Perhaps you are thinking, do we really need to ask this question? There are some teachers in the Church who purport that it didn’t matter where Jesus died—only that He died. It wouldn’t have mattered if He had died from stoning or other means. They claim the cross was not necessary, and neither was His blood integral to our salvation.
The Cross Cancelled the Curse
Paul wrote: “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree” (Gal.3:13). He quoted Deut.21:23: “His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but you shall bury in that day; for he that is hanged is accursed of God…”
Proverbs 26:2S: “As a bird by wandering, so the curse causeless shall not come.” Just as birds look for a place to land, a curse looks for an opening where it can alight. All creation is governed by cause and effect, so why did the curse come upon the earth and upon man? What was the cause?
In Eden, God commanded Adam to eat freely from every tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The consequences were crystal clear: “For in the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die!” But the serpent beguiled Eve, twisting God’s words: “Lest you die…” Not only did Adam fail to stop her from eating of the tree, he also ate. Their sin was the first cause. God pronounced judgment, and the first curse was death: “For dust you are, and unto dust you shall return” (Gen.2-16-17, 3:1-19).
They brought the curse upon all their posterity: “By one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men” (Rom.5:12). The first murder was committed when their son Cain killed his brother Abel, and a second curse was put on the earth, because Abel’s murdered blood cried out from the ground. Adam’s sin brought the curse of death upon all mankind, and it was compounded by his son’s sin.
It was not possible for a son of Adam to redeem us, because his fallen nature of sin passed upon all men. Jesus came as “the second Adam” to take upon Himself sin and its curse. In order to remove the curse, He had to pay the penalty, which was death. And He could not die just any death: He had to die on the cursed tree—the cross
The cross was His greatest triumph, because on it, the curse was broken: “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Col.2:14-15). The “it” was the cross! Jesus took the written evidence of our sins and guilt, nailed them to His cross, and blotted them out with His sinless blood. No wonder Paul declared in Gal.6:14: “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”
The Ox & the Cross
In Rev. 1:8, John heard the Risen Jesus say: “I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the ending.” These Greek letters equate to: “I am A and Z” in English, meaning: “I am the first and the last, and everything in between.”
This metaphor is found in the OT, especially in Isaiah. Since Jesus spoke Hebrew, He would have said: “I am aleph and tav,” the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Ancient Hebrew was a pictorial language, and its 22 letters were written in word pictures. Knowing these pictures adds another layer of meaning to the words they form.
The picture for aleph was an ox. The meaning it conveyed was strength. Even in modern English we use the metaphor: “He’s strong as an ox.” When God instituted sacrificial worship, the ox aka bullock became an animal of sacrifice and was offered as a sin-offering (Lev.4:3).
The picture for tav was a cross (lower case t). Centuries before the Romans invented crucifixion, the last letter of the Hebrew language was a cross, and meant a sign.
Jesus the Messiah was crucified on a Roman cross, which was not only the most gruesome of deaths, but as we saw, “Cursed is he who hangs on a tree.” Paul said that this is why the preaching of the cross to the Jewish people is foolishness. How could Messiah die on a cursed tree? It was a stumbling block to them. Yet, they are covenant people, and all covenants require a sign, such as Noah’s rainbow and Abraham’s circumcision. Paul said, “The Jews require a sign” (1Cor.1:22-23). And the sign God gave them was the cross!
Putting the two word pictures together—aleph & tav—we see the blood sacrifice for the remission of sins began in the Old Covenant with the ox, and was fulfilled in the New Covenant on the cross. On the cross, Jesus became the final offering for sin. “For Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many…” (Heb.9:12-28). This is why He is the alpha & omega—the aleph & tav!
No wonder Satan attacks the cross! He began attacking the cross even before Jesus’ death. Jesus had begun preparing His disciples for His death. He told them that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders, chief priests, and scribes; that He would be killed, and be raised again the third day. At this, Peter began to rebuke Jesus, saying: “Be it far from you, Lord: this shall not be unto you!” Then Jesus turned to Peter and said: “Satan, you are an offense unto me: for you understand not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” He was not saying that Peter was Satan, but that Satan was using Peter’s flesh to bait Jesus that He did not have to go to the cross. We know Jesus was referring to going to the cross, because He immediately followed up by saying to all the disciples: “If anyone will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matt.16:21-24).
No wonder Satan hates the blood! He knows: “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin” (Heb.9:22). God said: “The life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul” (Lev.17:11). Satan knows Rev.12:11: “And they overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony.” The blood is Jesus’ part. The testimony is our statement of faith.
At the Last Supper, Jesus raised the Passover cup and instituted the New Covenant with these words: “This cup is the New Testament in my blood; this do as oft as you drink it in remembrance of me” (1Cor.11:25). We are to remember His blood! By it we are initiated into the New Covenant.
Acts 20:28 tells us that God purchased His church with His own blood. Paul said: Faith in his blood brings remission of sin (Rom.3:25); we are justified by his blood, and saved from wrath (Rom.5:9). “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Eph.1:7). “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us…. How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb.9:12,14). John said that if we continue to walk in the light and in fellowship with Christ, His blood continues to cleanse us from all sin (1Jn.1:7).
In Heaven, the glorified saints will sing a song that even the angels can’t sing: “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood…. You are worthy…. for you were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (Rev.1:5, 5:9).
“For the preaching of the cross is foolishness to them that are perishing, but unto us that are saved, it is the power of God” (1Cor.1:18).
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