The Cursed and Disgraced - Maggie Knight

Denver Community Church

Jesus is paraded through the streets to Golgatha. Once there, he is nailed to the execution stake where passersby hurl insults at him and mock him. Crucifixion was not just the most horrific forms of execution ever created, it was designed to be humiliating as well; this is why crucifixions were such public affairs. For those who wanted Jesus dead all along, they now had the chance to watch this man - who seemingly attempted to upset the prevailing order – die. But for some reason that was not enough. So they mocked him, laughing in the midst of his suffering.

But in the midst of it all, the writer is whispering to us that it is precisely because he is king, because he will rebuild the temple, because he refused to save himself that he is saving others – these are the very reasons he stayed on that damned cross. This, proclaims the crucified Christ, is what the love of God looks like. In this teaching, we will seek to understand at a deepening level why Jesus stayed on that cross.