The Deep Meaning of the Cross
Ever since the prophet Musa had
declared that anyone who is hanged on a tree is "under God’s
curse," death on the cross was regarded as something worse than
death itself. If a judge sentenced a criminal to die by having a sword
thrust through his heart, he could still have something to be happy
about: he could pray to Allah and beg forgiveness and die with the
assurance of a place in Paradise. Even if the judge sentenced him to die
by stoning, he could still believe that Allah would hear his dying
prayer.
But if the judge said, "I sentence
you to die on a tree," the poor wretch was doomed according to
popular belief. Allah will never hear him pray, for he is "under
God’s curse." This is how the world understood the prophet Musa’s
words. Such a condemned person was forever accursed, and therefore a
human write-off, lost.
It doesn’t help to say that this was
not fair. The great Musa said it, and everybody believed it. There was a
reason for it. (Actually, only the vilest of hardened criminals were
ever executed this way.) It was an anticipation of the cross of Jesus.
So bitter was the Jews’ hatred of
Jesus, that when the Roman governor Pilate asked them what they wanted
done with him, they cried out, "‘Crucify him!’"
"‘Why? What crime has he
committed?’
"But they shouted all the louder,
‘Crucify him!’"
The pagan Roman governor had more sense
of justice than had the Jews. "‘I am innocent of this man’s
blood,’ he said, ‘It is your responsibility!’
"All the people answered, ‘Let
his blood be on us and on our children!’" 9 Those words
were written by an eyewitness, John, nearly 2 000 years ago. He heard
the very words. And the words of ancient manuscripts of the Holy Injil
are among the most accurately preserveed of any in the world.
It is difficult not to recognize that
the answer of the Jews has indeed been fulfilled in the terrible
destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, the dissolution of their nation,
and their almost unbelievable sufferings ever since. To recognize this
fact is not anti-Semitism. It has always been wrong to try to punish
innocent people for wrongs their ancestors did. And the Jewish leaders
who hated Jesus were no worse than all other sinful humans. In fact, the
Holy Injil teaches that all share the guilt.
Was it actually the Son of God whom
they rejected? Not one person was ever able to bring against him a
charge of sin of any kind. Only this: he claimed to be the Son of God.
This alone.
If they had thought him to be a mere
lunatic, they would have recommended imprisonment or banishment. If they
had thought him to be an ordinary criminal, they would have recommended
death by the sword or stoning. But death by the cross? Why were they so
anxious to put a man who claimed to be the Son of God under the
"curse" of God?
And did he actually bear the curse of
God? According to Holy Scripture, there are two kinds of death: the
ordinary thing which all mortal men suffer; and a second kind, the
strange thing known as "the second death." 10 The first
death is not the truly terrible one, for Scripture and the Qur’an call
it a "sleep," from which there is an awakening at the
resurrection. Countless people have died this "sleep," and
there is hope and comfort that humans know and feel in such a death.
The Mysterious "Second Death"
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