THE SHAME OF THE CROSS

Good Friday, April 22, 2011

Pleasant Valley EMC

Richard Dawkins, in his book The God Delusion, writes this:

It is, when you think about it, remarkable that a religion should adopt
an instrument of torture and execution as its sacred symbol, often worn
around the neck. Lenny Bruce right quipped that “If Jesus had been
killed twenty years ago, Catholic school children would be wearing
little electric chairs around the necks instead of crosses” (p. 285)

Who is Lenny Bruce?

In 1966, 40-year-old Lenny Bruce was found naked and dead of a morphine overdose on
his toilet in Hollywood Hills.

And that’s all I have to say about Lenny Bruce!

The author of the New Testament book, Hebrews, in chapter 12:2-

Fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set
before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God.

“Compared to the cross, the electric chair is a massage!”

-C. J. Friesen, who in 1966, at 7 years of age was fully able to go to the toilet
without getting naked

There are two things Dawkins and the Hebrews writer agree upon:
1. The cross is a torturous instrument
2. The cross is a sacred symbol

I will not speak about the physical torture of the cross, but rather focus on the shame of
the cross.

The Greek word for “shame” αἰσχύνης is mostly translated as “shame” in Hebrews
12:2. Today’s English Version was the only one which veered off and translated it
“disgrace.” But what does it mean? Allow me this teaching moment: CAUTION: it is
very bad exegesis to take an English word from your translation, consult Webster for a
definition, and then bestow that meaning upon the word in the Bible. DON’T DO THAT.
What Webster tells us about shame is what is meant by shame in our culture. Webster has
nothing to say about 1st Century Greek Words that have been translated into English in
the 22nd Century.
Remember the sermon Pastor Darren had on Luke 14:26- “If anyone come to Me, and
does not hate his own father and mother….?” Webster helps us nothing there, as Darren
so brilliantly illustrated. Same applies to this word “shame.” So let’s roll up our sleeves
and take this word into the shop of higher learning.

Before we begin, we need to make a complete mental shift. Let’s clear our minds of the
22nd Century mindset, and shift our mental gears, and enter the world in which Jesus
walked- the 1st Century Mediterranean culture!

The definition of “shame” is the opposite of “honor”!

Well, what is meant by “honor?” The opposite of “shame,” might be a good answer, but
that is not getting us anywhere.

DEFINITION OF HONOR:

Honor is when I/you and others in my/your group can look at me/you favorably,
positively, and respectfully. It’s how I see myself and how others see me.

Here is the difference between 1st Century Mediterranean psychology and 22nd Century
American psychology. This is very important: We must get this point:

POINT #1-
This is a culture where a person gets self-esteem, or honor, from others. Others
acknowledge one as honorable. It does not come from within ourselves as in today’s
Western culture. Humanistic psychology says feel good about yourself. Don’t worry what
the next person thinks of you. Come out of the closet, and be you! Not so in 1st Century
Palestine. Make a note of this! It is vitally important for our story!

POINT #2-
Honor is the dominant value of the 1st Century Mediterranean culture! A person
without honor will not function well in that culture. Write it down, make a mental note.
It’s all about honor! Honor establishes a person’s standing in society- honor
determines how a person interacts or relates with others in society, be they superiors,
peers or subordinates. A simple example: as father of a family, his honor is defined by his
gender (he is a male) and by his position (head of the household). To obey the father is to
ascribe honor to him; to disobey him is to dishonor him, and that means the father is
shamed; he has lost his honor.

Is the story of the prodigal son and the shamed father a little clearer? The prodigal son’s
actions have greatly dishonored the father. And so when the father sees his son returning,
and the father gathers up his robes and runs out to meet his son, the shame of the father
exposing his under-developed calves and knobby knees is nothing compared to the shame
he has experienced when his son left in the first place.
Point #3-
How does a person get honor in that culture?

Honor Displayed in 1st Century Mediterranean Culture

1. Honor is bestowed upon a person:

One way to be bestowed with honor is when another honorable person, such as a king,
governor, or God, may simply ascribe, or give honor to someone. In Mark 10:13ff, Jesus
blesses the children whom His disciples had rebuked. Jesus bestows honor upon the
children.

