Chapter 4: The Crucifixion: Why Jesus Had to Die
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
—1 Corinthians 1:18
THE RUSSIAN NOVELIST FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY WROTE his books during the turbulent nineteenth century, when the moral ground was dramatically shifting underneath his nation’s feet. In one of his classics, Crime and Punishment, he explores the psychological torment of a young man who commits a double murder and tries to evade discovery of the crime as well as the mental and spiritual anguish that results. In the end he cannot escape from the accusations of his own conscience and turns himself in to the authorities. The message of this book, and other works, such as The Brothers Karamazov, is that there is a real moral code in the world that emanates from God from which we cannot escape. Therefore, there is a distinct moral principle that we all seem to accept: crime demands punishment.
For thousands of years of human history, the principle that someone committing a crime deserves just punishment has been widely accepted. Humans are innately moral beings with codes of conduct that demand retribution when violated. That desire is what we mean by justice. If someone is wronged, justice cries out that something be done. On the other hand, injustice is allowing evil actions to continue without any consequence to the perpetrators. Without punishment, injustice grows and flourishes.
What logically follows is that the greater the crime, the more severe the punishment. Some acts of violence are so serious that throughout civilization the ultimate punishment of death is enforced. Even societies against capital punishment assign such offenders life sentences. Taking away the rest of the criminal’s life is seen as the only punishment that befits the crime.
These examples relate to crimes against humanity. But what about acts that go beyond what is done to other people? What about crimes against God? Would these acts not bring the greatest judgment of all since these are actually crimes of the heart against our Creator? The Ten Commandments begin with the ones that pertain to our relationship with God: we must have no other gods before Him; do not make idols and worship them; do not take the name of Lord in vain; and remember His Sabbath (Exodus 20:1–11). After these come the commandments that speak of our relationship with one another as people. But the perplexing question is, how are our sins against God to be treated?
The God of love is also a God of judgment. The reason? If He does not judge sin, He could not ultimately be loving. Imagine your parents not stopping your sibling from assaulting you because they told you they were loving parents. If they were truly loving, they would stop the offending party and punish him for his actions. The punishment acts as a deterrent against committing the offense again. People indeed want God to stop evil, but the way He does it is through judgment.
Yes, people have “free will,” but so does God. People can act as they choose, but God will ultimately respond. Ironically, when God is recorded as judging evil people, critics accuse Him of being harsh and unloving. However, God only punishes people and nations out of love for the entire world, and His judgments, even the most severe, are always just. Unfortunately, everyone has violated God’s law and acted in ways that hurt others and undermined His creation. Therefore, we all deserve judgment, even death. So then the quandary is this: How can God be both loving and just at the same time without compromising either?
The answer to this question is connected to His death on the cross, which, as we discussed in chapter 2, is an accepted fact of history. In essence, Jesus died on the cross to suffer the consequences for the sins of humankind (fulfilling the demands of justice) while extending mercy to us, who deserved the punishment. Christ came in fulfillment of the prophets to suffer and die. He freely gave his life for ours (John 10:15) so we would be free from the power and judgment of sin. Though the cross has become the universally recognized symbol of the Christian faith, its power has been obscured and its horror vastly understated.
God isn’t just interested in the evil that happens to you; He wants to stop it coming through you.
WHY CRUCIFIXION?
God chose the specific moment in history for this death to happen at the hands of those who were infamous for being the best, most efficient, cruelest, and most unrelenting in their ability to kill someone in such a fashion that it could never be credibly doubted.
It was public. To have Jesus die in some kind of private, humane way would have meant that the world could be left to doubt whether He really died or think that His followers staged an apparent execution, much like a team working with an illusionist. The actual form of execution placed a crater in the heart of human history.
The medical details of the crucifixion have been studied extensively based on the gospel accounts, historical evidence, and Jesus’ burial cloth. As depicted in the Gospels, those condemned to crucifixion were first flogged using a whip consisting of leather straps with pieces of metal and bone attached to them. This scourging would deeply rip into the flesh of the victim, causing extensive bleeding. Jesus also had a crown of thorns pressed onto His head, causing even more blood loss. The victim would then carry the crossbeam of the cross, which weighed around one hundred pounds, to the site of the crucifixion. At that point, the wrists1 and feet would be nailed to the cross. The nails were the size of railroad spikes, and they severed a major nerve, which caused excruciating pain. After the soldiers placed the victim on the cross, they would commonly jeer and divide up the clothes. These details are mentioned in the Gospels, and they precisely match the specifics of Roman crucifixions. Such correspondences further confirm that the authors were recording actual events derived from eyewitnesses.
