The Contradiction of the Cross

Read: John 12:20-32
Also read: John 19:1-2, 13-15.

John’s gospel is a very murky gospel for Jesus often says things that aren’t clear. But the great thing about John is that the murkiness clears away eventually, revealing the glory of Christ in the process! An example of this is Jesus’ trial before Pilate. In John 19:13, we read that Pilate brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat (the bema). But in the original Greek, the word for “sat down” could mean that Pilate sat Jesus down on the judgment seat. Can you imagine the supreme irony of the situation? Here is Jesus, crowned with thorns and wearing a purple robe, sitting on the judgment seat before the chief priests and all. The chief priests think that they’re the ones casting judgment on Jesus, when in reality it was Jesus who is judging them at that very moment. Any king with a crown and purple robe on a judgment seat gets accolades of “Hail to the King!” but Jesus gets (in 19:15), “Crucify him!” What a strange contradiction! The King of all Universe sits in judgment of those He created, and the response was not praise, but an angry call for his crucifixion.

But we see the greatest contradiction in the Cross, the instrument of execution reserved only for traitors and enemies of the Roman empire. It’s interesting to note that only in John’s gospel did he not record Jesus as having taken off his purple robe. Thus, the Cross was not a mere execution instrument, but Jesus’ throne; his crucifixion was not his execution, but his coronation. At the Cross will the world know who Christ is!

Crucifixions – or, executions in general – are public events. Parents bring their children to crucifixions to tell them not to be like the people who are on the cross. But Jesus’ crucifixion was different. The Cross no longer was a place where people come to shame the crucified, but the Cross became a place where people come to experience forgiveness and grace from the Crucified One. It is a place where we – we, who have put Jesus on the Cross – come on our knees and beckon to our Crucified Christ because we know that no matter our estate, only Jesus will never turn us away. It is a place where we are reconciled to God, not because we want it to happen, but because He wants it for us. What a King! What a Savior! What a Friend, who desires nothing more than to wipe the tears of shame away from our faces so we can look towards the sun and glorify God!

And, having all our shames washed away, we can honestly look at our neighbors in the eye and truly love them as God taught us to. That is why the Cross is a place of reconciliation. That is why we cannot truly love God and love our neighbors unless we are kneeling at the foot of the Cross.

Spend some time in thought. Imagine that you and your youth groupies are kneeling at the foot of a huge cross with Jesus on it, with his purple robe and crown of thorns. This is a holy place where God reconciles all to Him and to each other. Maybe we feel little compared to our brothers and sisters because they get all A’s, and we only get A-‘s. Maybe we feel distant from God because we feel cast aside, alone. Maybe we feel that our sins are so manifold, God can’t possibly accept us. Or maybe we feel like we don’t need to be at the foot of the cross because we’ve got our stuff together. May God reveal to all of us the utter depravity of our natures, but at the same time show us that the unfathomable nature of his love and grace covers a multitude of sins. May He wipe our tears of pride or shame which cloud our eyes, so that we can see and behold His glory.