Four Reasons We Have A Hard Time With The Necessity Of The Cross

Neal Pollard

The cross tells the truth about us and about God, all at the same time. That doesn’t necessarily make it easier for us to accept and understand. While the cross was a means of torture and punishment most frequently used in ancient times, what we know about it is that is was a painful, horrible way to die. The Roman statesman and philosopher, Cicero, called it the most cruel and the most horrible torture. Yet, God chose it and Jesus endured it. There are several reasons why we have a hard time accepting that the cross was necessary.

The cross says you can’t fix yourself. It confronts our pride by telling us that we must be saved and cannot save ourselves. The perishing think it folly, contrary to wisdom and a stumbling block (cf. 1 Cor. 1:18-23). We like to think that we command our destiny and hold the key to our own rescue, but we know it isn’t so. The cross is a loving reminder that help is available, but also necessary.

The cross says our sins are ugly. In a world that doesn’t want to diagnose behavior as sinful, the cross condemns what the Bible calls sin. “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, that He will not hear” (Isa. 59:2). All the rationalizing, normalizing, and desensitizing in the world cannot negate heaven’s response to sin by allowing the cross to address it.

The cross says God has a specific way to fight and defeat sin. Many expect God to fix things through His power rather than through suffering. Or, people try to fix themselves. God conquers sin through sacrifice rather than force. We may think His way makes no sense, but Scripture teaches His higher thoughts and ways (Isa. 55:8-9). Naaman balked at God’s remedy for his physical illness. So many do the same at God’s remedy for our spiritual sickness.

The cross demands change and a personal response. It calls for surrender, repentance, and obedience, and we don’t generally like that. His cross demands that we take up ours (Luke 9:23). We can come as we are, but we cannot stay as we were. The old song asks, “What will you do with Jesus?” In the test of life, we can’t leave that question blank!

The cross humbles us, challenges our sense of justice, exposes our sin, and calls us to change. Perhaps for these or other reasons, we may question why Jesus had to die on the cross. But the fact of Christ’s crucifixion is central to both the Old and New Testaments. Not only can we not understand the Bible without understanding this, but we cannot under God without it.

Books by the Pollards

A Tiny Spark Snail Mail Club (Kathy Pollard)