Hi, Doug —
Because "we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness" (1 Corinthians 1:23). Also, we are "always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body." (2 Corinthians 4:10)
Then there is the verse of Galatians 3:1, where Paul says, "Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?" Now remember he's speaking to the Galatians, not the Jews in Jerusalem. There is no way a significant number of people in Galatia could have been witnesses of the Crucifixion, so there had to have been some way in which the Crucifixion was portrayed to them. We're not sure what it was, but the principle is the same. Then there is Jesus's words about the serpent in the desert: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:14-15)
- What was this referring to?
Numbers chapter 21, especially verse 9: "So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived."
So Jesus was saying that he was going to be raised up and affixed to a pole, and whoever gazed upon his crucifixion and believed, would live.
I hope this helps!
Eric
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