Be Like Alexamenos

Christianity truly is a theology of the Cross. We can read right over statements in the Bible like, “Christ was crucified” or that he was “raised up” or that he “suffered unto death” without thinking about it much I know, but I want to ask you to recall and consider such passages with just a brief pause. God…died. He rose…but…our…God…died. The Son, of the only eternal being, took on flesh and that flesh expired in death. This is not just another god myth or perversion of the Bible written by the devil to confuse the truth. This is something and someone else altogether different.
There are many things to remember as Christians. We should literally carry about the remembrance of God in all things in our lives as we pray, fast, reach out to others, etc., but chief among all things is that “…our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus…gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.” Titus 2:13b-14. He gave himself in death. And not a peaceful one I hasten to add. He was crucified. In the first two chapters of 1 Corinthians 1, Paul mentions Jesus’ crucifixion three times. He mentions it in other ways also. Paul’s theology is a theology of the Cross. In vs. 23 he says, “We preach Christ crucified…” This is said as the height of all he preaches. He wants the church there to remember this truth above all things. He wants them to remember who was crucified for them (1:13). He wants them to remember the Cross (1:17). He speaks of it as that which God has chosen to confound the supposed wise men of the world (vv. 20-25).
I will never forget when I first learned of the insult of what’s called the “Alexamenos Graffito” (see picture). What it is is a piece of Roman graffiti once scratched into a wall near the famous Palatine Hill in Rome, Italy. It now sits in the Palatine Museum in Rome. It’s been estimated to have been made around the year AD 200. The words etched in the stone under the carving are translated often as: “Alexamenos worships his God". It’s a picture of a man worshipping a crucified man with the head of a donkey. The imagery is clear about what its carver thinks of what Alexamenos believed. It seems that Alexamenos had learned from Paul. What Paul taught in Corinth, he also taught in Rome. The Gospel had come to an obscure man, likely a Roman soldier, named Alexamenos. It was foolish to the carver of the graffiti, but seemingly not to Alexamenos. Paul teaches us that the Cross is always foolishness to the world. Is it foolishness to you? Is the idea of salvation from sin and death through a Cross foolish to you, or is it the very power of God on display? I pray it’s the latter. If it’s not, you’re a fool who denies the very wisdom and power of God. Not through strength did he conquer, but through humility. Death has been killed. Evil has been swallowed up in good. Sin has been put away for all who will come to God in Christ.
Believer, seek God in everything. Seek him at work. Seek him in your home. Seek him on the streets. May the shadow of the Cross of Christ loom high over your every step in life. It is the very meaning of this world, the exaltation of the Son. Be like Alexamenos. Have a theology of the Cross. Know what that means. Only fools will think you’re foolish.