Gal. 3:10-14; Acts 10:34-43

How can Jesus become a curse for us when He never sinned?  That is where the cross comes into the story.  According to the law of Moses a curse was pronounced on anyone who hung on a tree (Deut. 21:22-23).  

That might sound strange but if you read the passage in the Law you get some insight.  It refers to a situation where someone has committed a crime that is worthy of death.  If you hang that person from a tree you were not to leave his body on the tree but, by the end of the day, you were to bury the person.  Why is a person hung on a tree under a curse?  The answer is in the shame that is associated with that kind of public display of a criminal. 

According to the record of Israel’s history in the Old Testament this was a rare situation.  But it happened twice in the conquering of the land under Joshua (Josh. 8:29; 10:26-27).  Both times Joshua executed enemy kings, then hung their bodies on trees as a mark of shame, showing them to be cursed kings ruling over cursed cities; and both times Joshua took the bodies down at the end of the day.  The Law did not specifically speak of crucifixion; it simply spoke of shaming the criminal by putting his body on public display by hanging it on a tree.  But it did not deny crucifixion and in fact opened the door for what God would do for the salvation of the nations.

These passages show us something about Jesus and His cross.  He too was hung on a tree.  He too was taken down from the cross at the end of the day.  Even though Jesus had done no wrong, and Pilate acknowledged this himself, yet He was crucified, hung on a tree to die.  Thus Paul can say these most marvelous words: Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us!  And why did He do this?  That the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles (nations) in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Peter also used the term tree, referring to Jesus who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we having died to sins, might life for righteousness – by whose stripes you were healed (1 Pt. 2:24).  It is interesting that, when Peter preached the gospel for the first time to a Gentile (non-Jewish) crowd, at the home of the Roman centurion Cornelius, he used this word: whom they killed by hanging on a tree.  This very fact allowed Peter to offer the good news that whoever believes in Him will receive remission (forgiveness) of sin.

Both Peter and Paul understood the universal truth in Scripture that the just shall live by faith (Paul in Gal. 3:11 is quoting the prophet Habakkuk, Hab. 2:4).  We are transgressors of God’s law, under a curse.  But Christ has become a curse for us.  Be beg you: be reconciled to God.  Lay down your animosity towards God and thank Him that you are not required to pay the price of death yourself.  You can have life eternally because Jesus has taken your sins on the tree.