Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Carl Trueman: Triumph of the King

"Based upon rational, empirical inquiry, one would have to say that the man on the cross is a filthy criminal of some kind. Why else would he be dying such an indescribable death as a punishment? 

The cross is a disgrace, both by the standards of Roman law and Jewish custom, and thus the one upon whom such a punishment is inflicted must be the lowest kind of criminal imaginable. 

In addition, one would have to say that he is broken, crushed, defeated.

As he dies on the cross we see no king, no victory over sin, no cause for rejoicing or glorifying the one who hangs there... 

However, approaching the event with the eyes of faith and with the criteria provided by God's revelation of himself, [one] sees a very different picture: not a sinner, but the only sinless man; not defeat, but triumph; not wrath, but mercy.

What we have on the cross is not the defeat of a criminal, but the triumph of the king of glory; not the victory of the powers of evil, but the victory of good over evil; not the hopeless curse of God, but the blessing of God by which all may be saved." 

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