Galatians 5:11 NLT
Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised as they say I do -why am I still being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended.
Galatians 5:11 TLB
Some people even say that I myself am preaching that circumcision and Jewish laws are necessary to the plan of salvation. Well, if I preached that, I would be persecuted no more – for that message doesn’t offend anyone. The fact that I am still being persecuted proves that I am still preaching salvation through faith in the cross alone.
The title of “The Offense of the Cross” may sound strange or not seem to make any sense. How is it possible that the cross could be offensive or scandalous to anyone? It is seen everywhere in society. The symbol of Christianity is the cross; it is the badge of the church. There are crosses on our Bibles. The fraternity pin for believers in Christ is the cross. It is the identification tag of faith. It is the emblem of Christ today and the passport for tomorrow. It is identified with the cause of Christ as nothing else in the world today.
The cross has actually become popular in this modern world, too. Charity organizations and honor fraternities have adopted it to enhance the value of their groups, as evidenced by the names Red Cross, Blue Cross, White Cross, Victorian Cross, and Maltese Cross.
And yet, the Bible says that it is a stumbling block. It is scandalous, offensive, and despised.
The church today uses the cross as if there were no odium or repugnance attached to it. Many church buildings are in the shape of a cross. But many congregations sing the song blandly:
In the cross of Christ, I glory
Towering o’er the wrecks of time;
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime
In the cross of Christ, I glory
The content of the gospel is no longer contained in the symbol of the cross. Many liberal churches are not preaching Jesus as our Savior, and what Jesus did on the cross is ignored. They don’t even believe Jesus is God, and their salvation is not dependent on Him. Much use has cheapened it; it has been abused and made commonplace. The meaning of the cross has been watered down to the extent that it is meaningless. Churches that deny the efficacy of the blood are often the ones with the largest cross. The cross appears in the queerest or weirdest places. People who have no idea about the true meaning of the cross use it as jewelry. It is just a piece of jewelry.
The cross was a place where criminals were executed. It was a vile and despicable place of humiliation, terrible pain, and a gross spectacle. You might not be aware, but Jesus was not crucified on the cross that is typically seen today. Two pieces of wood laid crosswise are not the scriptural picture of the cross. One piece of wood was upright, and another, as a crossbar on which the arms of Jesus were stretched, is an artist’s conception. In fact, there are three conceptions of the shape of the cross. One is termed generally as St. Andrew’s Cross in the shape of an X; another is in the shape of the letter T. The third, with which we are familiar, is like a dagger. It was an upright pole. Peter and the other apostles called the cross a tree, or (xulon). The Greek word xulon means wood or timber. Neither of these words can be fashioned into a cross. We get our word “cross” from the Latin crux, and “cross” is the translation of the Greek word stauros. The Latin word stauros means an upright stake, post, or pole driven into the ground. By the Roman era, the word was used to refer to the instrument of capital punishment. The early church never used the symbol of the cross as we understand it today; they referred to it only in a veiled and hesitant manner.
There is no merit in the cross as a piece of wood. Any piece of wood that was similar would be of equal value. The cross can actually be a stumbling block if it is an object of superstition.
During the Middle Ages, the cross became a fetish, and relics of this kind of paganism are evidenced on every hand. During the reign of Henry VIII of England, it was estimated that 14 carloads of splinters were removed from the cathedrals of London, all purported to have come from the original cross. It was enough wood to build a 5-bedroom house. This shows the absurdity to which the human mind goes when it takes the eye of faith from Christ. The cross can become an idol.
To others, the cross is the heart of Christianity. Without the cross, there is no Christianity, no forgiveness, or salvation. But for many people, it is the stumbling block. They don’t want to hear or think about it. It is too grotesque or offensive to their senses. The heart of Christianity is offensive. People don’t want to hear about it or want it watered down so it is not so offensive. Today, some Protestants treat the cross as a good luck charm. It’s treated like a rabbit’s foot as a good luck charm. Surely, the rabbit doesn’t consider its foot to be lucky.
