“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us — for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”
The truth conveyed in this text is what made Jesus Christ and His Gospel such a scandal to the Jews of the first century. They were all familiar with the terrifying truth of Scripture that “He who is hanged is accursed of God.” How then could the Messiah be the Deliverer and King of Israel and yet die in such a degrading and accused fashion? To entertain such an idea was more than scandalous, it was outright blasphemy! Yet the Jews failed to see that it was an “exchanged curse,” and that it was necessary for the Christ to become what they were in order to redeem them from what they deserved. He became a worm and no man, the serpent lifted up in the wilderness, the scapegoat driven outside the camp, the bearer of sin, and the One upon whom the curse of God did fall. And He did it all in the place of His people!
In the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth chapters of Deuteronomy, God divided the nation of Israel into two separate camps and placed one on Mount Gerizim and the other on Mount Ebal. Those on Mount Gerizim were to pronounce the blessings which would come upon all who diligently obey the Lord their God. Those on Mount Ebal were to pronounce the curses which would fall upon all who refused such obedience. Though Christ had every right to the blessings of Gerizim, it was from Mount Ebal that His own Father thundered against Him as He hung from Calvary’s tree. From behind the closed doors of heaven the Father crushed His only Son with every terror that should befall those for whom He died. When He raised His eyes to heaven to find God’s countenance, His Father turned away. When He cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?’ His Father replied, “The Lord, the Lord your God, damns you.”
The Lord sends upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly…
- “The Lord smites you with madness and with blindness and with bewilderment of heart; and you will grope at noon, as the blind man gropes in darkness… with none to save you.”
- “The Lord delights over you to make you perish and destroy you; and you will be torn from the land.”
- “Cursed shall you be in the city, and curse shall you be in the field…”
- “Cursed shall you be when you come in and cursed shall you be when you go out…”
- “The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron.”
- “You shall be a horror, a proverb, and a taunt among all the people.”
- “Let all these curses come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the LORD your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.”
As Christ bore our sin upon Calvary, He was cursed as man who makes an idol and sets it up in secret. He was cursed as one who dishonors his father or mother, who moves his neighbor’s boundary mark, or misleads a blind person on the road. He was cursed as one who distorts the justice due an alien, orphan, and widow. He was cursed as one who is guilty of every manner of immorality and perversion, who wounds his neighbor in secret, or accepts a bribe to strike down the innocent. He was cursed as one who does not confirm the words of the Law by doing them. The sage of Proverbs wrote:
“Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, So a curse without cause does not alight.”
However the curse did alight upon the Branch, not because of some flaw in His character or error in His deeds, but because He bore the sins of His people and carried their iniquity before the judgment bar of God. There He stood uncovered, unprotected, and vulnerable to every recourse of divine judgment. The psalmist David cried out,
“How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit!”
Yet on the Cross, the sin imputed to Christ was exposed before God and the host of heavens. He was placarded before men and made a spectacle to angels and devils alike. The transgressions He bore were not forgiven Him, and the sins He carried were not covered. If a man is counted blessed because iniquity is not imputed to Him, then Christ was cursed beyond measure because the iniquity of us all fell upon Him. For this reason, He was treated as the covenant breaker spoken of at the renewal of the Mosaic covenant in Moab.
“The anger of the LORD and His jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse which is written in this book will rest on him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven. Then the LORD will single him out for adversity from all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant which are written in this book of the law.”
At Calvary, the Messiah was “singled out” for adversity and “every curse” written in the book of the Law fell upon Him. In this “Seed of Abraham” all the families of the earth are blessed, but only because He was cursed more than any man who ever walked upon the earth. In book of Numbers is found one of the most beautiful promises of blessing that has ever been given by God to man. It is referred to as the Priestly or Aaronic blessing:
“The LORD bless you, and keep you;
“The LORD make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace.”
Though beautiful and gracious, this blessing presents us with a great theological and moral problem. How can a righteous God grant such blessing to a sinful people without compromising His righteousness? The answer again is found in the Cross. The sinner can be blessed only because the Holy and Righteous One was cursed. Any and every blessing from God that has ever been granted or ever will be granted to His people is only because, on the Tree, Christ became the very anti-type of this Priestly or Aaronic Blessing. To us, it is said, “The Lord bless you,” only because to Him it was said:
“The Lord curse you, and give you over to destruction;
“The Lord take the light of His presence from you, and condemn you;
“The Lord turn His face from you, and fill you with misery.”