By our standards it would have been
appropriate for the Son of God to die a glorious death, perhaps in battle or
even of old age after a long and fruitful life.
But His obedience brought Him to the cross. Why was it necessary that He die in this
manner?
o
That Christ might be lifted up for all to see
(Num. 21:4-9; Jn. 3:14-15; 12:32-33).
The story of Israel in the wilderness, when many
were destroyed by serpents provides the backdrop for John 3:16. The great love of God is seen in His gracious
provision for the people. All they had
to do was look at the serpent on the pole and they would be saved
(healed). God’s grace was extended in
that He told Moses to put the snake on a pole so it would be high enough for
people to see. Jesus said this exact
thing about the cross: And I, if I am
lifted up from the earth, will draw all to Myself (Jn. 12:32).
o
That Christ might become a curse for us (Deut.
21:23; Gal. 3:10-14).
The curse pronounced on those hung from a tree
indicates the shame of that form of death.
Consider this quote from Dwight Pentecost:
It (the cross) was so
unnatural a form of death that the Old Testament law forbade it and placed a
curse on anyone who should die by this means.
It was such an unnatural and abhorrent death that the Romans outlawed it
for all but the grossest of criminals.
This means of execution was forbidden any Roman citizen; it was reserved
for those the Romans called ‘barbarians,’ that is, non-Romans. The singular thing is that because Paul was a
Roman citizen, he was protected from the kind of death that the Lord Jesus
endured for sinners. But, what Roman law
protected Paul from, the Lord Jesus Christ could not and did not escape. For He came as a creature subject to the
Creator. He came as a servant subject to
a Master. He submitted Himself in
obedience to the will of His Master in death, a death by crucifixion, in order
to provide salvation for sinful men.
Jesus death on the cross was a shameful
experience. Roman crosses were barely high
enough to see over the crowd, but so low that as you passed by you beheld a
naked criminal is the most terrible agony of dying. Jesus endured
the shame (Heb. 12:2) and thereby satisfied the demands of the law for the
Jews (Gal. 3:10-12) and for the nations became a curse for us (Gal. 3:13-14).
For all, Jew and Gentile, He who
knew no sin became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21). He, the Son of God, was despised and
rejected! This is not the end of the
story; Hebrews speaks of the joy that was
set before Him. But it is the end of
His humiliation and it could not be any more humiliating.
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