The Message of the Cross

Two brothers, who had never agreed on much of anything, finally had a conversation about the thing they agreed on least of all:

“The message of the cross is foolishness!” said one brother. “And you, my brother, are a fool! You claim allegiance to this God who came to earth and lived among us. But what happened to him, in the end? He was crucified! On a cross! First they beat him until the blood covered him. Then they took nails and drove them into his wrists. They put him up on a cross to die a slow, humiliating death. And he died.

I ask you, what kind of God is that? What kind of God cannot even save himself from a human execution?

I’ll grant you that this Jesus of yours was an influential man in his time. Sure, he spoke like a prophet and gathered a following. But look at what happened at the end. Your precious Bible tells you that even his closest followers deserted him. Because they saw the truth of his weakness. They saw that it all ended on a cross. What kind of a God is that? And what kind of a fool are you?”

His brother replied, “You are right, my brother. I am a fool. What you say makes perfect sense, and no eloquent words from me will change that. But I know that the message of the cross is the power of God. Because I know that only an extraordinary God would allow himself to be crucified. Only a God who loved humanity so deeply would refrain from saving himself. Only a God whose power is unimaginable would allow himself to be killed in this way. You are right. It makes no sense. But that is the power of the cross. And you are wrong, so wrong, my brother, when you say that it all ended on a cross.”