Today the cross is a beloved symbol of the Christian church. Every Sunday we bow our heads in prayer at the foot of the cross. Many of us hang crosses on our walls to decorate our homes. Some of us wear crosses around our necks to adorn our bodies. We have just sung a hymn about surveying the wondrous cross and before our service is concluded this morning we will cherish and cling to The Old Rugged Cross.
Today the cross is a beloved symbol of the Christian church but how did that happen? When you think about it, the cross is an unusual object to love. The cross, as you very well know, was an instrument of torture and death. Crosses were associated with the sight of rotting corpses, the sound of agonizing screaming, and the stench of death. 2,000 years ago, if you were going to tell someone that you were going to bow before a cross in your place of worship, hang a cross in your home, and wear a cross around your neck people would have thought you were weird. Your obsession with such a gruesome instrument of death would have been dark even in modern day goth and emo cultures.
In 313 the Roman Emperor Constantine issued the edict of Millan which made Christianity legal and allowed for freedom of worship throughout the empire. From that point on symbols of the Christian faith, specifically the cross, become increasingly popular. However, prior to the fourth century Christians were known to privately make the sign of the cross on their foreheads but they were reluctant to publicly identify with the cross because at best they would be ridiculed, but worse they could be killed.
There is some evidence that already in the second and third centuries the cross was associated with Christians. However, the association was not a flattering one. The earliest representation of a Christian being associated with the cross is the Alexamenos Graffito. There is a copy of the Alexamenos Graffito on the cover of your bulletin. The graffito was discovered in 1857 during an excavation of a second century boarding school for boys in the Roman emperor’s palace. The graffito was crudely carved into the plaster of a room in the school and was likely carved by one of the schoolboys. The central figure in the graffito is a man with the head of a donkey hanging from a cross. The donkey headed man is looking over his left shoulder at a young boy who has one hand raised in praise. A Greek inscription is written below the donkey headed man and the boy. The Greek inscription translates “Alexamenos worships [his] god.” The Alexamenos Graffito is a crude cartoon, but the messaging is crystal clear, the crucified king of the Jews is a donkey and those who worship him are donkeys too.
To the average person in the second and third centuries, a religion where the fundamental teaching was focused on a God that was punished as a criminal with the most humiliating form of execution was foolish. The foolishness of such faith is an opinion that is still held by many in the twenty-first century. The question for today is, “is this an opinion held by you?” You will want to know the answer to that question because in verse 18 saint Paul wrote, “18 For 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.” Your opinion of the cross is a matter of eternal importance.
In verse 22 Paul identified two types of people who consider the message of the cross to be foolishness. Paul writes, “22 Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom”. The Jews considered the message of the cross to be foolishness because they were looking for miraculous signs. You see, their history was full of burning bushes, parting seas, and miraculous manna. You almost can’t blame the Jews for expecting their Messiah to perform a miraculous sign or two. The problem was… Jesus did. Conservatively, scripture tells us Jesus gave them over 30 individual miracles signs. But feeding thousands, casting out demons, and raising the dead was not enough for the Jews. They demanded more because you see, they weren’t really interested in a Messiah who would save them from their sin, what they really wanted was a monkey who would entertainment them.
I must be part Jewish because I do the same thing and, be honest, so do you. We may not be looking for manna to miraculously fall from heaven, but we demand signs; we demand signs that show us God’s love. We say things like, “God if you love me you will take this burden, this hardship, this sickness, this sadness from me.” We say things like, “God if you love me you will permit me to have, allow me to do, and accept how I am.” “God if you love me, then you will show me one of these signs.” From God’s perspective it must seem like we too are more interested in a monkey than a Messiah.
But the Jews weren’t the only ones considered the message of the cross to be foolishness. The Greeks also considered the message of the cross to be foolishness because they were looking for wisdom. The Greeks are known to have produced some of the greatest philosophers in human history. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle are probably the most well know Greek philosophers, but to an extent every Greek was a philosopher, that is every Greek was a lover of wisdom. All Greeks sought a rational and practical explanation for the world they lived in. Understanding was the essence of Greek wisdom; the Greeks could not believe that which they did not understand. The Greeks weren’t looking for a Messiah that could save them from their sins, what they really wanted was a philosopher who could help them understand.
It appears I must also be part Greek because I do this too, and again be honest, so do you. We may not be looking to unravel the mysteries of the universe, but we look for wisdom, that is we look for a god who can be confined within the boundaries of our understanding. We confess to have a God Who transcends all human understanding but in truth what we want is a God that makes sense. We want logical explanations. We want irrefutable proof. We want quantifiable data. We want a God Who is above everything except my personal understanding. It is when I don’t understand how my God does what He does that I struggle to believe that what He does is true. From God’s perspective it must seem like we are more interested in a philosopher than a Messiah.
In verse 22 Paul identified two types of people who consider the message of the cross to be foolishness, but I think we must confess it is not just the Jews who demand miraculous signs, and it is not just the Greeks who look for wisdom. We are guilty of treating the message of the cross as foolishness. Which means we have stood among those who are perishing.
Thankfully, our God did not allow us to keep company with those who are perishing, rather our God called away from them through the preaching of Christ crucified. In verses 23-24 saint Paul wrote, “23… we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” Through the preaching of Christ crucified “God has called us!” What the Jews refused to see the Holy Spirit shows us by His grace. Now, when we look at the cross, we see the most miraculous of signs. There is no greater display of God’s love than the cross. There the sins of all humanity have been forgiven, including your sins and mine. There the Son is sacrificed so that we might become the children of God. There we who deserve damnation are given salvation. This is the message of Christ crucified! If you are seeking a sign of God’s love, you won’t find a more miraculous sign than the cross.
Through the preaching of Christ crucified “God has called us!” What the Greeks refused to see the Holy Spirit shows us by His grace. Now, when we look at the cross, we see the most profound wisdom. There is nothing more rational or practical than the cross. There the sinners’ debt is paid in full, and the equation is balanced by the great exchange of life and death. There, the ancient prophecies are perfectly fulfilled. There, the righteous requirements of God’s holy law are satisfied. There, God’s gracious promise to save the sinner is kept. This is the message of Christ crucified! If you are looking to understand how God accomplished His plan of salvation than you won’t find a more reasonable explanation than the cross.
There is something strangely moving about the Alexamenos Graffito. On the surface of course we see the work of a cruel schoolboy who considered the message of the cross to be so foolish that he depicted the crucified Christ with the head of a donkey. But I can’t keep my eyes from drifting to the carving of the boy in the graffito. I can’t help but think about how difficult it must have been for young Alexamenos who was so publicly associated with the cross. I hope Alexamenos never stopped being associated with the cross; I hope he never stopped seeing the cross as the power of God; I hope he is among those who are saved because someday I would like to see Alexamenos in heaven. I want to talk to him about this graffito.
Alexamenos may have been among the first to be ridiculed for his association with the cross, but he certainly has not been the last. Still today, the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. Thanks be to God; it is not foolishness to us. By the grace of the Holy Spirit, we see the cross as the most miraculous of signs of God’s love and the most reasonable of explanations for our salvation. That is why every Sunday we bow our heads in prayer at the foot of a cross. That is why many of us hang crosses on our walls to decorate our homes. That is why some of wear crosses around our necks to adorn our bodies. That is why the cross is the most beloved symbols in the Christian church.
“18… 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.” Amen.