The Death of Christ
A crown of thorns is forced upon his brow,
His scalp is sliced and both his temples torn;
The skin gives way like dirt beneath a plow,
A crown of thorns. […]
The crucifixion. We say the words and immediately everyone knows what we are talking about. As Fleming Rutledge reminds us in The Crucifixion, “There have been many famous deaths in world history; we might think of John F. Kennedy, or Marie Antoinette, or Cleopatra, but we do not refer to ‘the assassination,’ ‘the guillotining,’ or […]
When thinking about the crucifixion, many people assume that since the Romans were in charge, Jesus was most likely taken to a Roman execution site somewhere outside the city wall of Jerusalem. But in John 19, we’re told that Pilate delivered Jesus over to the chief priests and that they were the ones who led […]
Although the world may deny the reality of sin—and thus the need for salvation—as Christians, we face the reality of our own sin on a daily basis. We have come to Christ because we understand our need to be saved from God’s judgment. Sadly, though, too many of us are still tempted to address our […]
When we think of the cross, we are not immediately to think of a pretty symbol. I think that’s a great danger: to think of it as a glamorized or bejeweled symbol that might adorn a person’s neck or home. Rather, we are to associate it in our mind with torture, with unrelieved thirst, with […]
The Gospels have sometimes been described as Passion narratives with long introductions! Nowhere is this truer than in John’s Gospel. He spends more time than Matthew, Mark, or Luke on the life of Jesus. He quickly skips over the agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, almost—it seems—in a rush to get Jesus to […]
With just a few hours left before Jesus’ suffering and death on a cross, the Gospel of John shows him still at work: washing his disciples’ feet, teaching them about his unity with the Father, and praying for them and for those who would know him by their testimony. If you and I were given […]
Very often we celebrate the soteriological advancements of the Reformation for the church and individual Christians alike. We remember with gratitude the soothing, Christ-exalting doctrine of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Could we ever remember and laud this rediscovery of the biblical gospel too much? One underrated advancement that people […]
For the last several months, members of my church have invited our neighbors to a monthly community meal we host. It has been a great opportunity to get to know people in our neighborhood, but recently a few people were met with a question that seemed right out of a 1970s romantic comedy: “What’s your […]
At the heart of the Christian story are the life, death, and resurrection of the Son of God. The significance of Christ’s atonement for sins (the very basis of his name and his mission) is what makes Christianity truly Christian: a religion with Christ at its redemptive center. The way that evangelical Christians have spoken […]
Like many white upper-middle-class mainline Protestants, I’ve long taken issue with the concept of divine wrath, believing it to conflict with the God whose most determinative attribute is goodness itself. Whenever I’ve pondered the possibility of God’s anger, I’ve invariably thought about it directed at me—I’m no saint, sure, but I’m no great sinner either. […]
“For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of […]
Consider the cross of Jesus Christ—that rough-hewn beam of torture and sacrifice, at once both curse and horror and wonderful instrument of redemption and salvation for sinners (Isa. 53:5–6; Eph. 2:13–16; Col. 1:19–20). John Calvin, the Genevan Reformer, was a man well acquainted with the cross. In his childhood, he was regularly taken by his […]
Ask any Sunday school scholar why Jesus died on the cross, and you’re likely to get the same answer: “For our sins!” There’s no question that penal substitution and propitiation get a lot of air time in confessional Protestant circles. If there’s one thing the reformational church is known for, it’s a keen awareness of […]
Joseph was told by an angel to name his son Jesus, because he would save his people from their sins (Matt. 1:21). In times past in Egypt, the Passover lamb had borne people’s sins, but now Jesus came into the world to become the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world […]