The posture of crucified individuals prevented breathing, so they had to pull themselves up by their arms and feet to breathe. Victims would commonly cease to breathe due to exhaustion or pain and then die from lack of oxygen. Others would die from dehydration or blood loss. If the soldiers wished to speed up the death, they would break the legs, as mentioned in the gospel of John. Jesus appeared to already be dead, so they drove a spear through His side to make sure. Roman soldiers always ensured that their victims had truly died before allowing them to be taken off the cross, or else they themselves would be executed.2
Just knowing that Jesus died is not enough; one must understand the significance of His death. Thousands of people die every day. We don’t think that their deaths have any effect on us, other than the sadness of the loss of someone we knew or loved. But the death of Jesus has everything to do with us. The knowledge of His crucifixion isn’t about eliciting emotion or sadness on our part but a conviction of what was accomplished on our behalf. His mission to save us was what drove Him beyond the pain and torment. “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2 NKJV).
This inexplicable joy is the secret of how Jesus endured that moment. It was the joy of knowing what His sacrifice would accomplish for all humanity. We now turn our attention to understanding the greatness of what was accomplished through His death on the cross—starting with His satisfaction of the claims of guilt against us because of our transgressions.
GOD’S PLAN TO END INJUSTICE
As we look deeply into this supreme act of divine justice, we should shudder at its implications for us and our salvation. God initially created the world free of evil and suffering. The first couple existed in a perfect relationship with God, each other, and creation. They only needed to trust God as the source of their identity, security, and purpose. However, Adam and Eve chose to rebel against God and become their own ultimate authority. Their rebellion resulted in their separation from God, the source of true life. They then experienced pain and suffering, which spread to the entire world. Yet God did not abandon humanity. Instead, He set in motion His plan of salvation to save us from both the consequences of sin and its destructive power.
The plan of salvation started with the first sacrifice—the death of an animal in the garden to create a covering for Adam and Eve’s sin. It extended to the formation of the nation of Israel with their sacrificial system, which covered the sins of the Hebrew people. It culminated in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for the sins of the whole world. And it will be fully enacted with Jesus’ second coming, when all evil will be removed and people fully experience God’s presence forever in the restored creation.
To digress for just a moment, critics balk at the notion that Adam and Eve were real people, but several factors point to their authenticity. From science, the fossil record suggests that the characteristics distinct in humans appeared suddenly and did not evolve gradually over time.3 In addition, genetic evidence is consistent with all people originating from a single couple.4 Next, Jesus spoke about God creating male and female in the beginning (Matthew 19:4). As we have mentioned, and will discuss in greater detail in the next chapter, the resurrection of Jesus validates His identity and gives credibility to His words above all others. If Jesus said Adam and Eve were real, then you can confidently accept that claim as truth. Finally, no theological premise is more empirically supported than the fallen condition of humankind. People have an innate sense that absolute moral principles exist, yet we have an uncontrollable tendency to violate those truths, often through the most horrendous acts.5 These realities are abundantly confirmed by even the most cursory study of history, psychology, or the evening news. And they point to the fact that we were created by God in His image, but humanity became corrupt and alienated from our Creator.
The Penalty of Sin
The first issue Christ had to deal with was the penalty for sin. Because sin is, in essence, breaking God’s law through rebelling against Him, it must be punished. Imagine a murderer committing a horrible crime and simply asking to be forgiven and let out of jail. Forgiveness can be granted, but what’s missing is a just punishment.
The physical and emotional trauma of what Christ suffered and endured is difficult to comprehend even when graphically portrayed in movies like The Passion of the Christ. Usually, the response is that this torture and pain was for the purpose of Jesus showing us how much He loves us. This claim is true for a different reason than most assume. Yes, it was done out of incomprehensible love. But just as important, He took our punishment. It was the penalty for the sins of the world. Whether we realize it or not, this punishment was ours to bear. It is astounding that someone would bear these consequences on our behalf.
