Wednesday: A Messiah Crucified
Daily Lesson for Wednesday 8th of July 2026
Paul wrote that the “Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:22, ESV). The Cross—the idea of God, the Messiah, being crucified—was not a sign that the Jews had expected. Nor was it the kind of wisdom that the Greeks wanted. It went against everyone’s expectations.
In fact, all one has to do is read how the disciples reacted to the idea of Jesus being crucified (see Mark 8:31-32; Mark 9:30-32; and Mark 10:32-34) to begin to see how alien, and repulsive, the whole notion was, especially to the Jews. As said before, the Jews expected the Messiah to conquer the Romans; that is not what happened, at least not in the worldly military sense of “conquer.”
Image © Lars Justinen at Goodsalt.com
For centuries, the cross has been, for Christians, a symbol of faith. It is hard for twenty-first-century Christians to understand how crazy the idea of a crucified God was for the first-century mindset.
However, it is precisely because this was such a shocking message that makes it worthy of our most profound reflections. The portrait of a crucified Messiah makes it entirely clear to the whole universe how far God was willing to go to complete the plan of redemption. The idea of the cross itself, and of the Lord’s dying on the cross, is astonishing enough to us, sinners here on earth. (Imagine, though, what it must have meant to the sinless beings who knew, and worshiped, the Lord Jesus in heaven!)
Read Acts 13:16-47 (especially verses 26, 38, and 47). What does this passage teach us about the meaning of the Cross?
Paul says Christ sent him to preach the gospel. And so Paul preaches the message of a crucified Messiah (1 Corinthians 1:23). He resumes these ideas in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. The apostle was faithful to Christ’s commission. In proclaiming the gospel, he didn’t employ “lofty speech or wisdom” (1 Corinthians 2:1, ESV); instead, he focused only on “Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2, ESV). His speech and message “were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Corinthians 2:4, ESV) because, in fact, “the wisdom of men” stands in visible contrast with “the power of God” (2 Corinthians 2:5, ESV).
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A crucified Messiah was something completely unexpected by the Jews and the Greeks. What does this tell us about the fact that God does not always act the way we expect? Why is this an important concept to grasp, especially when things don’t go as we have expected? |
Christ died for you and I, and that is why we are Christians, and disciple’s(a learner, student, and apprentice, who voluntarily commit to following Jesus out of love for Him). 1John 4:19. Then we can have agape love for, neighbors, contacts, and one another.
A friend of mine who worked in the public health area was often involved in conferences. He worked with several well-known people, organising the conferences and choosing the guest speakers. In the course of interacting with one of these people who he had come to know quite well, this person made some remarks about wacky Christians. My friend though he had better come clean, and told him that he was not only a nurse and an academic, he was also a minister in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The other person looked at him and said, “But Graeme, you are normal!”
Now, lest you think that my friend had compromised his Adventism in his role as a public health expert, he had not. He was what most of us would call a typical Seventh-day Adventist. The fact was that Graeme was engaged with others in a common cause was the reason he appeared “normal” and make a contribution.
Many years ago, I attended a staff colloqia where the guest speaker was David Millikan, who at the time was the religious programming editor for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (our ABC). He spoke about how Christians could engage and be relevant in our modern world. His message to Seventh-day Adventists was to seek ways to contribute to public life and engage with people outside of our church. Someone asked him where Seventh-day Adventists had credibility, and his immediate response was, “Lifestyle”.
Paul talked about the foolishness of the Gospel, but he does not stop there, ringing his hands in dispair. He engages and takes part in the discussions. He makes the point:
The modern world ignores the Gospel. Christians are portrayed as out of touch, anachronistic, and irrelevant. That perception is reinforced when we try to talk to them about heavenly things in a language they do not understand. Pictures of flying angels on walls and Bibles and crosses superimposed on flames may be useful memes for us, but real Christianity engages with others. We need the Holy Spirit to empower us to engage.
The cross is not merely a historical event; it is a way of life. Jesus declared, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Taking up my cross daily means dying to self, surrendering my own will, and living in obedience to Christ. As Paul testified, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). Likewise, believers are called to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Romans 12:1), demonstrating that the Christian life is one of continual self-denial and complete devotion to Christ.
This truth is reflected in the Apostle Paul’s ministry. He wrote, “When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom” (1 Corinthians 2:1). He further explains, “My speech and my message were not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Corinthians 2:4). Paul deliberately rejected worldly eloquence and rhetorical brilliance because he did not want people’s faith to rest on human wisdom but on the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:5).
