Read for This Week’s Study: Heb. 9:15, Gen. 15:6–21, Jer.
34:8–22, Eph. 3:14–19, Heb. 7:27, Heb. 10:10, Heb. 9:22–28.
Memory Text: “For by one offering He has perfected forever those
who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14, NKJV).
T
he idea that a man found guilty and executed on a cross
should be worshiped as God was offensive to the ancient
mind. Sparse reference to the cross in Roman literature
shows their aversion to the idea. For the Jews, the law declared that
a man impaled on a tree was cursed by God (Deut. 21:23).
Thus, the first motifs that we find in the Christian paintings of the
catacombs were the peacock (supposedly symbolizing immortality),
a dove, the athlete’s victory palm, and the fish. Later, other themes
appeared: Noah’s ark; Abraham sacrificing the ram instead of Isaac;
Daniel in the lions’ den; Jonah being spit out by the fish; a shepherd
carrying a lamb; or depictions of such miracles as the healing of the
paralytic and the raising of Lazarus. These were symbols of salvation,
victory, and care. The cross, on the other hand, conveyed a sense of
defeat and shame. Yet, it was the cross that became the emblem of
Christianity. In fact, Paul simply called the gospel “the word of the
cross” (1 Cor. 1:18, ESV).
This week we will look at the cross as it appears in the book of
Hebrews.