Stand for the Rule of Faith, Part 5

In the last entry I explored what it means to stand for Jesus Christ as fully human and fully God. Certainly yesterday's entry did not do justice to the whole of the doctrine of Christ, but time and space do not permit a detailed discussion of all Christological issues on a blog.

Today I want to look at the phrase "suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried." In the ancient world in which the first believers lived this was one of the biggest hurdles to the acceptance of the Christian message. According to the Apostle Paul the Jews considered this a stumbling block and the Gentiles considered it mere foolishness that Christians would celebrate as their leader and deliverer one who had been killed by crucifixion (1 Cor 1: 23). Yet this line in the creed is pivotal for a number of reasons.

First, the reference to Pontius Pilate sets the crucifixion in its historical context. The crucifixion of Jesus happened, and it happened in history at a specific point in time. This is not some made up story. Furthermore, the Romans didn't crucify someone else by mistake, as the Muslims teach, they crucified Jesus. Secondly, they crucified him and he died. He didn't just pass out on the cross. The soldiers tested his corpse by putting a spear into his chest to make sure he was dead (John 19: 34). Furthermore, he was buried, and the tomb was sealed and a guard posted to prevent the theft of his body (Matt 27: 62ff). As far as the chief priests and Pilate were concerned, this matter was over. They had done everything humanly possible to silence this troublesome Galilean once and for all.

In his death we see the full and genuine humanity of Jesus. One who merely appeared to be a man could not have died. Christians must stand for the historical event of Jesus' crucifixion and all the details related to it in the Gospels. Furthermore, Christians need to remember that if they did this to Jesus, the world will seek to do the same to his followers. You are called to suffer with Jesus, even to the point of a shameful death (Luke 14: 26--27; Phil 1: 29; Rev 6: 9--11). If you stand for Jesus and for the Gospel you will face opposition. But in the United States you and I "have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood" (Heb 12: 4) in our witness for Christ. This should serve as a reminder and a warning. You are called to stand for the crucified Savior in the face of harsh persecution.