When Jesus went to the cross a most astonishing thing took place. Two diametrically opposite ways of looking at the cross can be seen – and they are both correct! Jesus, rather than look at the cross as an instrument of ultimate pain, torture, and suffering, which it was, chose also to correctly view it as an instrument of ultimate glorification to the Father.
Another paradoxical way to view Calvary was highlighted by the late Pastor Timothy Keller, who once said: “The cross is the place where the Judge takes the Judgment.”1 Imagine, Jesus, the judge of all sinners, chose to dispense His great mercy, by taking the judgment that the perfect law required, unto Himself!
And at Calvary, the perfect God-man Jesus, who never sinned, willing sacrificed His life in order to pay the penalty for your sins and mine and in turn imputed His righteousness to us. The depth of love that this incredible sacrifice on the part of Jesus defies description. Joni Eareckson Tada describes this amazing paradoxical transaction beautifully when she states: “Even at the cross, God permitted what he hated – the unjust and agonizing death of his own precious Son – in order to accomplish something, he prized above his own Son’s cruel death; that is, salvation for a world of sinners. So, the world’s worst murder becomes the world’s only salvation.”2
One final paradox of the cross is how two very different motivations behind having Jesus hang at Calvary’s tree can both take place. Again, Joni Eareckson Tada explains it this way: “The truth of the matter is, Satan and God may want the exact same event to take place – but for different reasons. Satan’s motive in Jesus’ crucifixion was rebellion; God’s motive was love and mercy. Satan was a secondary cause behind the Crucifixion, but it was God who ultimately wanted it, willed it, and allowed Satan to carry it out. And the same holds true for disease.”3
My friends, I leave you with this wondrous thought to ponder from Philip Edgcumbe Hughes: “At Gethsemane and Calvary we see him enduring our hell so that we might be set free to enter into his heaven.”4
1 Timothy Keller Quote: “The cross is the place where the Judge takes the Judgment.”
2 51 Motivational Joni Eareckson Tada Quotes For Everyone | Inspirationalweb.org
3 51 Motivational Joni Eareckson Tada Quotes For Everyone | Inspirationalweb.org
4 28 Powerful Quotes About The Cross Of Jesus Christ | Think About Such Things
The Cross: Where Mercy Kills the King in Us.
A Reality Apologetics Essay (way shortened for this reply)
Reality Apologetics, 21st-Century Definition
Reality apologetics is the defense of Christianity by dragging modern man out of his curated fantasy suite and forcing him to face the actual structure of existence.
Sin is real, truth is not negotiable, suffering is not explained by slogans, morality requires a Lawgiver, freedom without holiness becomes slavery, and the cross is the only answer large enough for the wreckage.
The Nature of the Cross.
Curt Blattman’s devotional gives the central paradox. The Cross was both the ugliest instrument of human cruelty and the highest revelation of divine glory.
Christ did not stumble into Calvary as a victim of bad politics and worse religion. He walked there as the Lamb of God, carrying the message of salvation not merely as words, but as blood, judgment, mercy, and victory in one terrible event.
The grace-and-free-will formula for salvation sharpens the blade. People often reject Christ not because the evidence is thin, but because grace humiliates pride, truth interrupts self-rule, and surrender feels like death to the little tyrant sitting inside the human chest.
The cross was not an unfortunate detour in Jesus’ message. The cross was the delivery system of that message. Without Calvary, salvation becomes sentiment, forgiveness becomes paperwork, grace becomes religious perfume, and free will becomes the human right to decorate our chains.
Reality apologetics begins with this: Christianity is not true because it is emotionally comforting. It is comforting because it is true.
Christ did not come merely to explain salvation. He came to accomplish it.
The cross tells the truth about God, man, sin, justice, mercy, Satan, freedom, and judgment all at once. This is why Calvary cannot be reduced to a symbol, moral example, martyrdom, political execution, or tragic misunderstanding. The cross is the place where divine holiness and divine love meet without either one blinking…or winking.
The Cross Reveals the Real Condition of Man.
The Cross Reveals the Real Character of God.
The Cross Delivers the Message Jesus Preached.
The Cross Kills the False King Within us.
Not the dignity God gave us. Not the image of God. Not personality, calling, or holy desire. It kills the usurper-self, the little monarch in each of us who wants mercy without surrender, heaven without holiness, forgiveness without repentance, and Jesus as accessory rather than Lord.
Free will is not destroyed by grace. It is rescued by grace. At the cross, God did not lower the throne so man could stay seated. He crucified the rebellion so mercy could make sons out of traitors.
Thanks Curt.