There is value in the cross, but it is in the One who died there. God said that he would meet the human race only at one place, and that is at the cross. If you are unwilling to visit the cross, then there is no forgiveness or salvation. The redemption that He wrought there has value; the power in the blood that He shed. Peter said that He suffered and died for us.
1 Peter 2:24-25 NLT
He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. Once you were like those who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepard, the Guardian of your souls.
Paul used the cross to gather up the work of Christ in redemption. Christ’s person and infinite sacrifice alone give a full view of the cross.
1 Corinthians 1:18 NLT
The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.
In what way is the cross of Christ an offense today?
Is the redemptive work of Christ an offense, and in what way is this true? Three ways in which the cross of Christ is an offense to modern man.
1. The Cross is an Aesthetic Offense. This means that the cross offends good breeding, good taste, and finer feelings. It is offensive to culture and refinement. The mention of blood actually makes some people sick. The sight of blood causes many people to faint.
There is a reverent reticence in all God’s records concerning the crucifixion of Christ. Not one Gospel writer gives us the detailed account of the crucifixion. Have you noticed that? Every one of them draws a veil over the cross. They do not give the details about how he was staked on the cross, how he suffered on it, and how he died on it. They merely pick out a few fragmentary facts and do not go into detail. It is as if the Holy Spirit drew a veil over it and is saying that it is too horrible, too awful, and you cannot look upon it. The death of Jesus was gruesome, and too many details could be a stumbling block for many.
The cross was an awful thing. It was not the pretty white cross that we see on top of churches, in our decorations, or jewelry. The important thing is not the shape of the cross but the one who died there. He was marred more than any other man. When it was finished, he was nothing but a mass of quivering human flesh. At that point he probably didn’t even look human.
By the way some people picture the cross today, it is little wonder that liberals turn away in repugnance from it. Some people who attend church will not attend a church that talks about the cross. They state that the cross is offensive to them. I don’t like to hear a preacher talk about it. It is an ugly thing, and it is unsightly, and I don’t like that sort of thing. Remember how the movie The Passion affected everyone. The movie portrayal of Jesus’ crucifixion was probably not nearly as horrific as the real circumstances of the crucifixion.
Christ didn’t die on a pretty white cross. He died on an ugly tree. The ugly cross tells the greatest story. It sings the sweetest music; it brings the best news and the most glorious truth, and it whispers the infinite love of God to your heart. If you are going to know the full extent of God’s love, you will have to look upon the cross of Christ.
2. The Cross is an Intellectual Offense
The Bible says that the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us who are saved it is the power of God. The Bible is full of verses that say its message will be offensive to many people, and they will fail to understand or grasp the meaning of the cross. Maybe God intentionally didn’t make everything perfectly clear because he is a relational God and he wants us to seek a relationship with him.
Many liberals say that the preaching of the cross, with all its blood and its sacrifice, is for people who are not intellectual. One cannot be in their right mind and believe that the crucifixion would be the manner that a loving God would use to bring us to him. A person would have to die on the cross for salvation.
The cross stands for the wisdom of God. The pyramids stand out as a monument to the engineering ability of man. The Parthenon is a symbol of mankind’s architectural genius. Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo are examples of human artistic ability. Bach and Beethoven were music aficionados. Science and technology have advanced to unbelievable levels. Man has accumulated wisdom, and he has deposited and stored it. But all the knowledge, all the science, and all the philosophy can never lead a lost soul to Jesus. We cannot save ourselves or someone else.
The cross, or that ugly tree on Golgotha, is a monument to the wisdom of God.
1 Corinthians 1:21
Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.
Have you ever noticed where they crucified Christ? They crucified him on top of Golgotha, or the place of the skull. Right up on top of man’s intellect, right where man can go no farther, God reared a cross. The cross is not contrary to the wisdom of man, but it is above the wisdom of man. You can talk about the offense of the cross, but when you see what is happening in the world today, man is the problem. The cross reveals the riches and grace of God to a poor, lost world. For man to think that he is all-knowing is foolishness, and he will never understand the cross without the Holy Spirit.
