In the ancient world, most people would have known all too well what a cross was about. They would have known, for example, what the apostle Paul was saying when he spoke of crucifixion. Indeed, earlier Paul in Galatians Paul had reminded the Churches in Galatia of how he had been crucified with Christ (2:19), and of how it was no longer he who was living, but Christ who was living in him (2:20). It was quite a picture. Paul shared with the Christians in Galatia that Jesus died in public humiliation. It was as if God was drawing a diagram for the whole world to see.
It reminds me of those many times when I was in high school and the coach of our team would draw up a play at a timeout, only for us to mess it up and fail to follow the instructions! The coach would literally draw us a picture, and then, we would forget it! It was as if we would go back to our old habits!
Let me ask you: Have you ever been in a situation where you just don’t get something, or you have a difficult time understanding? And someone will say to you, “Do you need me to draw a diagram for you?” And you feel so big!
To bring the point closer to home, “How many diagrams does it take for Christians to understand that Jesus was crucified like a common criminal, and that he died such a death to liberate us from sin and evil? How many pictures does it take for us to understand what Jesus did on the cross to forgive us and reconcile us to God and one another?”
Maybe this is why Martin Luther, the German Protestant Reformer, had the artist Mathias Grunewald paint the picture of Christ crucified, with Luther pointing to it, reminding the church of the gospel.
Maybe the church always stands in the need of such a reminder, a reminder that Paul had been saying all along: that “We preach Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 1:23).
How big does the diagram of Jesus crucified have to be? How may we think about the promises of God in ways that do not reduce the bigness of Christ's love?
Pastor Andy Kinsey
It reminds me of those many times when I was in high school and the coach of our team would draw up a play at a timeout, only for us to mess it up and fail to follow the instructions! The coach would literally draw us a picture, and then, we would forget it! It was as if we would go back to our old habits!
Let me ask you: Have you ever been in a situation where you just don’t get something, or you have a difficult time understanding? And someone will say to you, “Do you need me to draw a diagram for you?” And you feel so big!
To bring the point closer to home, “How many diagrams does it take for Christians to understand that Jesus was crucified like a common criminal, and that he died such a death to liberate us from sin and evil? How many pictures does it take for us to understand what Jesus did on the cross to forgive us and reconcile us to God and one another?”
Maybe this is why Martin Luther, the German Protestant Reformer, had the artist Mathias Grunewald paint the picture of Christ crucified, with Luther pointing to it, reminding the church of the gospel.
Maybe the church always stands in the need of such a reminder, a reminder that Paul had been saying all along: that “We preach Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 1:23).
How big does the diagram of Jesus crucified have to be? How may we think about the promises of God in ways that do not reduce the bigness of Christ's love?
Pastor Andy Kinsey
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