Paul’s style of presenting the gospel was centered on the cross rather than on impressive oratory that might attract admirers of human wisdom. As he had already written, “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power” (1 Corinthians 1:17). Indeed, “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). Therefore, the cross is not only the means by which Christ secured our salvation but also the pattern for Christian living—a daily life of self-denial, obedience, humility, and faithful discipleship.
Why did the Jews reject a crucified Messiah when the Old Testament contains numerous prophecies pointing to the Messiah’s suffering and death? A crucified Messiah should never have shocked them because it was plainly prophesied in the Old Testament. For instance:
a) Isaiah 53 – “He was despised and rejected of men.”(53:3), “He was wounded for our transgressions.” (53:5), “The LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (53:6), “He was cut off out of the land of the living.”(53:8), “He made his grave with the wicked.”(53:9), “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him.” (53:10).
b) Psalm 22 – “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”(Psalm 22:1), “They pierced my hands and my feet.” (Psalm 22:16), “They part my garments among them.” (Psalm 22:18).
c) Zechariah 12:10 – “They shall look upon me whom they have pierced.”
d) Daniel 9:26 – “Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself.”
A crucified Messiah was not a secret or hidden in scripture. Why was there so much disbelief? Even His disciples would not fathom this, despite Jesus predicting His own death. What lessons can we learn from this disbelief?
1) We can totally misunderstand scripture if we allow our own expectations to take precedence.
2) God’s ways are far above so-called human wisdom.
3) Faith in God requires humility.
4) There is no salvation without the cross. We must pass through the cross before reaching the heavenly Canaan. Suffering is part of the salvation package.
5) Biblical prophecy will always come to pass.
Isaiah 55:8,9 reminds us that divine wisdom operates on a completely different and much higher level than human logic. It’s as though we are playing marbles, while God is playing three dimensional chess. To put it another way, it’s as different as quantum psychics is from basic mathematics. From our finite and limited perspective, some things, such as the cross, defy human logic and reason. 1 Corinthians 3:19 can actually be understood from both perspectives. Sometimes we think that God’s Wisdom is foolishness, but that is only because we are the student and God is the Chancellor of the New Jerusalem University.
The cross looked like the greatest humiliation, but heaven saw it as the greatest victory. What humanity intended as a symbol of shame became the eternal symbol of grace or the greatest means of demonstrating God’s love.
Jews and Greeks struggled with the cross because everyone wants a Messiah who will conquer and humble their enemies, while the cross conquers and humbles us.
Oh, how true! There is no salvation without the cross. We must pass through it to reach our Heavenly Canaan. We live in a fallen world and the means to salvation accompanies pain and suffering, but we must journey through. Our beacon of hope rests in the cross and what Jesus did for EACH of us. Someday, and prayerfully not much longer, our spiritual seeking and living will be complete when we see Jesus face to face.
The world’s spirit is vested in power – power to regulate – power to live life after one’s own will – influencing and regulating circumstances to benefit our selfish pursuits. How does the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ differ from the way the world uses power and influence? The difference is: Having abdicated our power to ‘self-regulate’ by submitting to the Power of Faith in our Creator’s Truth as taught by Jesus Christ, His Son.
To yield this power over one’s life to someone else is undeniably a momentous decision, but millions of people the world over have done so. They have been inspired by God’s Holy Spirit to yield their ‘self-preservation-power’ to a man who died on a Roman cross; hated by most of His fellow country man and those in power over people’s life.
What did we, who believe, gain by yielding to the power of the ‘Gospel of Jesus Christ’ – God’s Son? We replaced certain death with God’s Promise to gain eternal Life by believing and following His Son’s Message – accepting His Father to be our God wholeheartedly. This means that when accepting God’s New ‘Covenant of Faith by Grace’, we will receive forgiveness through Faith because of God’s Grace.
Jewish leaders wanted to hold on to their power to regulate man’s life by the interpretation of their religious laws. The Gentiles could not accept that a man dying on a cross could demonstrate power or influence anyone. But this is exactly what our Savior did. He gave His Father the ultimate opportunity to demonstrate His power over death by resurrecting His Son who gave Him His life freely.
By celebrating Jesus Christ’s Resurrection, we join heaven in celebrating God’s victory His greatest foe – death! God’s greatest mirical – the Resurrected Life – vanguishing death forever. God’s Power to grant Life transitioned from the old ‘shedding of blood’ to the Power of the ‘Covenant of Salvation by Faith through Grace’. Now, ‘Righteousness is gained by Faith and rewarded with the ‘Resurrection to Life everlasting’ – Isaiah 25:8; Hosea 13:14; Heb.2:14-15; 1 Cor15:54-56.
No matter what one goes through, God can bless the believer even during suffering and challenging moments! God is good all the time!
God, please by your wisdom that far exceeds man’s, deliver us from evil. Amen!