all its inhabitants as being "the despised" who must identify with a crucified messiah in order to receive God's salvation. Thus, the statement in 1 Corinthians becomes not only a statement of theology but also a statement of anthropology.

Paul continues this theme in the statement about himself and his own weakness, which becomes a major theme of 1 Corinthians. He claims to have not come to them with eloquence or superior wisdom, but as one who resolves to know nothing except "Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom but on God's power" ( 2:2-5 ). Hence the passage comes full circle back to the wisdom and power of the cross, which seems to be foolishness and weakness to men. The central focus now, though, is not Christ but Paul himself who, as a minister of Christ, must come only in weakness and foolishness. So now a third theological category is defined by the cross, that of ministry in the world. It is to be characterized by foolishness and weakness. Of course the background of the passage is the contrast of Greek wisdom, which looked only for eloquence and style, not substance, and a power that was emotional, and for the moment, not lasting. Hence Paul comes with the power of substantial argument that can "demolish strongholds" ( 2 Co 10:4 ) and operates with a power that suffers and dies rather than victoriously triumphs.