62: Prof. Joel B. Green | The Scandal of The Cross

Joel and I chat about how the cross defies everything power stands for, the atonement of Jesus, and what the resurrections achieves.

4:30 Share a little of your faith journey with us.  When and how did you come to know Jesus?

7:17 As we approach Easter, many Christians are reading the gospels to reflect and proclaim again the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus that saved us from our sin. You co-authored a book Recovering the Scandal of the Cross. What is the scandal of the cross?

"That language comes from Paul, from1 Corinthians 1where Paul says that he preaches Christ crucified, a scandal to Jews, and foolishness to the Gentiles."

9:36 What is it about the cross of Christ that defies everything power stands for?

"If you look at that text 1 Corinthians 1, why is the cross a scandal to Jews for Paul? The answer is pretty clear, because Deuteronomy 21tells us that anyone who's hung on a cross, anyone who is hung on a tree is cursed by God. So you have this weird, paradoxical, oxymoronic, putting side by side of Christ, which means Anointed One, next to crucified, which by the first century, was read in terms of Deuteronomy 21. Anointed One, cursed one, it doesn't make any sense, right? And you know, Paul picks up on that in Galatians 3, when he talks about Jesus becoming a curse for us."

15:35 There are several theories of atonement, so in your personal study and understanding of Scripture how does the cross literally and effectively deal with sin?

"When 1 Petersays that Jesus bore our sins on the tree, then there's the same kind of language being used... back in Leviticus that speaks to the effectiveness of sacrifice in terms of exchange and representation...[S]in and death are transferred to the sacrificial victim. In this case, Jesus, and his purity and his life are transferred to those who receive the benefits of the sacrifice."

"The problem is not outside of us, the problem is inside of us. And so the cross is the means by which we are cleansed from sin, proceeding through death into life that opens up new life."

SHOW NOTES cont. 

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