The prophet Isaiah would predict this substitutionary work of Jesus on the cross, how He took our punishment and paid the penalty for the sins of the world:
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)
This graphic prophetic picture was given almost six hundred years in advance, and it depicts the demands of divine justice as portrayed throughout Scripture.
From the beginning of God’s dealings with humans, sin (breaking God’s law) was costly. However, God constantly provided coverings and substitutes. The first act of disobedience resulted in death’s entering into the human condition. Immediately, an innocent animal was killed to cover the first couple’s transgression and consequent shame. The deliverance from the bondage of slavery in Egypt was punctuated with the Hebrews being given a shelter from the judgment coming to the land by the blood of a lamb. The promise of God was that the blood would cause the judgment of the final plague to pass over the dwellings of those who applied it to their doorposts. Hence, the term Passover. Through the sacrifice of the lamb, the Hebrews were spared from the death of their firstborn.
This theme of the price of sin being the shedding of blood is consistent through Scripture. Jesus would point to this symbolically in His last supper with His disciples before His death. He would raise the wine glass used in the Passover seder and declare, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Luke 22:20).
Understanding the gravity of sin and the extreme penalty that is incurred should make us tremble at the enormity of this great sacrifice and gift from God that He would suffer such torment and agony in our place.
Severe Punishment Overshadowed by Great Mercy
What is often overlooked when the severe punishments for sin in the Old Testament are mentioned is the enormous mercy that is available to all. Put simply, when you realize the gravity of the consequences of a transgression, you will be amazed at the grace that is offered. On the other hand, if the penalty for sin were negligible, then the value of forgiveness would also be diminished.
The prime example of God’s provision for sin is seen in the book of Leviticus. This part of Scripture is often attacked by critics as a prime exhibit where God’s wrath is too excessive. However, a closer look reveals the opposite. Before Leviticus mentions laws and punishments, the first sixteen of twenty-seven chapters provide instructions for atonement (covering for sins) and for receiving forgiveness and cleansing. In chapter 16 the instructions for the Day of Atonement demonstrate a grand picture of how abundant and available God’s mercy has always been.
This day of forgiveness is still observed thirty-five hundred years later. Once a year, the Day of Atonement, “Yom Kippur” in Hebrew, is celebrated around the world. Virtually every Jewish synagogue reads the book of Jonah during the ceremony. This choice of reading may seem odd at first glance. Why would the book where the key story is about a man being swallowed by a sea creature rise to such attention? The choice is not simply a peculiarity of the Jewish faith. Looking closer, it’s not the fish story that is the biggest surprise of this account but the gift of mercy that swallows up the judgment that the city of Nineveh was due.
In the story, Jonah runs away after God sends him to deliver a message of destruction to the city. Many assume that Jonah ran because he was afraid to deliver this stern warning to such a hostile city. But the real reason Jonah ran was because he knew God was merciful. In the end, he told God that he didn’t want to give the message of judgment to the people, for he knew God would forgive and not destroy them.
But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the LORD, “Isn’t this what I said, LORD, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” (Jonah 4:1–3)
Many times we as humans want people to get what they deserve. When Jonah was told to announce impending doom on the city, he was only too aware of God’s great mercy—so much so that he ran as far away from it as he could. Thankfully, you can’t outrun the love of God. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
The Lamb of God
God demonstrated His love and abundant mercy through many other Old Testament characters in addition to Jonah. But these figures were merely foreshadowing the fulfillment of God’s promises in the entrance of Jesus of Nazareth into human history. His coming was later heralded by John the Baptist, one of the key people that even critics concede was a person of history. John preached repentance for the forgiveness of sins in the wilderness of Judea, and he baptized multitudes who responded. Seeing Jesus at a distance he announced “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29 NKJV).
Calling Him the Lamb of God harkened to the images of the sacrificial lamb that averted judgment for all who took advantage of this offer of grace. It also foreshadowed that Jesus would sacrifice His unblemished life to remove the sins of the world. Jesus recognized that His sacrifice was the culmination of His earthly mission. “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:51). Again the ultimate price of sin points to the shedding of blood as the required payment.
