The Cursed King

A couple of months ago I started reading through the Old Testament. It's amazing how God's Word seems so fresh and new with every reading. However, it can also be very frustrating, because it's not an easy task to understand the significance of the things we are reading. Sometimes when we read the Old Testament law, the chronologies, or the specifications for building buildings and furniture, it's hard to understand how our lives should be changed by it. So we struggle and work, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, to understand the meaning of the text and its implications. It's both exciting and frustrating to know that this is a life-long pursuit. We will continually have more questions answered, but more answers will lead to more questions. So the journey will continue until the day that He returns and we see Him as He is.

But until that day we will continue the struggle, and the excitement of having those "lightbulb" moments will continually draw us back. As our eyes are opened more fully to see what's in front of us, we will grow to love it more and more.

For me, one of those moments came when I read Deuteronomy 22:22-23. At first glance, this passage looks like a simple law placed in the middle of a bunch of other simple laws. Moses has been dealing with a wide range of things from murder to inheritance rights to rebellious children. Then, there is this passage, "And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance." (Deut. 22:22-23 ESV). As I was thinking about this verse, I began to think about the Jewish mindest during Jesus' day. Jesus was a man who stirred up great controversy. He could do things that no one else could do. The people watched in great wonder as he healed the blind, commanded the elements, and even raised people from death to life. But it wasn't mainly what He did that caused the religious leaders to hate Him; it was what He said. Jesus claimed to be the annointed One of God. He claimed to be the Christ, the Messiah, the long awaited King that would sit on the throne of David forever. This is what it meant to be the Son of God. The Christ had to be chosen by God Himself. He could not be a self appointed king. This is what the religious leaders hated so much. They could not accept that God had appointed Him to be their Christ.

But what does this have to do with Deut. 22:22-23? The religious leaders in Jesus' day would have known this law very well. How fitting, that the Jews were under the authority of the Roman government, whose favorite form of execution was crucifixion. I wonder how this played into the minds of those who hated Him. If only He could be charged with blasphemy, then He could be hanged on the Roman cross, and it would be proven once and for all that this man is not the Christ of God. After all, how can someone be chosen by God and cursed by God at the same time?

God's plan is so amazing! It blows my mind. The Chosen One would become the Cursed One for our salvation and for His glory. The religious leaders were right. Hanging on the Roman Cross did prove that Jesus was cursed of God. But they did not know that it was God's plan for Jesus to become the curse in our place (Gal. 3:13-14). Because of His obedience even to death on the Cross, the cursed King was given the Name above all names. He is the Christ!