With Ash Wednesday approaching, Derek begins a special seven-week journey focused on the cross by introducing what he considers the most important contemporary book written on the death of Jesus: The Crucifixion by Fleming Rutledge. 

In a religious culture often drawn toward inspiration, self-help, or relevance at all costs, Rutledge refuses to soften the offense of the gospel. She insists that Christianity does not begin with moral improvement or spiritual techniques, but with an event no one would have invented—the public execution of the Son of God. 

In this episode, Derek explores why Rutledge’s work matters so deeply, how her life as a parish priest shaped her theology, and why the cross remains the central, unsettling, and hope-filled truth of the Christian faith. This episode sets the stage for a slow, careful walk through a book that refuses easy answers and instead invites us to live within the tensions of judgment and mercy, suffering and hope, cross and resurrection. 

 
Key Takeaways 

• The Crucifixion is the fruit of over twenty years of pastoral preaching and theological reflection. 
• Christianity begins with an event that looks like failure: the execution of a crucified man. 
• Rutledge writes as a preacher and pastor, not as a detached academic or system-builder. 
• The cross is not a metaphor or symbol, but God’s decisive confrontation with sin, death, and evil. 
• The gospel resists being reduced to self-help, moral uplift, or religious technique. 
• Christian faith is learned by living within tension, not resolving it prematurely. 
• The crucifixion reveals who God truly is—and redefines how God rules and reigns. 

 
Books Mentioned 
Violence, Hospitality, and the Cross by Hans Boersma 
The Day the Revolution Began by N. T. Wright 
N.T. Wright and the Revolutionary Cross by Derek Vreeland 
The Crucifixion by Fleming Rutledge 

 
Scriptures Mentioned 
John 1:29 
John 18:33–37 
1 Corinthians 2:2 

 
Resource Mentioned 
Russell Moore interview with Fleming Rutledge (2023): 
https://www.russellmoore.com/2023/03/29/fleming-rutledge-on-the-cross/ 
 
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Order Derek's new Bible Study Series, God in the Neighborhood: 
Book 1: Incarnation: 8 Lessons on How God Meets Us || https://amzn.to/42jSZAs 
Book 2: Crucifixion: 8 Lessons on How God Saves Us || https://amzn.to/459bNUk 
Book 3: Resurrection: 8 Lessons on How God Restores Us || https://amzn.to/40T0sp0 

Learn more about Derek’s work as a pastor and author: https://derekvreeland.com 

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