Lifted Up
The apostle John in his gospel detailed another moment of divine judgment upstaged by God’s mercy. The setting was a plague that broke out among the Hebrews while they were in the wilderness following their miraculous deliverance from Egypt. In one of the strangest moments in history, God instructed Moses on what to do to stop the plague:
And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and many of the people of Israel died.
Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole, and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he would looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. (Numbers 21:5–9 NKJV)
This indeed is one of those strange moments in history where we shouldn’t dismiss the message because of the unique and unusual nature of the narrative. The story can be summarized by the common pattern seen throughout the Old Testament: sin brought judgment, but God then provided mercy.
The remedy God prescribed was to make a symbol of the people’s judgment and lift it up to the place where everyone had a chance to look at it and be forgiven. They were instructed to look and live. One could imagine the difficulty of the people looking to God’s solution with all the turmoil around them. When I’m in a place of panic and fear, getting my eyes off my problem and looking to God’s solution takes a great step of faith.
Jesus would use this imagery to describe His mission. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:14–16 NKJV).
Jesus promised that people should look to Him when He was lifted up on the cross to receive eternal life. As with the serpents, His sacrifice represented the judgment deserved for our sins. And placing our faith in Him would result in our being freed from the curse of death. The apostle Paul would give more insight into this when he wrote “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
The reason a serpent was used is possibly connected to the moment that Jesus took on our sins at the cross. The verse mentioned above said he became “sin for us, who knew no sin” (KJV). As the apostle Peter stated, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
Once again the prophet Isaiah spoke of this bearing of our sins hundreds of years in advance:
Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4–5)
This dimension of salvation was not what the Jewish people were expecting when they looked for a Messiah. They had hoped for a national, militaristic deliverance, not the spiritual salvation that was desperately needed. The idea of their Messiah being tortured and humiliated was scandalous to them. Yet this incredible sacrifice made real peace with God possible.
Redeemed from Slavery
Jesus also came to deal with sin’s power over us. The announcement of Christ’s birth by an angel was accompanied by this prophecy: “He will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). The incredible gift to us isn’t just forgiveness but the power to overcome our inborn proclivity toward evil. The Old Testament prophets promised that God would give His people a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26; Jeremiah 31:31–33). This promise was fulfilled by the Holy Spirit giving believers a new nature—a new spiritual birth. The process of God freeing us from the power of sin is connected by the New Testament writers to God’s freeing the Hebrews from the slavery of Egypt.
Many of the issues that skeptics point to in order to discredit the Scriptures actually point to the mercy and love of God when examined openly and fairly. Slavery is certainly one of humanity’s greatest transgressions. From the beginning of recorded history, slavery in one form or another has been a fact of life. People have claimed that the Bible somehow sanctioned slavery because there were instructions given about how slaves were to be treated. Though this is not the place to give a full exposé about how to properly interpret this issue and how fair and just God was to those who were in this condition, it is important to see that slavery was the picture God gave that best described the human condition.6 We are slaves to sin.
The Ten Commandments, which God personally gave to Moses, begin with the statement, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery” (Exodus 20:2). Then the commandments are listed. God is not the author of slavery but the deliverer from it.
It is impossible to understand what Christ accomplished through His crucifixion without grasping the fact that He came to buy us out of this condition of spiritual bondage. That’s what the term redeemed means—to buy or ransom someone from a condition of slavery and set that person free. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). To be ransomed suggests we were held hostage in our fallen condition. The prophets would foretell this redemption, and Christ would fulfill it through His death and resurrection.
The Crucifixion Is at the Heart of the Gospel
We are called to proclaim the gospel (good news) to all nations. To gain a better understanding of what the message is, here is a succinct definition:
The gospel is the good news that God became man in Jesus Christ. He lived the life we should have lived and died the death we should have died—in our place. Three days later He rose from the dead, proving that He is the Son of God and offering the gift of salvation to those who repent and believe in Him.
At the heart of the message is the sentence, “He lived the life we should have lived and died the death we should have died—in our place.” Let’s look closer at each idea presented. (In the next few chapters we examine the other claims of the gospel message.)
