Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Why does Paul say he is not 'ashamed' of the gospel of Christ? Have you considered that the word ashamed stands out as unusual or odd in this sentence. Why would you be ashamed of something that has innate power to save another person? Was there something connected to the gospel of Christ that caused Paul to say this? Let's dig a bit deeper to understand this peculiar statement.
The cross was a curse to the Jews
Deuteronomy 21:22-23 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: 23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
To the Jews who were under the Mosaic Law, those who were hung on a tree were cursed. For any Jew, the cross would be doubly repulsive. Crucifixion was the most abhorrent of all deaths because of its cruelty and shame, but for the Jew it also involved the curse of the Torah, the curse pronounced on 'everyone that hangeth on a tree'.
In addition, law made it illegal to leave the body hanging overnight, because it would cause the land to be defiled. After being hung upon a tree on the day of execution, the corpse was to be removed and buried by sunset lest the promised land be defiled by a decaying body which signifies a greater decay; the spiritual wasting of Israel whose divine blessings are correlated with the prospering of the land,
2 Sam 21:1-14 You must not desecrate the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance" recalls the covenant promise of land to be given to Abraham and his seed (Gen 12:6; 24:7; etc.)
This law applied also to Jesus, who was executed on a cross [or tree, Acts 10:39; Acts 13:29], even though He had done no wrong. Jesus' dead body was removed from the cross on the same day of His death and was buried.
The cross was an offense to the Romans
For a first century Roman, the cross was the most dishonourable and despicable of all objects —a matter of unrelenting shame. It is difficult for us today to understand the unspeakable horror and loathing which the very mention or thought of the cross provoked in Paul's day. The word ‘crux’ was unmentionable in polite Roman society (Cicero, Pro Rabirio 16); even when one was being condemned to death by crucifixion the ruling verdict used an archaic phrase to avoid the ‘dreaded’ word: arbori infelici suspendito, which translates to, ‘hang him on the unlucky tree’. (Cicero, ibid. 13).
In the eastern provinces of the empire the Greek word ‘stauros’ [cross] must have inspired comparable dread and disgust to its Latin equivalent.
The cross was an object of glory and grace for Paul
So, coming back to what Paul said, ‘I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ’, we can now better understand the context of the words 'not ashamed'. In Paul's day, and from both primary societies, it was a topic to be avoided. If anything, one would expect the first Christians to deny that Jesus died on the cross, or at most, if they were honest, to admit this fact only with the greatest reluctance. However, Paul looked past the shame and disgust of the societal meaning of the cross and gazed straight into the power of God to save those who received the gospel in faith.
Comments
Post a Comment