Another way of having honor bestowed upon a person is through kinship. Being born into
an honorable family makes a person honorable. Why do you think the genealogies are so
prominent in the Bible? Genealogies allow a person to trace one’s honor lines, and this
gives one the clout for social prominence. We do the same today. “Oh, you are Jake
Epp’s daughter! Well, well, I have to give you preferential treatment.” SMACK!! James
2:1-6 just wacked me in the face. Take a close look at verse 6 sometime. Notice the word
“dishonored the poor man?” Interesting, very interesting!

2. Honor is acquired by a person:

A person with great achievements is an honorable person. In Luke 7:2ff, why did the
Jewish elders plead for Jesus to come heal the Centurion’s slave? Because the Centurion
had done certain acts of great worth to these Jews and that made him an honorable man.

Perhaps the most common way to acquire honor is by excelling in social interactions.
Scholars call this the challenge-riposte model of communication. We country folk here
will call it the challenge-response model of talking to each other. Every social interaction
is seen as a challenge to a person’s honor. It is a game constantly played among equals.
Remember that honor has limited amounts. In other words, it’s like a money transfer- my
account goes down by a $100 if you take it from me. Again, very different from today’s
psychology- even if our peers think our self worth is zero, our self-worth remains 100%
because self-worth (or honor) in our world is limitless- it comes from within ourselves.

Here is how this social contest plays out. Here is how it works. Four simple steps:
(1) The challenger enters the social space of another person. I call you on your
cell, I invite you out for coffee, I sit you at THE TABLE at the coffee shop- somehow I
enter into your social space. I have my motives for doing this act, but….
(2) The receiver of my action must now assess how he will perceive my behavior
and why I am doing this. Does he think I am worthy of being his equal? Am I challenging
his honor by me implying I am his equal when I really am not?
(3) The response of the receiver enables the public to form a verdict. To not reply
is to lose the contest, and the challenger wins honor; the other guy loses honor. Or a tug-
of-war dialogue is formed and eventually.
 (4) The public has witnessed this social interaction between the challenger and
receiver and they make a verdict who has lost or won honor.

For example: In Matthew 26:52-56 we have a classic situation of this game being played.
The challengers are coming to Jesus with clubs and swords- with force. They may come
as equals, but they are the prominent equals because of the implements in their hands.
Jesus is the receiver and he could have assessed the situation as a severe threat to His
honor. Culturally speaking, Jesus has to respond, for to not respond is to lose honor. Jesus
responds in the most brilliant way imaginable. Allow a Chuck Friesen paraphrase. You
chief priests and religious rulers along with your clubs and sword welding cohorts, you
think that you have now dominance over Me, your perceived equal. Do you not know
that I could call upon My Father and He would dispense 12 legions of angels. (We sing
“He could have called 10,000 angels.” A legion is 6,000 troops, so we best sing He could
have called 72,000 angels, but it doesn’t flow over our lips as well.) You and your
perceived prominence is a façade. This hour has been given to you, and it has come about
this way that the Scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled. So before you take all the
credit for this job, check out your Scriptures.
Did you catch what Jesus is saying? His response is nothing short of a stiff right hand
upper-cut to the theological jawbone of the Jewish leaders. What are their Scriptures?
The Old Testament! Who is their main hero in the OT? Moses! Moses was their greatest
prophet. What did the prophets of their OT predict? Jesus’ death! What did Moses say
was the sign of a true prophet? A prophet who said something and it happened as he said
it would. What did the Jewish leaders do to these prophets? They persecuted them.
What is the point? Jesus, I believe, is saying this: “You guys have the eggs all over your
face. Your actions are the exact fulfillment of what the prophets- whom you persecuted
and counted as idiots- predicted would happen, and by their predictions coming true you
are in fact making your hero Moses your enemy since Moses’ law of what is a true
prophet has been met by the prophets that you so despised.”
And with that magnificent response, Jesus has put these vagabonds in their place.

And this social interaction happens constantly in the Gospels, especially with Jesus and
the Jewish religious leaders. In Matthew 22:46 the Pharisees finally admit they are
beaten. Nobody asks Him another question from that day on.

3. Honor Bestowed on the Body

The face and the head, in 1st Century Mediterranean Culture, play a prominent
role in honor and shame. To enter this space, of the face and the head, is to have crossed
the lines that are the core of one’s self. To be slapped or struck in the face or on the head
is truly a most shameful thing. Such an affront must be challenged. Failure to respond
means shame, dishonor, and disgrace. But honor is shown by crowning the head,
anointing the head and covering the head. The most honorable side of the body is always
the right hand side. That is the place of honor.