He Lived the Life We Should Have Lived
Christ had to be spotless. He wasn’t just an extraordinarily righteous man; He was perfect. In all of human history there has been no serious claim to being perfect, especially in the moral sense. British comedian Stephen Fry unleashed a grossly unfair rant against God due to the evil and suffering in the world and laid it all out in his charge that God couldn’t be real and allow such pain. He went on to say that he would like it better if the Greek gods were real because they were more like humans, with the same appetites and moral imperfections. Is this really what we would want—an imperfect God?
After proving again and again His avoidance of sin, Jesus’ final test would be to surrender Himself to God and be willing to do His will, even if it meant death. Throughout the ministry of Jesus, He gave a variety of messages that pointed to His primary mission to lay down His life for others. Quite the antithesis of the survival-of-the-fittest mentality. It was a revolutionary outlook that would be the radical call for His followers. If He did not come to be served but to serve others, then this would be His followers’ path as well, a radical love of action, not just talk. Self-sacrifice would replace self-fulfillment as the path to peace and life.
Because of His sinless life, He was able to offer Himself on our behalf as our substitute. The only appropriate sacrifice to cover the sins of the entire world was a perfect one. Only Jesus could fulfill this requirement. He was not just an extraordinarily righteous man; He was completely free from sin and perfectly obedient to God in all His words and deeds. All of our heroes are flawed, even the best of them. However, Jesus completely followed God’s law and His will. He demonstrated unparalleled compassion and mercy. He also displayed complete authority over evil powers, disease, and even death itself. He challenged religious hypocrisy, and He called people to completely turn from evil. In the end, He fully surrendered Himself to God’s will by offering Himself as a sacrifice on the cross. Jesus’ life fulfilled God’s law, so His death was able to cover all of our sins.
In addition, through our faith in Jesus, the power of the Holy Spirit unites our lives with His. So we become transformed daily into His image. Over time we experience greater power over our sins, and our very thoughts to greater and greater extent conform to God’s will. We can also experience peace and joy, knowing that God does not see us in the light of our own imperfections but in the light of Jesus’ life.
He Died the Death We Should Have Died
The idea of dying for someone else’s sin seems senseless to many. The Muslim world rejects this concept and states that each person will be judged for his or her own actions. Most religious systems state that our eternal fate is determined by how well our actions conform to some moral code or set of teachings. Unfortunately, all such claims are foolish when we recognize that no one can meet God’s perfect standards. As the apostle Paul stated, “All . . . fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
Everyone who commits a crime against humanity should pay for that crime. But how could one pay for his sins against God? What possible punishment would fit rebellion against the Creator of the universe? If certain acts merit death or a life sentence here on earth, wouldn’t it make sense for the punishment for sins against God to be even greater? Would not the consequences of sins against an eternal God also continue on into eternity? The sobering truth is that all of us deserve the judgment of eternal death since no one is worthy to stand in God’s presence. Only in this light can the sacrifice of Jesus be properly understood. All of us deserve punishment, but Jesus’ perfect life paid the unimaginable debt we owe God. Through faith in Him, we receive forgiveness of our sins and the power to live a new life. As the apostle Paul wrote to the Romans:
This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:22–26)
It indeed was a divine rescue mission. Christ came to ransom us from the grip of sin and death. Yet it must be underscored: there was no other way to help us except through His substitutionary death on our behalf. If there had been another way other than dying in our place, Jesus would have certainly taken that way out. In fact, before His death He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, “If there be any other way, let this cup pass.” In the end, there was no other way. The sinless Son of God offered Himself to the Father on our behalf to pay for our sins and bring us back to God.
THE IMPACT OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST
Christ’s crucifixion is undeniable. However, beyond the fact of His death, the significance of what happened is found as we look deeper into Scripture. To some it seems like a brutal, tragic end to a great life. In reality, there were far-reaching consequences to this sacrificial act—as far-reaching as to heaven above and hell below.
