by Pastor Afolabi Oladele

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2

The word “shame” literally means “to disfigure, make ugly…shame exposes one to the ridicule of society.” Isaiah 53:2b-3 gives an accurate description:

he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. – KJV
 
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. – NLT

These verses aren’t telling us that Jesus was somehow physically unattractive – they’re telling us about how disfigured He was, in the position in which Jesus placed Himself when He was dying on the cross for us.

The cross is an instrument of shame but no longer carries the impact it should. It has become a fashion symbol as part of jewellery accessories without any thought about the shame that was associated with such a death.

Philip Graham Ryken wrote, “The cross of Christ has been tamed. This is a sign that its true meaning has been lost. For as soon as people understand what the crucifixion means, it becomes utterly offensive to them.”

To understand the gravity of what the cross speaks, the Roman writer Cicero described crucifixion as: “a most cruel and disgusting punishment…It is a crime to put a Roman citizen in chains, it is an enormity to flog one, sheer murder to slay one; what then shall I say of crucifixion? It is impossible to find a word for such an abomination…Let the very mention of the cross be far removed, not only from a Roman citizen’s body, but from his mind, his eyes, his ears.” To the Romans the cross was a vile thing, associated with torture, bleeding, nakedness, and agony, reserved for the most wretched criminals; and only criminals that were not Roman citizens but for aliens or foreigners.

Philip Ryken summarizes all this with the comment, “The cross was for murderers and rebels, provided they were also slaves or foreigners.”

NT scholar F.F. Bruce said, “To die by crucifixion was to plumb the lowest depths of disgrace; it was a punishment reserved for those who were deemed most unfit to live, a punishment for those who were subhuman.”

All these go to confirm that the cross was an instrument of shame as further described in the NT Dictionary of Theology that the cross was a shameful thing, designed “to disfigure, make ugly, to expose one to the ridicule of society.”

Oh, dear child of God, consider the words highlighted and think about the implication for the life you live today as a believer seeking to please the Lord.  The Lord, the anointed Christ, set a pattern and spoke to the same in John 17:14-16 (TPT) – 

I have given them your message and that is why the unbelieving world hates them. For their allegiance is no longer to this world because I am not of this world. I am not asking that you remove them from the world, but I ask that you guard their hearts from evil, For they no longer belong to this world any more than I do.

which the Hebrew believers experienced as recorded in Hebrews 11:34-38 (TPT):

put out the power of raging fire, and caused many to escape certain death by the sword. Although weak, their faith imparted power to make them strong! Faith sparked courage within them and they became mighty warriors in battle, pulling armies from another realm into battle array. Faith-filled women saw their dead children raised in resurrection power. Yet it was faith that enabled others to endure great atrocities. They were stretched out on the wheel and tortured, and didn’t deny their faith in order to be freed, because they longed for a more honorable and glorious resurrection! Others were mocked and experienced the most severe beating with whips; they were in chains and imprisoned. Some of these faith champions were brutally killed by stoning, being sawn in two or slaughtered by the sword. These lived in faith as they went about wearing goatskins and sheepskins for clothing. They lost everything they possessed, they endured great afflictions, and they were cruelly mistreated. They wandered the earth living in the desert wilderness, in caves, on barren mountains and in holes in the earth. Truly, the world was not even worthy of them, not realizing who they were.

– before the depth of suffering and shame got to some of them and they were about turning back. That’s what led to the admonition in Hebrews 12:1, 2!

As Jewish individuals of that day the cross was the most shameful way to die (Deuteronomy. 21:22-23) God Himself viewed crucifixion, described in this passage as “hanging on a tree,” as a curse, which is why, by the way, Jesus was not crucified inside of Jerusalem. One writer said, “The cursed death of the cursed man had to take place outside the city wall.” The pain and agony and public shame brought doubts to some of the Hebrew believers as is currently prevailing among many missionary workers, evangelists and pastors in our nation; and for which cause this treatise is being made public.

Dearly beloved, while on one hand we know the cross is an instrument of peace (Colossians 1:20) and an instrument of power (1 Corinthians 1:18) any believer seeking to please God must of necessity know and embrace the shame of the cross.

It is time to get away from this strange gospel that has polluted the body of Christ. Selah.


Pastor Afolabi Oladele