(Check out Matthew 5:39: slap to the face AND the right cheek! Two traits of shame!)
(Check out James 1:12: crown of life given to the Lord’s faithful)
4. Honor in Clothing

There are events, occasions and parties which require appropriate clothing. To
wear inappropriate clothing to any such event is to be dishonoring and shameful. In that
culture to be without clothing, or naked, is to remove the classification system. It blurs
the map and all social lines on it. Nudity is chaos, a pollution and shame.

(Check out Matthew 22:1-14: the inappropriately dressed wedding guest)

(Check out Luke 8:26ff: the naked Gerasenes demoniac)

Those, my friends, are the 1st Century Mediterranean definitions of SHAME and
HONOR!

So what? Turn with me to Matthew 26 & 27 and we will see how systematically Jesus is
utterly and completely divested, denuded and stripped of every ounce of honor due His
name. It is the dark night of the slide of honor into the dark, stale, lonely, cold and
terrifying depths of the hell of complete, total, utter shame felt by nobody on this side of
eternity but the Lord, but the shame awaiting those whose hell to come is hell itself!!

THE SHAMING OF JESUS: Matthew 26:1-27:50

26:1-2: The story starts with Jesus telling His disciples of His coming crucifixion. Notice
the honor-shame dichotomy in this verse: Son of Man is a title of honor, but the
crucifixion the dreadful event of utter shame. Can anything rival such dastard disparity as
juxtaposing the Son of Man and the crucifixion!?! Honor side-by-side with shame each
referring to the same Person!

26:3-5: Meanwhile, the religious leaders, the chief priests and the elders, those very
people who have been silenced by Jesus, who have lost every challenge-response game,
who had no more questions to ask of Him as stated in Matthew 22:26, these so-called
honorable men of the religious leadership of the Jews, these who have been repeatedly
shamed again and again and again by Jesus’ brilliant wisdom, are now resorting to a
tactic of out-right force. Logic is divorced from their minds. It’s time for force. Look at
their cowardliness. They want to do it by stealth. They know they will lose the challenge-
response game, because remember, it’s the verdict of the public that declares the winner,
and they still know they can’t win the public’s eye, so they have to do by stealth. It’s a
shameful thing to do since the opponent, Jesus, has no opportunity for a fair game.

26:6-13: If there is a bright spot in this episode this might be the one. But even here the
clouds of shame patrol the dark skies. A woman expresses and shows tremendous honor
to Jesus, who risks dishonor by visiting a leper in his house, when she pours this perfume
on His head. The clumsy disciples can’t get the meaning of it all, and their indignation
towards the woman is nothing less than a resolute act of shaming their Lord. The woman
shows respect, love and honor while the disciples are lost in shame. And Jesus can’t win,
He can’t get honor from His dearest friends in the hour of His deepest need.

26:14-30: And then there is Judas the betrayer. If this does not mimic a prodigal son gone
fanatical, then one would be at a loss to try to come up with a scenario more shameful
than this. Jesus’ own disciple turns on Him. What could be more dishonoring, and yet
here is Judas betraying the Lord for a gain of a mere month’s wages. That’s what 30
pieces of silver works out to- a month’s wages.

26:17-30: What should have been a day of blissful celebration is again marred by the
shaming of Jesus through the betrayal of Judas. The Passover was a festive event. It was a
spectacle of excitement and devotion far eclipsing the euphoria associated with Rosenort
Days. And yet here is our Savior being betrayed by one of His own. What a shameful act!
How dishonoring! Just a brief note of explanation. Not all scholars would agree with me,
but I am one of some Bible teachers who sees what we consider communion to be
completely separate from the Passover. The Passover consists of nothing what is
practiced in Communion. There is no bread or cup in the Passover- it is unique to the
Communion event. But whatever the case, the bread and the cup reminded Jesus of what
was coming- the Crucifixion of God Incarnate!