Disarmed the Powers of Darkness
The evil powers of this world had conspired to destroy Jesus. These powers included the corrupt religious system headed by Caiaphas, the domineering political system headed by Pilate and Herod Antipas, and the demonic powers ruled by Satan. Their ultimate victory seemed to be Jesus’ crucifixion, but He would soon demonstrate His victory over their power at the resurrection. Moreover, by paying for our sins, He took their power over the world away from them:
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” (Colossians 2:13–15)
As a result, we now have authority over the evil spiritual powers of this world. As such, we can break spiritual strongholds oppressing our lives and those of other believers. We can also pray for God’s authority and power to break through the oppression covering local communities, cities, and nations. This dramatic change made possible by His death cannot be overstated.
Delivered Us from the Fear of Death
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
—Hebrews 2:14–15
The most sobering fact of life is that everyone dies. The knowledge of this can cause some to become so absorbed in the business and the affairs of life that they simply distract themselves from thinking about this ominous fate. Others live in a silent desperation because of the prospect of this unavoidable end. Great philosophers grappled with this and wrote about dealing with the existential despair of a life that begins for no reason and ends with no real meaning. However, because of His death, we have been set free from this pit of hopelessness. No longer are we held prisoner by the fear of death. We know that there is something beyond this life.
Broke Down the Wall of Division
But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.
—Ephesians 2:13–16 NASB
There was no greater ethnic divide than that between Jew and Gentile. The Scripture says that because of His death that wall was torn down through being united in Christ. Our world today continues to be divided and torn because of the evil of racism. This stems from the darkness that resides in every human heart. We look negatively on other groups of people due to our own fear, insecurities, and harsh judgments. Many cannot forgive the sins committed by a few members of some group, so they look at everyone in that group through the lens of their stereotypes. Or they simply show no concern for the hardships of those outside of their communities. Only the power of the cross can break through many of these barriers. God forgiving us of our many sins motivates us to forgive others. And God’s mercy and kindness toward us compels us to the show the same to even our enemies.
Turning to Jesus results in God’s adopting us as His children. Our identities no longer rest in our ethnicities, socio-economic status, or any other natural criteria. We recognize that we now belong to a new family, which crosses all natural divisions. Paul vividly described this reality in relation to the division that had previously existed between the Jewish people and Gentiles (non-Jews). During the time of Moses, God instituted laws to create cultural barriers between His people and the surrounding nations, such as not eating together. The purpose was to prevent the idolatry and corruption of the surrounding nations from polluting Israel. After Jesus, the Holy Spirit would empower believers to live righteously even in the midst of the pagan culture. The barriers were no longer needed, so both Jews and Gentiles could come together as one people. The same uniting power exists today, which can bring together all people.
One of the most powerful pictures of this unity was on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). During this festival, Jewish people from all parts of the world came together in Jerusalem. One day after the disciples had been praying, the Holy Spirit fell on them, and they started to speak in the different languages of the visitors. Everyone heard the wonders of God in his own language. This unifying event undid the curse of the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1–9), where God separated the people of the world into different languages to prevent the destructive power of the unity that was born in their rebellion.
SUMMARY
On September 11, 2001, Islamic terrorists flew hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center towers in New York. The devastation brought America to its knees. The site of the attack become known as Ground Zero, a name that continues to be used today. During the days and weeks following the attacks, the rescue workers erected a cross, made from the twisted steel taken out of the rubble of the fallen towers. The pain and suffering of the cross was an immediate reminder that God is well acquainted with our grief and our sorrows. It was also a reminder that even in the midst of tragedy, there can be hope for tomorrow.
Today millions come to New York to visit the memorial at Ground Zero. They come perhaps to remember loved ones or friends that were lost on that fateful day. Others come in search of answers to the reasons why such bizarre, cruel events take place. In the end, the hope is that healing and peace can somehow be found from that visit to this hallowed piece of history.
In a way, the cross of Christ represents the ultimate Ground Zero in human history. At the cross the greatest injustice in history took place. Jesus Christ, the only perfect person who had ever lived, suffered and died for the sins of others. Regardless of our age, ethnicity, or religious background, when we visit that Ground Zero and remember the ultimate sacrifice that was made on our behalf, it gives us the hope we need in the midst of the confusing and dark times we live in, as well as the power that lifts us into real grace and a lasting peace that passes all understanding.