Scandal, Sacrifice, Success

There is a statement so audacious, so disruptive to every human expectation of power and greatness, that even the closest followers of Jesus could not process it when they first heard it. The Son of Man — the one spoken of in Daniel as possessing eternal authority and majesty, the one before whom all peoples and nations would bow — was going to be handed over to men, and they would kill him.

That is not the kind of announcement you make about a king.

And yet, it is precisely this announcement that forms the bedrock of the greatest hope the world has ever known.

The Scandal We Have Grown Too Comfortable With
We wear crosses as jewelry. We hang them on our walls. We sing about them with great feeling on Sunday mornings. Somewhere in the long stretch of Christian history, the cross became familiar — even beautiful. But step back for a moment and consider what is actually being said when we speak of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

The innocent was judged and condemned by the guilty. The author of life was killed by those who deserved death. The one who commanded wind and waves and unclean spirits with a word was subjected to the cruelty of men who possessed none of that power. The faithful and true was handed over by the unfaithful.

This is not a small scandal. It dwarfs every controversy that has ever consumed a news cycle. And yet, for many of us, it has become something we simply nod at rather than something that arrests us.

The disciples who walked with Jesus had the opposite problem. When Jesus began to speak plainly about his coming death, they could not make sense of it. Their entire framework for who the Messiah was supposed to be left no room for suffering and crucifixion. The Christ was supposed to come in power, overthrow the oppressor, and restore the kingdom. A dying Messiah was a contradiction in terms.

But here is what they were missing — and what we must not miss. This was not a tragedy that interrupted God's plan. It was the plan. As Peter declared in Acts 2:23, Jesus was delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. The death of Jesus was not an accident of history. It was the hinge on which all of history turns.

The Sacrifice That Was Always Necessary
From the very beginning of human history, sacrifice has been woven into the fabric of our existence. When Adam and Eve fell in the garden, God covered their shame — an act that foreshadowed something much greater to come. The entire sacrificial system given to Israel through the law was not the solution to the human problem. It was a signpost pointing toward one.

The reason sacrifice has always been necessary comes down to a hard truth about who we are. Romans 3:10-18 draws from across the Old Testament to paint an unflattering portrait of humanity — not just the obviously wicked, but all of us. None is righteous. No one seeks God. Their throats are open graves. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

We are quick to look outward and catalog the unrighteousness we see in the world. It is far more uncomfortable to look inward. Not just at the things we have done — the sins of commission that are easy to identify — but at the things we have left undone. The love for God that gets crowded out. The neighbor we never cared for. The sins of omission that no one else sees but that are just as real.

This is why a sufficient sacrifice was required. Animal sacrifices under the old covenant were substitutionary in a symbolic sense, but they were never enough. The priests who offered them had their own sin to deal with first. And then they died, limited by death like everyone else. What was needed was a sacrifice that was both substitutionary and sufficient — one that could carry the full weight of human sin, once for all.

That is exactly what Jesus came to provide. He who knew no sin became sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). He who kept the covenant perfectly took the covenant's curse upon himself so that its blessings could be extended to those who had broken it. He who earned life through his sinless obedience took death so that we could receive the life he purchased.

This is not a small thing. This is everything.

The Success That Changes Everything
But the story does not end at the cross. Jesus did not simply come to die. He came to die and rise. And this distinction is not a minor theological footnote — it is the difference between a dead religion and a living hope.

Paul makes this point with striking clarity in 1 Corinthians 15:17-19. If Christ has not been raised, faith is futile and sin still reigns. Those who have died believing in him have simply perished. And those who place their hope in Christ for this life only are, of all people, most to be pitied.

The resurrection is the validation of everything Jesus claimed and accomplished. It is the declaration that the sacrifice was accepted, that death has been defeated, that the one who promised to rise actually did. We do not worship a dead Savior. We worship a living, reigning, ruling Savior.

And this is where present-day hope is anchored. Not in circumstances that cooperate. Not in governments that govern well. Not in health that holds. The inheritance waiting for those who are in Christ is described as unfading, unspoiled, and kept in heaven — beyond the reach of decay or disappointment.

The Question Worth Sitting With
The disciples, confused and afraid, were too fearful to ask Jesus for clarification. They were standing in the presence of the one who had every answer, and they stayed silent.

Are you doing the same? Are there questions about the gospel you have never truly pressed into? Are there depths of grace you have never pursued because you were afraid of what understanding your own sinfulness might cost you?

The scandal of the gospel, the sacrifice of Jesus, and the success of his resurrection are not just doctrines to be cataloged. They are the living foundation of a hope that does not disappoint. Press in. Ask. Seek to understand more fully.

The tomb is empty, and that changes everything.