26:31-46: The Last Supper ends, they leave for the Mount of Olives, and Jesus informs
the remaining eleven that they will fall, all of them, because of Jesus. More shame, more
dishonor! A casual glance at Matthew 26 shows how prominent is the use of dark verbs,
death verbs, sad verbs, and it just continues in this section. From Judas’ betrayal we move
on to the empty confessions of the disciples’ gallant loyalty. From these vivacious
statements of devotion to Jesus, we see the antecedents of their meltdown. In the hour of
His greatest pain, He enters the Garden, taking with Him three most trusted disciples,
Peter, James and John. These are the three privileged disciples that witnessed the
grandeur of Jesus’ transfiguration, and oh they were on their A game then. Oh, ya, give
them the glitz and the glory and they’ll build a shrine to commemorate the occasion. But
in the sorrow of the Christ during His hour of pain, sorrow and shame, the Disfiguration
of the Transfigured One, the three are nothing but a shameful trio of inept, inert and
indolent vagabonds spewing out torrents of dishonor towards their Master. What could
they have done to exceed this exhibition of dishonor? What is more shameful than to be
found sleeping while on duty? To add insult to injury, Jesus closes that scene with these
words, “Arise, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”
Take note of how many times Jesus Himself speaks of the dishonorable things that will
happen to Him: ten times He has made reference to such events, and it keeps coming.

26:47-56 The model of social interaction I presented at the beginning of this sermon
stated that a direct affront to one’s personal space demanded retaliation. Jesus is
dishonored three times in this passage: Judas’ sarcastic greeting of “Hail Rabbi,” Judas’
kissing Jesus and the crowd seizing Jesus. Peter wakes up, perhaps seeing an opportunity
to save his face from the pitiful performance in the Garden, wipes up his sword and cuts
off an ear. Please take note, this is the first time we have a clear cut response to the
challenge of one’s honor, and it’s not Jesus issuing the counterattack, but Peter.
Culturally speaking Peter has done the right thing, but Jesus rebukes Him. Seeking to
honor Jesus by doing the socially acceptable thing, Peter has in turn shamed His master.

Linger with me for a while on the words for kiss. The Matthew (26:48-49) and Mark
(14:44-45) accounts are virtually identical in the Greek. What most of our English
translations do not distinguish is the use of two different words for “kiss.” When Judas
informs his cohorts that the One Whom he will kiss (φιλήσω) they are to grab, Judas is
using a different word than what Matthew and Mark use to describe the kiss
(κατεφίλησεν) Judas gives Jesus. Marvin Vincent in his Word Studies in the NT says
this of καταφιλέω: The compound verb has the force of an emphatic and ostentatious,
or showy, extravagant, salute. Meyer says he embraced and kissed Jesus. It’s the same
word used of the father’s loving embrace of the returned prodigal son (Luke 15:20).
Wuest writes that Judas “embraced [Jesus] and kissed Him tenderly and again and again.”
The point is this: both Matthew and Mark deliberately choose different words, and they
must be intent on making a specific point.

Let’s stop for a moment, quiet our hearts and minds, and simply soak up that scenario!
Are able to feel the emotions of Judas, the betrayer? Can we feel the feelings of Jesus, the
betrayed? What words are there that adequately paint a picture depicting the depths of
such display of shame?

The scene ends with all the disciples leaving Jesus and fleeing!

But there is yet a final act of shame from His most trusted friend.

26:69-75: The scene is modestly pathetic, yet how many deniers of Christ have not found
solace in Peter’s denial? Judas betrayed, and hanged himself. The disciples fled, and
returned. Peter denied, and later confessed mightily for his Lord. Peter’s denial of Jesus is
shameful to the core. Jesus is utterly dishonored! He for whom He died denied the One
Who for him died.

It’s the last we hear of the disciples prior to the crucifixion.

And we are introduced to the next level of dishonoring Jesus. You see, the Jewish
religious leaders know they cannot win the honor game by abiding by the rules, so they
pull out the power cards. For them honor is achieved by gaining the side of the Roman
authorities, and that’s how they figure on ultimately defeating Jesus.
Three Aspects of Shame Associated with the Cross

(1) Associations with Haman of the OT

Remember Haman of the book of Esther? Remember also a celebration called the Feast
of Purim? What did Haman and the Feast of Purim have in common? And how does this
relate to Jesus’ crucifixion? Haman was ticked that Mordecai did not bow to him, and as
a result had put into law an edict that would exterminate all the Jews. Queen Esther goes
before the King to intercede on behalf of her people. She talks sense to the King, and
eventually it’s the whole house of Haman that gets killed.
Here is the point: Haman was crucified on a cross. I know our English translations say he
was hanged, but it is more likely that the Hebrew word means “crucified on a cross’
(Chapman, 2008). His death was celebrated year after year generation after generation
and Esther 9:27 instructs the Jews not to fail in commemorating this event with an annual
2 day celebration. That vile, evil murderer Haman deserved the cross. Imagine the
powerful emotional ties with this feast!
But here come the rats! What made the curse and shame of Jesus’ crucifixion all the more
real was that His punishment was the same as that of Haman “the cursed.” Furthermore,
one of the most striking similarities between Jesus and Haman the cursed is not just that
they were both crucified, but that they were both deemed worthy of such a cursed,
shameful death by the Jewish fathers. What an outrage for the spotless Lamb of God to
be associated with a death such as a murderer, conspirator and arch-enemy as Haman.

