LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 92

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Jesus said He had come “to give his life as a ransom for many”
(Matt. 20:28; cf. Mark 10:45), repeatedly telling His disciples,
that “he must go to Jerusalem…suffer…and be killed, and on the
third day be raised” (Matt 16:21).
This is the Gospel, this is the message the church has been given
to proclaim: that God’s free gift of salvation has come to all who
believe, in the redeeming death of Christ Jesus, whom God put
forward as a reconciling sacrifice by His blood. 2
Our Lutheran Confessions put it very plainly—Augsburg
Confession [AC], Article III: “Christ…truly suffered, was
crucified, died, and was buried. He did this to reconcile the
Father to us and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but
also for all actual sins of mankind.” 3
This is our message and our faith, that Christ has “purchased
and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of
the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious
blood and with His innocent suffering and death” (Small
Catechism [SC] II 2).
Through the blood of Jesus, we now have peace with God (Col
1:20; Rom. 5:1).
We who were without hope and without God in the world have
become the people of God, with an everlasting hope (Eph. 2:12).
On the last day we will rise again not to shame and doom but to
eternal honor and joy. For our names are written in the Book of
Life of the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the
world (Rev. 13:8). We have a place in His kingdom, at His table
forever, we whose robes have been washed and made white in
the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14).
The cross of Christ is the center and the summary of our faith. 4
Jesus came as a Lamb of sacrifice for the sins of the world.
Statement number two: The world’s mockery of our
crucified Lord falls also upon us.
One of the oldest existing images of Jesus comes from ancient
Rome. It is a piece of graffiti found scratched on the side of an
excavated house. Archaeologists date this image to about 200
A.D. It shows Jesus on the cross, but with a twist.

The Crucified Christ is foolishness to the world.
Even as He hung there suffering and dying for them, those
passing by Calvary mocked Jesus and heaped insults on Him.
He was despised, rejected. Not only the wrath of God but also
the loathing of mankind was heaped upon Him. He looked like
a criminal. He looked like a fool. He looked like an ass. That’s
your God, Alexamenos? That’s your God?
Yes, world, this is our God. And your rejection, your hatred,
your mockery, we accept, with patience and mercy. Our dear
Lord was nailed to a cross, yet prayed, “Father, forgive them”
(Luke 23:34). Our dear Lord was taunted and despised by the
crowds, by the criminals hanging beside Him, yet He continued
to bleed and to thirst and to die—for them. From His gasping
lungs, He said to one of them, “Truly, I say to you, today, you
will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).
So we preach Christ crucified, to a mocking world. With mercy
and patience. And different people respond in different ways,
but we ought never be surprised or discouraged if this Gospel is
met with patronizing ridicule or outright hostility.
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing,”
Paul writes (1 Cor 1:18). Jesus spoke plainly about this: “If they
have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more
will they malign those of his household” (Matt. 10:24–25). “You
will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who
endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 10:22).
The Lord calls us to preach the Gospel “to men who like or like
it not.” 5 That many might be saved. We preach Christ crucified,
αυκαιρος ακαιρος; opportune, importune; “in season and out of
season.” 6 The world may mock, rail, jail, and even kill. But
many will be saved. And they will be with us, and with their
Savior, in Paradise.
Yes, the world’s mockery of our crucified Lord will fall also
upon us. “Oh, what of that, and what of that?” 7 We preach
Christ crucified.
Statement number three: Jesus’ cross proclaims God’s love
for you.

The figure of the man on the cross, in this picture, has the head
of donkey. And there’s another man drawn beside the cross,
hand raised in devotion. There’s a caption written with this
picture, that says, “Alexamenos worships his god.” The
drawing mocks this Christian man Alexamenos. It mocks
Christianity. It mocks Christ. What kind of a God is this weak,
dying criminal?

We live in a day when our religion is branded by many as
“hate.” And we ourselves sometimes question God’s love and
regard toward us. In such a culture, and with hearts such as
ours, we need the true preaching of Christ crucified. For the
cross of Jesus is the most powerful proclamation of God’s love
for all and of God’s love for you.

Paraphrase of Rom 3:24–25.
Augsburg Confession III:2–3. Quotations from the Lutheran
Confessions are from Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, copyright ©
2005, 2006, 2009 by Concordia Publishing House. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
4
Christ crucified is the center not only of our preaching but also
of the Sacraments. The cross and resurrection of Jesus are the saving
power at work in Holy Baptism. When our Lord forgives us through
Holy Absolution, the pastor declares: “Almighty God, our heavenly
Father, has had mercy upon us and has given His only Son to die for us
and for His sake forgives us all our sins….” With Holy Communion, it

is, again, Jesus’ crucifixion for us, that is central. “For as often as you
eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until
he comes” (1 Cor. 11:26 ESV). In Divine Service, Setting Four, we pray:
“Grant us Your Holy Spirit that we may faithfully eat and drink of the
fruits of [Jesus’] cross and receive the blessings of forgiveness, life, and
salvation that come to us in His body and blood” (LSB, p. 209).
5
A memorable line from the Martin Franzmann hymn, “Preach
You the Word” (LSB 586, st. 1).
6
Greek, Latin, and ESV for a phrase in 2 Tim. 4:2.
7
Another line from Franzmann’s hymn (LSB 586, st. 4).

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92 | PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2023 (68TH) LCMS CONVENTION

What a strange thing that the image of Christ, bloody and dying
on a cross, should be a picture of love, but it is. For “greater love

Convention Essays