THE CROSS OF CHRIST

The central theme of the Scriptures and the heart of the gospel are Christ and his cross. Nothing is more prominent throughout the God’s written declaration. Jesus said of himself regarding his incarnation, "the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, he announced Christ with these words: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29)! Mark tells us that "Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again" (Mark 8:31). In the following chapter, he repeated the statement: "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise" (Mark 9:31).

Paul understood the centrality of Christ and the cross. "And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (I Corinthians 2:1-2). In regard to our relationship to each other within the body of Christ, Paul stated the following: "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near" (Ephesians 2:13-17).

Long before the predictions of Christ concerning his crucifixion, the Old Testament prophets spoke of the cross of Christ as a future event. Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 are lengthy discourses that speak prophetically of the cross. These vivid descriptions are another reminder of the centrality of the cross in all of Scripture

As we think of the cross with the approach of Good Friday, may we be reminded that the cross should be the driving motivation for our entire lives.