3. The Cross is an Offense to Man’s Pride
Pride is a strong emotion people feel. If you want to keep things calm and happy, you don’t want to talk about religion or politics. Pride surrounding religion may be one of the worst things in the world. How many people have been killed because of religion? Man is proud of his religion, proud of himself or herself, proud of anything and everything, and deep inside man’s pride lies jealousy, envy, gossip, and other strong negative emotions. The cross stands out through these centuries as the symbol of judgment on pride, greed, vanity, jealousy, envy, hate, self-indulgent pleasures, and all forms of sin. The cross says to everyone” You are a sinner.” It stands out as the symbol of the world’s conscience. It reminds people of what God had to do for us to be saved from our sins. When we come to the foot of the cross, we must come to our senses and say that we are sinners. But because of our nature and sin, man desires to sin and does not want to humble himself and submit to the grace of God. You don’t want to see the grace of the cross. The light of the cross is not visible to many people. It appears as foolishness to them. So, the cross becomes a stumbling block or an offense to them.
Under the direction of President Biden and his staff, the Catholic Church was investigated, and charges were filed. They arrested Christians for peacefully protesting in front of abortion clinics. In Minneapolis, left-wing radical protesters entered a church during service and stopped the service. Christianity is being attacked constantly by the radical woke leftists who hate God, Christianity, and the church. The radical Islamists want to rid the world of Christians. America used to be a place where anyone could worship freely without threat! This harassment of Christianity would never have been considered just a few years ago. The society in America is rapidly decaying as they are pushing God away. They will soon burn the cross, as it is very offensive to them.
Let’s see what Paul meant when he said the cross was an offense. He meant that it is an offense to man’s pride.
If Paul had gone into the synagogue and preached something like this, now brethren, I was a Pharisee, and I followed the Jewish religion, but I’ve got something I think is a little better now. It is all right if you want to follow Judaism and if you want to be circumcised and if you want to follow the Mosaic system. Those things are wonderful, and I commend them to you –you go ahead and do them. But I want to suggest to you that you add something to that. You should try Jesus; if he would have said it that way, he would not have gotten in trouble with the Jews. You know that is the preaching some give today, just a compromising sermon. Go ahead and do your thing, but take a little Jesus with you.
Just the opposite, Paul went into the synagogues and declared that Judaism, the sacrifices, and circumcision were valueless in bringing man to God. Only Christ can bring a soul to God, and nothing else is needed. Man is declared bankrupt before God and is reckoned dead in trespasses and sin. Man does not come as a customer to the counter with something to offer God for so great a salvation, but he comes as a beggar to the back door of heaven to receive something for nothing. We come empty-handed; yet we receive everything. This wounds the pride of man; it slays his vanity; it lays his glory in the dust. If man could only offer something to God, it would flatter the flesh and build up his ego. This is the real offense of the cross of God.
The cross sends a beam of light into all the sins of our lives. Many people don’t like that exposure in their lives. They are offended. The cross goes down into the deepest and darkest recesses of your heart and soul and sees the sin and exposes it. The cross of Christ is a display of the grace of God. Without merit, God grants his favor and bestows his love. The reason is not in man, but God finds it all in himself. The cross offends those who have confidence in the flesh. God is not asking people to read the Bible, pray, or give to merit His salvation. He says we have no merit, and that if we receive his salvation by faith, we will read the Bible, pray, and give. God is not asking you to live a better life to be saved, but He says that if you are born again, you will live a better life.
The offense of the cross means to come to God just as you are; nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. Since the cross takes away all glory from man and places it all on God, it becomes an offense to some people. The cross may be offensive to some people, but Jesus bore all the offense for us that we might stand before God blameless and without a spot or blemish.
Please don’t let the cross be a stumbling block or an offense that keeps you from the grace God offers to everyone. His arms are wide open, ready to receive you. Just say yes!
