Why the Cross?

Galatians 3:10-14 ; John 19:17

In the book of Galatians Paul is dealing with the Church of Galatia who are trying to bring the Gentiles that are saved by faith under the Law. And in this passage along with John 19:17 we see Jesus bearing his cross unto the place called the place of the skull.

The cross has been used in many different ways by many different groups throughout history some good and some bad. But why the cross? In this lesson we are going to look at some things from the scriptures that may help us to answer this question.

Why the Cross:

1)  Jesus said that he must be lifted up (John 3:14)

• Jesus is making a comparison between himself and when Moses raised up the serpent in the wilderness. The typology from the serpent on the pole is wonderful. Why the serpent because Jesus became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21).
• The Jewish form of capital punishment is stoning. And although they wanted to stone him many times they could never accomplish the task. But the Roman form of capital punishment was crucifixion this would lift him up.
• This is why you have to be careful with symbols many today worship crosses. The cross is just a symbol. But just like the children of Israel made an idol out of the serpent on the pole (2 Kings 18:4), many today make idols out of crosses.

2)  The greatest battle that ever took place concerned the cross (Hebrews 2:1-4)

• It is interesting that Jesus was crucified in a place called the place of a skull. A cross tuned upside down looks like a sword. So, when Jesus was on the cross the sword was stuck through the skull.
• Jesus through death defeated death and delivered us who through fear of death were subject unto bondage.

3)  Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree (Galatians 3:10-14)

• A cross is simply an x turned a different way. And throughout history x’s have been connected with something bad or a curse. Think about the phrase “do not cross me”, or someone double crossed me (that is a x).
• It is interesting that Jesus told the rich young ruler to take up the cross and follow me. He had not been crucified yet, so how would the rich young ruler have known about the cross (Mark 10:17-22)?
• The rich young ruler was also told to follow the Law. This was a curse because no one could follow the law and not break it (Deuteronomy 27:26).
• So those under the law were under a curse. Jesus Christ became a curse for us by hanging on a tree to redeem us from the curse of the Law. In Colossians 2:14 the handwriting of ordinances that was against us (the Law) was nailed to Jesus’ cross.

4)  It gives us something to preach (1 Corinthians 1:17-18)

• Note that it is the preaching of the cross that is the power of God, not the cross. When you start places power in an object that is when it can become an idol.
• The cross is associated with a curse as we saw above, but for us it is a very positive symbol because it is where Jesus took care of our sin.
• In math the power of a number is whether it is positive or negative. So if you have a negative number how cross the negative sign in front of it and it becomes a positive (I understand that literal math doesn’t work that way it is just an illustration). The cross for us has become positive.
• This is why Paul said that he would glory save on in the cross (Galatians 6:14).