Some years ago a large bronze crucifix was stolen from Calvary Cemetery in Little Rock, Arkansas. It had stood there for decades and was valued at ten thousand dollars. The thieves took it away in a truck and then broke it into small pieces and sold it to a scrap merchant for four hundred and fifty dollars. They obviously had no idea of the value of that cross.
Sadly, understanding the value of the cross has always been and still is still a problem in our world. The story of Jesus’ death on the cross is the central theme of the Bible because it shows how far the love of God was prepared to go in the face of the human wickedness. The apostle Paul summed it up well when he said: ‘the message of the cross doesn’t make sense to lost people. But for those of us who are being saved, it is God’s power at work.’