(2) The cross and nudity

I realize that with this point I am entering a potentially volatile territory. We have, and
rightly so we ought to have, a rather extreme critical view of any depiction of people
without clothing. We automatically construe any portrayal of nudity as pornography. And
so when Steven Spielburg in his excellent movie Schindler’s List accurately shows naked
men and women being herded into the gas chambers, do we reach for the fast forward
button, or can we see past pornography and actually appreciate the horrible shame,
humility and pain of those people? And suppose I would have the resources to ask
Spielburg to make an accurate movie of Jesus’ crucifixion and Spielburg would have
Jesus hanging naked on the cross, would you write the movie company and cry foul play?
For us purists it is hard to stomach the idea of seeing a movie with Jesus naked on the
cross. David Chapman in his book Ancient Jewish and Christian Perceptions of
Crucifixion writes that “the Roman punishment [of crucifixion] was largely associated
with slaves, rebels and robbers/bandits…In Roman literature, barbarian peoples are
frequently said to crucify, thus insinuating a kind of barbarous feel to the penalty. Lately,
many writers have emphasized the great shame attached to such a penalty- a naked man,
beaten and ridiculed, hanging for all to see while he slowly dies.” (p. 70). And there
hangs our Lord, exposed for the entire world to see!

(3) The bearing of sin and God’s forsaking of His Son

We have talked a lot this morning of the dishonoring of Jesus and I have left much for
further studies. The betrayal of Judas, the denial of Peter, all the disciples fleeing from
Jesus, the cross, the humility and shame of the cross, never mind the agony of it pain, and
yet there remains the ultimate sense of torment: being forsaken by His Father!

And why did Jesus do all this? Because He saw past the cross. Hebrews 12:2 says He
despised the shame of the cross. He set His eyes to what was beyond the cross, to the
time of joy when He would sit down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Conclusion

Dear unsaved friend, today is the day for your salvation. Come, come and repent and
believe on the Lord Jesus. Come and receive in exchange for your life the gift of
forgiveness, peace, hope and joy. Do it today. Do it now, right in front of all these people.
Don’t be ashamed. Jesus hung there naked for you, come and be clothed with His
righteousness. Come now, come while the song is sung, and receive Him.

Friends, Jesus died because He loves us! But this is not about us. This is about Jesus.
What a sham, what an insult to think that this gives modern psychology the foothold to
use to build up the human psyche. “Look how important we must be that Jesus would die
for us. Look how valuable we are in His sight that He would die for us. Look how much
worth us have that Jesus would hang naked on the cross for us” The cross is about Jesus.
How dare we see ourselves taking over the show, and yet feeling none of His pain. It is a
bald faced prostitution of a far deeper truth that gets our eyes away from ourselves and
however damaged our precious little ego may be, and it’s all about Jesus! We do not
celebrate communion by focusing on ourselves and how much worth we must have that
Jesus died for us. Nobody had better be guilty of such sacrilege. Communion is all about
Jesus, it’s about the cross, and it’s about remembering the cross, remembering what Jesus
did for us, communion is all about lifting up the cross and Jesus Christ.

References quoted in the Sermon

Chapman, David W. Ancient Jewish and Christian Perceptions of Crucifixion. Grand

Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008.

Dawkins, Richard. The God Delusion. Boston: Mariner Book, 2006.

Main Ideas of 1st Century Mediterranean Culture Sociological Environment comes from:

Malina, Bruce J. and Jerome H. Neyrey. “Honor and Shame in Luke-Acts: Pivotal Values
of the Mediterranean World. In The Social World of Luke-Acts. Jerome H.
Neyrey (Ed.) Peabody: Hendrickson, 1991.

Vincent, M. R. Word Studies in the New Testament. Wilmington: Associated Publishers,

1972.