As Easter Approaches

Somebody asked me why the cross had to be violent. Did the death on Christ have to violent? Was it something that speaks to the character of God? Does he require violence? If he does require violence, what does that say about the character of God? These are my thoughts on the matter.

Throughout the Bible it is clear that “the wages of sin are death” and that sin entered the world and thus death entered the world. I think that this is of paramount importance when viewing the cross and the events of the crucifixion.  So, sin equals death, not only physically, but spiritually. I believe that is one of the most important things to remember whenever talking about the payment of sin, or of sin on its own.

To look at the cross, I think it is important to look at the world that Jesus lived in. The context of any situation is one that must be examined if we are going to understand what is being examined. In the Roman World the cross was a symbol of death and destruction, and was meant to humiliate the person that was being crucified. It was the worst way that someone could die. So with that in mind, God used the worst form of death in that world for the death of Jesus. This was used to symbolize how awful sin is. It gives us a representation that sin was equivalent to the worst thing that was available. By looking at actions of the cross in this fashion, we are able to see that it was the best tool for what was being accomplished.

So to show us the awfulness of sin, it had to be death on the cross, and even a gruesome and particularly awful death on the cross. The awfulness of what we can see when Jesus is on the cross shows us what we deserve at sinners. Satan sought to thwart the coming of the King to the world by killing him in the worst way possible, and showing his own power and authority over Jesus. He used man to kill the King. God allows Satan to make his move, but only so that good could come of it! Christ takes on the sin of the world and so God allows Christ’s violent, awful, gruesome death so that the Father can demonstrate that no matter how broken and terrible death is (and sin), the redemptive power of Christ and God is more, and more powerful. Christ can overcome!

It was not God that needed the death to be violent so that Christ could redeem the world, but it was the world that needed the worst possible death and then resurrection to see who Christ was. To see the power of God and so believe that He is who he says He is and so that we would believe! The terrible death on the cross shows that God has power and authority over all things!

That is the solution that I have to the violence of the cross. God did not need it; we needed it to see God.