The Word of the Cross

1 Corinthians 1: 17-25

 

 

          Drive through any downtown and what buildings do you see more than any other? Take a spin through the countryside and what man made structure is the most prominent?  Chances are good that you will probably answer churches and you would be right. In this buckle of the Bible belt, churches are everywhere. They come in all sizes and shapes. They are old and older and even brand spanking new. They have sanctuaries that hold hundreds and even thousands of people.  One thing that almost all of them have in common is some sort of steeple. Even the ones that don’t, have something in common inside their sanctuaries. On those steeples and inside those sanctuaries and prominently displayed is a cross, usually behind the pulpit. The cross is the universal icon of the Christian church. In all of Christianity, Protestant or Roman Catholic, it is the best known symbol of Christianity.

          Google “Cross” and you will get over a million and a half websites to go to. Google the image of the cross and you will find about 50 types. The most familiar to us are probably the Latin Cross, which looks like the one behind me, the Crucifix, which bears the image of a crucified Jesus upon a cross, and the Celtic Cross, which is essentially a Latin Cross with the upper portion enclosed in a circle.

          There are all these different images of the cross, and not just the cross itself. There is also the “sign” of the cross. You know that. It’s the crossing of oneself with your hand, either on the forehead or across the chest. The practice started as early as the second century and continues today with many Christians.

          Of all the icons that might be used to remind us of our beliefs, why have we settled on the cross? Ever thought about it? Of all the symbols we might have chosen, the cross is the one that reminds us most deeply of the pain, humiliation and sacrifice borne by our Lord for us. In fact, that was the argument of some within the early church.  It was such a violent reminder, such a grotesque remembrance, that some wanted it replaced with something more heavenly, more sublime. As you know, that’s not the way it turned out, for the Cross also represents in the strongest way possible way the atonement, the sacrifice of God’s own Son on the cross to save us from the damnation of our own sin. In Colossians 2: 15, Paul says that Jesus “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”

          But what does Paul mean in 1st Corinthians 1 when he talks about “the word of the cross?” It helps to know a little bit about the Corinthian church, about what was going on there at the time, about the makeup of that church. Then we can begin to see what Paul is getting at. The church in Corinth was pretty much of a mess. In this bustling city of some eighty thousand people at the time and every kind of religious culture existing side by side, Paul stepped in and planted the church in Corinth. After he left, it didn’t take long for the church to find itself embroiled in controversy. Many leaders and factions and other religions were vying for the attention of the people and they were beginning to lose the unity which had held them together. Additionally, the culture was one in which the art of debate and philosophical reasoning was given much attention. Paul was schooled in such arts, but that was not what he chose to use in Corinth. And that brings us to this curious term: the word of the cross.

          Paul was an educated man. He was schooled in the ways of debate and rhetoric common to the Greco-Roman culture of the first century. He had used these skills before. He found them wanting. What Paul found was that he was in the way of the message. He was sent by Jesus to preach the gospel, the most powerful and important message in the history of the world! He didn’t need rhetorical skills. He just needed to tell the good news! So Paul starts out this letter to the Corinthians by saying just that. He says that Christ sent him “to preach the gospel and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”

          Paul goes on to talk about the wisdom and power of God. Paul has learned something himself, for the power of God is more than sufficient to persuade those who have been called. We know those who have been called. They are easily identifiable. They are the ones who believe the gospel.  Paul says that’s how you tell the winners from the losers. On the program of life, it’s not the scribes or the wise or the captains of the debate team who win. It’s those who believe the word of the cross!

          The word of the cross is that he died. He died on that cross to save us from our own sin. And so, Paul says he preaches Christ crucified. But to stop there is to stop short of the end of the story. The end of the story, the reason we keep telling it, is that Christ didn’t just die for us, as glorious and generous as that was. He rose! He rose from the dead! Death could not hold him and he rose and he walked among us and he ascended to heaven, where he continues to intercede for us until he returns. That is the word of the cross! That is its power!

          Maybe that’s why even today, the cross stands at the top of churches. Maybe that’s why even today, the cross still stands behind the pulpit, reminding us not only of that great sacrifice, but also of that great and magnificent victory. Paul, quoting the prophet Hosea, says later in his letter to the Corinthians:

                    O death where is your victory?

                    O death, where is your sting?

                                                            1 Cor.15:55

          What is the word of the cross? I think the word of the cross is so powerful as to need no words. The cross speaks to us. It speaks to our heart of hearts. It is Jesus reminding us. I love you. I did it for you. I gave all and conquered all for you. I’m coming back for you. That is the word of the cross. Halleluiah!