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(3) The Cross brings to light an unexpected quality of the Godhead: humility. As Paul expressed in Philippians 2: "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing … he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!" (v. 5-8). The poor and disadvantaged respond by instinct to this personal identification: witness the sermons in Appalachia or the base communities in Latin America that center on the Cross. Novelists know it too: Graham Greene, Georges Bernanos, and Ignazio Silone all made the sacrament commemorating Jesus' death the centerpiece of their finest works.

Whatever else we may say about it, the Atonement fulfills the Jewish principle that only one who has been hurt can forgive. At Calvary, God chose to be hurt.

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Christianity Today has written more on the Atonement, including:

Your Atonement Is Too Small | Why having more clubs in our theological golf bags helps us to better finish the course. (May 20, 2008)

Nothing But the Blood | More and more evangelicals believe Christ's atoning death is merely a grotesque creation of the medieval imagination. Really? (May 1, 2006)

The Pursuing Father | What we need to know about this often misunderstood Middle Eastern parable. (October 26, 1998)

CT also has previous columns by Philip Yancey.

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May 2009, Vol. 53, No. 5, Page 72