This is the week the
world refers to as Holy Week,
culminating in the remembrance of
the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on
Friday, and his resurrection on
Sunday. An event celebrated by
approximately 2 million people
worldwide.
In the 1st century A.D.,
the people of the Grecian city of
Corinth told the apostle Paul that
the preaching of the cross was
foolish nonsense. But Paul replies,
“The foolishness of God is wiser
than men, and the weakness of God is
stronger than men” (1 Corinthians
1:25).
In that great intellectual centre,
the cross of Christ was a stumbling
block to the children of Israel (the
Jews), and to the Gentiles
(non-Jews) it was sheer idiocy.
Even today, the Gospel of Christ and
Him crucified is still foolishness
to millions who are perishing all
over the world. Sadly, too few
people recognize that the answer to
all the world’s problems can be
found at the foot of the cross.
This Easter, as the Christian once
again stands at the cross and gazes
on a confused, frustrated and broken
world, the question must be asked;
Where is the wise man?
Where is the scholar?
Where is the philosopher of this
age?
The idea of a world being saved by
Christ crucified was indeed
foolishness to those who were proud
and boastful and who thought the
wisdom of the world was vested in
them. How different it is for those
of us who, in simple faith, know
Christ crucified. For us, the cross
is the power of God and the wisdom
of God.
Billy Graham,
the world’s greatest
evangelist, spoke of his great
privilege at being the guest of a
secretary general at the United
Nations in New York. “He took me to
the little room that has been
designated a “prayer room” at the
United Nations building,” he said.
“I went into the semi-darkness.
There was something missing.
Immediately I recognized that there
was no cross in that room.”
Here was religion without a cross
... a testimony that the nations of
the world are deeply religious but
have not yet come to the point where
they are willing to accept Christ
and Him crucified. Thus, the people
of the world stumble on blindly
toward eventual judgment and
destruction, not realizing that they
are rejecting Christ and Him
crucified, which is the only hope
for salvation.
When we look at the cross, we see
two things:
First,
in the cross we see the clearest
evidence of the world’s guilt. At
the cross of Christ, sin reached its
climax. Its most terrible display
took place at
Calvary. It was never blacker, nor more hideous. We
see the human heart laid bare and
its corruption fully exposed. The
Scripture teaches that man’s heart
is desperately wicked.
Many people have said that men and
women have improved through the
centuries and that if Christ came
back today, He would not be
crucified but would be given a grand
and glorious reception.
Christ does come to us every day—in
the form of Bibles that we do not
read, in the form of churches that
we do not attend, in the form of
human need that we pass by. I am
convinced that if Christ came back
today, He would be crucified more
quickly than He was 2,000 years ago.
Sin never improves.
The answer is found deep in the
human heart. Human nature has not
changed, and as we stand and gaze at
the cross, we see clear evidence
that mankind is basically wrong, and
we hear the thunderous verdict of
God Himself when He says,
“All have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
Second,
in the cross we see the way to
victory. Thousands of Christians
wrestle with temptation and sin.
Satan uses jealousy, pride, gossip,
gluttony, sex and sinful appetites
to control us. However, in the cross
there is power to overcome these
temptations and sins. It has been
proved on a thousand spiritual
battlegrounds in the souls of
millions, that God is more than able
through the cross of His Son to give
us daily victory, until we can say
with the apostle Paul,
“I have been crucified with
Christ; it is no longer I who live,
but Christ lives in me; and the life
which I now live in the flesh I live
by faith in the Son of God, who
loved me and gave Himself for me”
(Galatians 2:20).
The cross of Christ is not only the
basis of our peace and hope—but it
is the means of our eternal
salvation. The goal of the cross is
not only a full and free pardon, but
a changed life lived in fellowship
with God. No wonder Paul said 2,000
years ago, “We preach Christ
crucified.” The world needs this
message today. This is the message
of the cross, hope, peace and
reconciliation. This is what the
world calls “foolishness” but what
God has been pleased to call
“wisdom.”
What do you call it?
