The Manner of Jesus’s Death
• If the Resurrection of Jesus
was the good news, his death
seemed problematic to both
Gentiles and Jews, appearing
to disqualify him as a source of
divine life for others.
• In 1 Corinthians 1:18–25,
Paul acknowledges that the
“message of the cross,” which
was for Christians the “power
of salvation,” appeared to
Greeks as foolishness and to
Jews as a stumbling block.• In antiquity, the manner of
death was proof of the quality
of a life, and Jesus’s violent
death by legal execution
disqualified him as a source of
divine life for both sides of the
cultural world.
o Paul says that the “Greeks seek wisdom,” meaning that a great
soldier or sage could join the gods—but crucifixion, the most
shameful of all deaths and one used mainly for slaves, could
appear only “foolish.”o Paul further says that “Jews seek signs,” meaning signs that
Jesus was a genuine messiah for the Jews, but Jesus did
nothing to make things better for the Jews; he did not restore
the kingdom, the Temple, or the Law. In Jewish terms, he was
a failed messiah.o The manner of Jesus’s life was that of a sinner; worse, his
manner of death was one cursed by God, for “cursed is anyone
who hangs on a tree” (Deut. 21:23).Crucifixion was the most shameful
of all deaths, used mainly for
slaves and rebels against the
Roman order; the fact that Jesus
died in this manner disqualified
him as a source of divine life for
both Greeks and Jews.© iStockphoto/Thinkstock.