Sheer Silliness. Hallelujah!

There are seven absurd statements within the Good News of the Cross of Jesus. The scripture basis is 1 Corinthians 1:18 (MSG)...The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. Another version (NIV) calls it the foolishness of the Cross. Allow me to list these seven absurdities as I see them.

1. The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to the high priest when asked what they thought about Jesus: He is worthy of death (Matthew 26:66). There was no one on the planet more perfectly sinless and less worth of death than Jesus.
2. Chief priests and elders to Judas when he tried to return the blood money stating he had sinned and betrayed innocent blood: What is that to us?...That's your responsibility (Matthew 27:4). They had paid the traitor, therefore they were to blame.
3. Pilate, after washing his hands, to the Jewish leaders and the surrounding mob: I am innocent of this man's blood (Matthew 27:24). He was the one man who could've released Jesus (probably incurring the wrath of Caesar in Rome).
4. The Centurion and other guards at the foot of the cross: Surely He was the Son of God (Matthew 27:54)! Jesus not only was but also is the God's only Son.
5. Pilate to the centurion and other guards destined to be executed if the grave were to be found empty. Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how (Matthew 27:65). God allowed the crucifixion to happen, but no man or army could have prevented the resurrection.
6. The chief priests to the soldiers reporting finding the tomb empty: You are to say, his disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep (Matthew 28:13). Soldiers who fell asleep on the job were subject to death.
7. The chief priests to the soldiers they had just paid to lie about the apostles' stealing the body of Jesus: If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble (Matthew 28:14). Absurd! The disciples had absolutely nothing to gain by possession of Jesus' dead body. What they needed they would have shortly..a Live Savior!

After the crucifixion, resurrection, appearances, and ascension, the words of Acts 1:11 (MSG) ring out loudly. The disciples were standing looking intently up into the sky. Two men dressed all in white stood beside them and said: You Galileans! Why do you just stand here looking up at an empty sky? This very Jesus who was taken up from among you to heaven will come as certainly -- and mysteriously -- as he left.

photo by Tincho Franco/unsplash.com

The cross, the tomb, the upper room, the earth, and even the sky were now empty. Filled again was  the place at the right hand of the Father and the proclamation of truth: Christ returneth! Hallelujah!