We do not abhor crucifixion as the ancients did. For us, the cross is little more than a religious symbol, like a crescent moon or a menorah. The image is sanitized and mundane, it is no more affronting than a McDonalds sign or the Apple logo. Yet crucifixion was indeed a “scandal,” a word that conjured up terror, and deliberately so.
Hi Michael - I wondered how you understood 'why' Jesus was executed by crucifixion, rather than some other method of killing. Was it necessary to reflect the awful consequences of mankind's sin put on the Messiah? And in connection with that, do you hold a penal substitutionary understanding of the cross, perhaps as well as Christus Victor?
I read Fleming Rutledge's The Crucifixion some time ago but it was hard-going!
THANK YOU FOR THIS EMAIL TODAY! I'm using it in my Luke/Acts courses IMMEDIATELY!
Hi Michael - I wondered how you understood 'why' Jesus was executed by crucifixion, rather than some other method of killing. Was it necessary to reflect the awful consequences of mankind's sin put on the Messiah? And in connection with that, do you hold a penal substitutionary understanding of the cross, perhaps as well as Christus Victor?
I read Fleming Rutledge's The Crucifixion some time ago but it was hard-going!
Thanks, Peter