You have been freed! You have been found!

“I have been crucified with Christ.”

(Galatians 2:20 – Part 1, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, March 11, 2018)

The Cross of Christ as Historical Fact

The ancient observers of first century life, Josephus and Tacitus, both wrote about the historical fact of the cross of Christ. Josephus recorded that “one Jesus, a wise man who performed surprising works” died when Pilate “condemned him to the cross.” He also recorded that the followers of Jesus were “not extinct” in the time when he wrote his book of “Antiquities.” In the “Annals” of Tacitus, the Roman author calls our Lord by the word “Christus” who “suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate.” He also referred to the extent of the Christian Jewish movement which “broke out not only in Judea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome.” One historian has summarized the facts this way, “That he was crucified is as sure as anything historical can ever be since both Josephus and Tacitus … agree with the Christian accounts on at least that basic fact.”

By “the Christian accounts” the author refers especially to the Bible, which is not lesser historical evidence just because it is the Word of God. By any objective criteria, the gospels and epistles of the New Testament are far more reliable than any other documents that have come down to us from ancient times. “The New Testament has been preserved in more manuscripts than any other ancient work, having over 5,800 complete or fragmented Greek manuscripts, 10,000 Latin manuscripts and 9,300 manuscripts in various other ancient languages.” (Wikipedia). In contrast, we have zero manuscripts from the same period of the works of Josephus and only two early copies of Tacitus' Annals.

Furthermore, in the Bible we have not only thousands of ancient copies, but a wealth of verses to consider from multiple authors about what is a central subject of life-changing concern for the people involved. For example, we can look at the five times that the one Greek word was used which is translated with the two English words “crucified with.” Three of these are from Matthew, Mark and John, and two from Paul:

Matthew 27:44, “And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.”

Mark 15:32, “'Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.' Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.”

John 19:32, “So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him.”

These three give us the most obvious meaning of what it was to be crucified with Jesus, but they also establish the fact that every fair observer must admit, or else deny all of history: Jesus was crucified. The final two uses of “crucify with” make the same point, but then move on to the meaning of this fact for the church:

Romans 6:6 “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.”

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Before we leave the fact of the cross, remember the military observers on the scene. In John 19 we read that “they saw that He was already dead.” To further confirm this “one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear.” John adds these earnest words: “He who saw it has borne witness, his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth.” Finally, we read the reactions of the Roman centurion in charge (Matthew 27:54, Mark 15:39, and Luke 23:47). The fact of the crucifixion demands your intellectual assent.

The Cross of Christ as Theological Doctrine

But Paul was insisting on much more than this intellectual assent when he wrote “I have been crucified with Christ. Here we need to examine the context of our verse and the life of Paul as recorded in Galatians 1 and 2. The apostle wanted his readers to understand what he called “my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.” Paul had a life that sprung naturally from his worldview prior to the Lord meeting him on the road to Damascus. That old life was gone. It had been crucified with the Christ—that is, the Messiah. In his new life, Paul had received the “right hand of fellowship” from the church authorities in Jerusalem, but more than that He had been given his mission by God. The Lord gave Paul the boldness to confront even Peter when Peter was acting according to Jewish rules of separation from Gentiles.

Paul had been a confirmed Pharisee, an accomplished and rising intern of scribal Judaism. He was ready to kill for his old faith. That old man (Paul) could never have said, “I have been crucified with Christ.” Now he was giving his whole life for something a scribe would never have said, since they rejected any suffering Messiah. Paul had given up his old trust (right standing through devotion to the Jewish traditions) and embraced a new trust in the Jesus of Isaiah 53, the lamb that was led to the slaughter and died for many. Paul was not alone. We read quotes of Isaiah 53 in John 12:38, Matthew 8:17, and Acts 32-33 where even an Ethiopian eunuch is brought to the right interpretation of Isaiah's song. They all came to see the truth that Peter preached as recorded in Mark 10:45, that the Son of Man came to “give His life as a ransom for many.” (See 1 Peter 2:22-25.)

The Cross of Christ as a Way of Life

Matthew 16:24-28 tells us that this was not the isolated experience of a few disciples but the pattern of life for the church. We all lived with some old set of trusts. Who owns you? For Paul it was scribal Judaism, so he hated the Christian interpretation of Isaiah 53. Now he was “not ashamed of the gospel” but saw it as “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,” Jew and Gentile (Romans 1:16). The gospel claim that “I have been crucified with Christ” was not just about Paul, and was not just a speculative religious doctrine, but a practical demand of the only Christ for all who put their trust in Him. (Today many must say “So long!” to an “I own me!” bondage.)

Union with Christ in His Death

The church has been united with Jesus in His death, a truth that empowers a new life.

1. You have been freed from something old, old trusts with their bad passions and hopeless despair. You still feel pain, but you also taste glory.

2. You have been found by God for a better life as a soldier of the cross. More coming...

Old Testament Reading—Psalm 48 – Mount Zion and The City of Our God

Gospel Reading—Matthew 12:38-42 – The sign of Jonah