The cross was the great theme of apostolic preaching. The crucifixion of Christ was, and remains, the central fact of Christianity. In Acts 2, Peter on the day of Pentecost preached the death of Christ as the focal point of his sermon. At Corinth, Paul determined to know nothing among them “save Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (I Cor. 2:2). The gospel Paul preached to the Corinthians included the fact “that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures” (I Cor. 15:3).

Yet the preaching of the cross was not a popular theme. It was not what the masses wanted, though it was what they needed. The preaching of the cross did not comport with their habits of thought and modes of living. Such preaching clashed with their prejudices and standards of greatness. Its implications upset their peace of conscience and revealed to them that they were sinners in dire need of salvation. Thus, “the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God” (I Cor. 1:18). But this attitude did not deter the early evangelists. The apostles preached as they had been commissioned by their Lord and left the responsibility of response with their hearers and the results with their God.

“We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block and unto the Greeks foolishness” (I Cor. 1:23). The stumbling block or offense Paul speaks of here is the Greek word skandalon from which our word scandal is derived. We could speak of the “scandal” of the cross. This is the way the preaching of the cross was regarded by the wonder-seeking Jew and the wisdom-loving Gentile of Paul’s day. The cross carried no popular appeal to them. To the Jew this message was disappointing, and to the Gentile, it was absurd. It was a stumbling block.

The Jew could not reconcile the preaching of the cross to his misconception of the Messiah clothed in regal Davidic splendor, destined to crush with material force the power of every oppressor. He did not understand the scriptures which spoke of the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that was to follow. The Jew, in his pride, rebelled against the idea of a crucified Deliverer; he remembered, “Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree” (Gal. 3:13; Deut. 21:23).

Above all else, the doctrine that men may obtain divine acceptance - and share in the Messianic blessings through faith in Jesus and His death on the cross - without circumcision or obedience to the statutes of Moses was the biggest stumbling block of all. This may best be illustrated when Stephen is brought before the council in Acts 6. The false charge made against him was, “…This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law” (6:13).

Sadly, Christ crucified continues to be a stumbling block to many today due to the same attitudes we have just studied.

Bill Feist