The Apostle's Glory in the Cross of Shame

The missionary might conceal the Cross, fearing it would excite dislike and contempt among the learned. Yet in withholding it, he would forfeit the very majesty that distinguishes Christianity itself. For Christ Jesus the Mediator, though sinless, consented to place Himself in the position of sinners—a descent both marvellous and mysterious. "He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross." Here the word "shame" finds its true measure: not in His Incarnation, but in His dying as a malefactor, bearing the curse for us.

The awful transactions at Calvary demand our deepest sorrow and self-reproach. We contemplate the magnitude of guilt that required such expiation, grieving that our sin added to the burden of the innocent sufferer. Yet St. Paul—a man least likely to underrate the Cross's sorrow—determined to know nothing but Christ crucified, adopting a tone of glorying in that very Cross. This paradox yields its answer: the shame of the Cross, when rightly understood, transforms into transcendent victory. The Redeemer's humiliation becomes our exaltation. What appeared contemptible to the refined became Yahweh's power unto salvation. Paul's determination to preach Christ crucified to the Corinthians was wisdom precisely because the Cross, stripped of human shame, reveals divine redemption in its fullest splendour.