Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
Problems with the Cross
The cross is a stumbling block and foolishness to Jews and Gentiles in the first century. It still is today, but not how we think.
Back then the gospel audience rejected Jesus because the cross contradicted what they believed.
For Jews, how could their Messiah be convicted and crucified?
For Gentiles, the cross by metonymy included the resurrection; but their spiritual teaching said death frees us from the body. How could the foolishness of the spirit and body reunited make good sense?
Mostly, these are not our problems today. However, these are:
1. The cross means loving those who don’t love me, even hate me.
2. The cross means loving those who continue to reject me despite my overtures of love.
3. The cross means not giving up trying but going the extra mile.
4. The cross means being ridiculed for following God.
5. The cross means denying self for the good of God’s purpose.
We could go on. In the first century, the cross was rejected as a stumbling block and foolishness because it contradicted what people religiously believed. Today, many reject Christ because the cross contradicts what they personally want to do.
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