Daily Devotions
The Glory of the Cross
Title: The Glory of the Cross
Reading for March 17: Judges 14-16
Weekly reading for March 18-24: Philippians 1-4
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed upon him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:9-11
When we think about the cross it is easy to lose sight of how humiliating it was. Cicero called it "the extreme and ultimate death of a slave" and that "it was the cruelest and most disgusting penalty." Seneca commented on the slow, cruel death that victims of crucifixion would endure:
"Can anyone be found who would prefer wasting away in pain dying limb by limb, or letting out his life drop by drop, rather than expiring once for all? Can any man be found willing to be fastened to the accursed tree, long sickly, already deformed, swelling with ugly wounds on shoulders and chest, and drawing the breath of life amid long-drawn-out agony? He would have many excuses for dying even before mounting the cross."
The ancients considered crucifixion to be the most obscene, horrific, and disgraceful form of execution imaginable. They didn't even utter the word "crucifixion" in polite company.
We, however, as Christians embrace the cross and esteem it as a glorious thing. God ordained that his only Son should receive the disgraceful execution of a slave, and then he called us to gather on the first day of the week to bow underneath his pierced feet to worship. God has called us to confess that this Slave is our Lord.
Father, with our tongues we do confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Glory be to his name!
