From Then to Now
Branding Success
Here’s another question. How many of you own some sort of symbol of the cross? Whether it’s a piece of jewelry like earrings or a necklace or bracelet or ring, or maybe a picture or knick-knack in your home, or one of those special book covers made for Bibles or a bookmark? Or maybe a tattoo? No matter what it is, how many people have some kind of symbol of the cross somewhere in their possession?
Do you realize what kind of branding success that is? This one simple shape is so immediately identifiable to Christianity that it is represented throughout the world—and has been for two thousand years. And most everybody here owns some kind of expression of the cross in some form. Do you know how much Nike pays to get its swoosh symbol out there? Or what McDonald’s would give for golden arches to be represented in almost every home?
The cross has been this kind of symbol for the Christian faith for two thousand years. And its everywhere. In fact, maybe the cross is so pervasively present everywhere that we have become sort of numb to its presence—numb to its meaning. We don’t think about it much. But should we? What difference would it make to the way I live out my faith? How does the cross inform who I am as a Christian? How I live as a Christian? Does it even make a difference?
I’m making the argument here that how you understand the meaning of the cross makes all the difference in the world for how it is you live out your Christian faith in this world.
Why did Jesus die on the cross?
Go ahead. Write in an answer. Maybe it’s been so long since anyone asked that question that you have to pause and think for a minute. Maybe you’ve actually never thought about that question before, so maybe the honest answer you write down to the question of why Jesus died is, “I’m not sure.”
Let’s take it back to the answer you wrote down to the question. Here’s my guess. I’m guessing that most people who go to church would answer the question “Why did Jesus die on the cross?” with an answer that goes something like, “to save us from our sins.” But is that all? And if it is, how does that even work? How does Jesus coming to earth and being tortured and executed somehow remove all the failings in my own life and everybody else’s life before a perfect and holy God? How does that work? Why couldn’t God just snap his fingers and make sin disappear forever? Why couldn’t he have come—as the Jewish people expected—and be a powerful hero who waged battle against evil and completely defeated sin in a glorious battle once and for all? Why the cross?
What the cross meant then
So on the one hand, while the cross is so simply identified with Christianity all around the world, on the other hand, this same cross is rich with deep meaning. In fact, there is so much deep meaning in the cross that maybe it falls short to answer the question with a simple phrase. Maybe the cross is about much more than saving people from sins. Maybe the cross is packed with so much meaning that we can take this one symbol of the cross and keep digging deeper and deeper into it over the next several weeks leading up to Easter. Disclaimer—that’s exactly what we are doing.
Where to start then? How about we go back to the time when the cross of Jesus actually took place and looked at it through the eyes of people who might have actually been there? In the time and place of Jesus the cross meant one thing: Roman execution. Particularly the cross was used by the Roman Empire to make a visible example of what happens to anyone who dares to oppose or threaten Roman imperial power. Crosses were meant to kill criminals in a way that sent a message to anyone who even thought about joining some kind of rebellion against Rome. And crosses were typically set up alongside the roadways just outside of towns; roads that were well traveled. So, many people would pass by and see the example of what happens to criminals of Rome.
A cross, then, was not just about executing criminals. There were many ways to execute criminals that would have been much easier than a cross. A cross was used by Rome to make a statement. “This rebellion is over.” Anyone who was sentenced to death on a cross was put there so that Rome could make sure everyone knew and understood with absolute certainty; “Whatever revolution you thought this guy was a part of, it’s over.” In the day of Jesus, crosses had just one meaning: Rome is in charge. Rome holds ultimate authority. Period.
How crazy is it then that the first disciples and the apostle Paul take this symbol of Roman authority and place it as the ultimate symbol of Christianity? The symbol of the cross which for everyone sent the message that any movement threatening Rome is over becomes the same symbol that the first Christians use to declare that this Jesus movement is just getting started. The cross was not the end of Christianity. It was the beginning.
Understand that for those first followers of Jesus, the crows became a paradox. The cross now meant the exact opposite of what Rome intended. The cross became their symbol of Jesus’ ultimate authority in this world. Instead of a symbol that ended the revolution, it is the symbol that began the revolution.
The cross through the years
Let’s trace a little bit of this movement down throughout the years. Let’s follow the cross though the years to see how it got to where we have it today. There is so much rich meaning packed into this one symbol. How did all this come together over the centuries? There is one scene in particular in the gospel that intrigues me. At the end of Luke’s gospel is a story about two disciples traveling away from Jerusalem on the evening of first Easter when Jesus rose. They are not aware that Jesus has resurrected. In their minds, Jesus was executed on a cross and the meaning of that cross was clear to them: this revolution is over. But as it turns out, Jesus himself comes along and walks with them on the road. But also, they don’t recognize that it is Jesus. Look at just these two verses that share the conversation taking place on that road.
Luke 24:26–27 NIV
26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
I would love to know exactly what scriptures Jesus shared with these guys while they walked. Luke doesn’t clue us in on that detail. All we know is that Jesus used Old Testament passages to help these disciples understand that the cross would now and forever have a new meaning. I’d like to think that one of those passages from the Old Testament which Jesus shared along that road was from Isaiah 53.
Isaiah 52:13–53:12 NIV
13 See, my servant will act wisely;
he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him—
his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being
and his form marred beyond human likeness—
15 so he will sprinkle many nations,
and kings will shut their mouths because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see,
and what they have not heard, they will understand.
1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
Atonement. That’s the word that Theologians have used to describe what took place on the cross—that Jesus provided atonement for sin. And theologians have asked the question for many centuries how that atonement works.
Is the atonement of the cross about a victory? It is the symbol of Christ’s victory over sin and death. Is the atonement of the cross about a moral influence. It is a symbol of the example Jesus set for us in how to serve God and serve others by completely giving ourselves over to God. Is the atonement of the cross about satisfaction for God’s righteous anger against sin? It is the symbol that shows us just how serious the offense of sin is against a perfect and holy God.
I don’t want to say that all these ideas of atonement are wrong. But they are all missing something. Substitution. The cross provides atonement for sin because Jesus provides himself as the substitute for all of us. A substitute for justice.
You see, I think we can all acknowledge that every human is born and hard-wired by God with an inherent sense of justice. Whether Christian or not, we all cringe whenever we see criminals get off without receiving punishment. Whenever we see atrocities occur in our world, every one of us feels unsettled and has certain conviction that someone or something has to be brought to justice. A demand to return what was stolen is about providing justice.
We have a just and perfect God who also must demand justice in order for God to remain just and perfect. For God to declare an acquittal against sin and let evil remain unchecked would deny any atonement for sin. There would be no justice. The only atonement that counts is an atonement that demands full justice for sin and evil on this world. It is an atonement that demands each one of us must be accountable to God for our sin and our brokenness.
And into this, Jesus steps in and takes our place. You and I, who were created by God and appointed by God as the caretakers of his creation—as the agents of his shalom—we are now restored to that position.
What the cross means now
Isaiah 52:7–12 NIV
7 How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”
8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices;
together they shout for joy.
When the Lord returns to Zion,
they will see it with their own eyes.
9 Burst into songs of joy together,
you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted his people,
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord will lay bare his holy arm
in the sight of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth will see
the salvation of our God.
11 Depart, depart, go out from there!
Touch no unclean thing!
Come out from it and be pure,
you who carry the articles of the Lord’s house.
12 But you will not leave in haste
or go in flight;
for the Lord will go before you,
the God of Israel will be your rear guard.