The Crucified Messiah

For followers of Jesus, retaliation and violence are not appropriate reactions to persecution. Rather than respond in kind, they must meet threats and assaults with humility, mercy, and forgiveness. That is what it means to “ deny yourself ,” “ take up his cross ,” and follow him wherever he leads. Doing good to one’s “ enemy ” is contrary to the “ wisdom of this age ,” yet doing so is how the disciple emulates his Lord and becomes “ perfect as the Heavenly Father .”

When certain “ super-apostles ” began undermining his authority, the Apostle Paul warned the Assembly in Corinth not to heed anyone who “ proclaimed another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or a different spirit, or a different Gospel .” He pointed to the same Jesus that he first proclaimed, the “ Crucified Messiah ,” the Jesus who is the measuring rod against which all other messianic claimants must be evaluated.