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CROSS

In the NT the Cross does not simply represent the instrument of Jesus’ death but evokes a wide range of kerygmatic and theological affirmations. The Cross should not be isolated from the total Christ event, the death and resurrection — understood as the saving act of God (Rom. 4:24-25; 6:4-5; 2 Cor. 4:10-11). Despite the public disgrace and horror associated with Crucifixion, in a very short time the early Christians produced a sustained apologetic for the Cross along with elaborate theological reflection.

The apology for the Cross arises from the fact that, while there was precedent in Judaism for the suffering and death of martyrs (2 Macc. 6:7–7:42), as well as for the persecution of prophets and righteous people (1 Kgs. 18:4, 13; 2 Chr. 24:20-22; Jer. 26:20-23; 38:1-5), there is no pre-Christian expectation of a suffering and dying Messiah, especially one who is also not accepted by his own people. While there is no clear individual who prefigures the suffering and death of Jesus, the early Christians turned to a wide range of OT texts which were then explicitly alluded to or explicitly cited to show that Christ’s death was “in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 5:3). Chief among these was the fourth “Servant Song” of Isa. 52:13–53:12, not simply through explicit citation, but through allusion to the silent sufferer, God’s Servant and a just person who was “wounded for our transgressions” (53:5) and “bore the sin of many” (53:12). This is reflected in the use of the hypér (“for the sake of”) formula (often in pre-Pauline fragments), that Christ died “for us” or “for our sins” (1 Cor. 15:3; 11:23-25; Rom. 4:25; 8:34; 1 Tim. 2:6) and in the use of forms of paradídōmi (“handing over,” Isa. 53:6 LXX; cf. 1 Cor. 11:23; Rom. 4:25; 8:32; Mark 9:31 par.; 10:33). Such allusions serve to root the Cross in the will of God (Mark 8:31, deí, “it is necessary”; 14:36, “not my will but yours be done”), which itself is then foreshadowed in Scripture. Equally influential are references to the psalms of the righteous sufferer (Pss. 22, 31, 34, 41, 69) and the similarity of Jesus to the suffering just one of Wis. 2:12-20; 5:1-12. Such texts become a storehouse for illustrating details of the Passion narrative.

By the time of Paul’s letters (51-58 c.e.) significant theological reflection on the Cross has occurred. Fundamentally (and paradoxically) for Paul the death of Jesus is an expression of both the love of God (Rom. 5:8) and of Jesus (Gal. 2:20). It is also an act of obedience of the “last Adam,” which reverses the disobedience of the first Adam and its disastrous effects of sin and death (Rom. 5:12-21). Paul also draws on a wide variety of images from the Hebrew Scriptures to describe the effect of the Cross. Principal among these are: justification (dikaiosýnē, dikaioún), an acquitting of human beings whereby they may stand before God’s tribunal or judgment seat innocent, upright, or righteous (Gal. 2:16; Rom. 3:26-28; 4:25; 5:18); expiation, a wiping away of human sin by the blood of the crucified Christ who is now the new “mercy seat” superseding the kappōreṯ of old (Rom. 3:25); ransom/redemption (apolýtrōsis; cf. lýtron [Mark 10:45]), an emancipation or manumission of human beings bringing about their liberation through a “ransom” whereby God acquires a people in recollection of God’s prototypical redemption of the people from Egypt (1 Cor. 1:30; Rom. 3:24; cf. 8:32; Eph. 1:14); and reconciliation (katallagḗ, katallássein), a restoring of humanity and the world (kósmos) to a status of friendship to God and fellow humans (2 Cor. 5:18-20; Rom. 5:10-11; 11:15; cf. Col. 1:20-22). All of these, and others such as salvation (2 Cor. 7:10; Rom. 1:16; 10:10; 13:11), freedom (Gal. 5:1, 13; Rom. 8:1-2, 21; 2 Cor. 3:17), and new creation (Gal. 6:15; 2 Cor. 5:17; Rom. 6:4; 1 Cor. 15:45), suggest a change from a state of alienation from God and neighbor to a renewal of the covenant love of God and harmony with neighbors.

Equally important is the broad application to the death of Jesus of language taken from the sacrificial cult. Christ’s death is a “fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Eph. 5:2), a Passover sacrifice (1 Cor. 5:7-8; John 19:14), a new covenant ratified by the blood (death) of Jesus (Mark 14:24; 1 Cor. 11:25; Heb. 7:22; 8:6; 9:15), and the offering of the firstfruits (1 Cor. 15:20, 23). Christian worship is to memorialize this offering (1 Cor. 11:25-26; Luke 22:19).

The Gospels were written down retrospectively from the death and resurrection, so that they present not simply a theology of the Cross, but a narrative of the life of the Crucified One. Jesus’ teaching in power (Mark 1:27) and his confrontations with sickness, death, and embodied evil (the exorcisms) prefigure God’s restoration of a broken world through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

In the Gospels and elsewhere in the NT the death of Jesus becomes a paradigm for Christian life. The would-be follower must be prepared to take up the cross of Jesus (Mark 8:31 par.). Paul urges contentious Christians at Philippi to “do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit” and proposes the example of Christ who did not consider even equality with God as a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself on the Cross (Phil. 2:3-11); the Corinthians are told to limit their own freedom rather than scandalize the brother or sister for whom Christ died (1 Cor. 8:8-13; cf. Rom. 14:15). In 1 Cor. 1:17–2:5 Paul invokes the Cross as a critical principle against the pretensions of the wise and the powerful. It is a stumbling block for Jews and foolishness for Gentiles, but for those who believe it is God’s power and wisdom (1:23-24). The marginal social status of a community, which nonetheless has received the gifts of God, is a paradoxical sign that the Cross is ultimately wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (cf. 2 Cor. 4:7-15).

The wealth of images and expressions in the NT is a mandate for the Church to adapt these to different periods of history. The classical atonement theories (satisfaction, ransom), with overtones of appeasing an angry God, often have little relevance to people today, while motifs of liberation, salvation, and breaking down walls of separation (Eph. 2:14-18) are the matrix of new theological explorations. Though people turn to the image of Jesus on the Cross for solace in time of suffering, the NT does not warrant the use of the Cross by the powerful to urge people to bear suffering and injustice. It is rather the consequence of Jesus’ divestment of power and self-giving for others (Phil. 2:6-11; Mark 10:42-45), and encompasses the mystery that not even God could spare his beloved son from the pain of the human condition. Yet the Cross and Resurrection are the bearers of the promise of the renewal of a broken and alienated world.

Bibliography. J. T. Carroll and J. B. Green, The Death of Jesus in Early Christianity (Peabody, 1995), esp. 256-79; J. A. Fitzmyer, “Reconciliation in Pauline Theology,” in To Advance the Gospel (1981, repr. Grand Rapids, 1998), 162-85; K. Grayston, Dying, We Live (Oxford, 1990); H.-E. Mertens, Not the Cross but the Crucified. Louvain Theological and Pastoral Monographs 11 (Grand Rapids, 1992).

John R. Donahue

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

CROSS

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)