What makes the cross a stumbling block to the non-christian today?
The reasons are the same as those that made it an offense to men and women in the 1st century. Paul describes those reasons in 1 Cor. 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, 1. It is a Stumbling Block to the Mind. It cuts across all of man’s preconceived ideas and prejudices. That’s what happened to the Jews. They had their own notion of what the Messiah ought to be. They expected the Messiah to be a great military leader who would overthrow the Romans and set up Jerusalem as the greatest city in the world and the Jews would be the greatest people in the world. At first, when they saw Jesus display His power through miracles and such, they eagerly followed Him. But then came the cross, and it was a stumbling-block to the Jews – because this man they had once thought could be the promised Messiah was now humbly dying on it. He was being killed – not killing everyone else as they expected. He was an offense to the Jews because He claim
