The Cross Is War

This is my reply to a Mr. Hale who opines that the cross is "suicidal empathy." I have to disagree with you Mr. Hale. Jesus did not commit suicide and his compassion was never ever suicidal. On the contrary, Jesus like God the Father is a "man of war" as we read in Exodus. Jesus' suffering on the cross is the suffering of a soldier who takes on our sins and dies from them but at the same time when he says, "It is finished," it IS finished for Sin, Death and the Devil. It's over for them, Jesus is Victor. He is victor not only in the resurrection but on the cross itself. This is why in Matthew the dead rise and go into Jerusalem, now called the Holy City, because through Jesus' death it is holy. How did he accomplish this mission? The Father not only saved Jesus in the Garden (see Hebrews) he also girded Jesus with the belt of faith. Jesus was victor on the cross by "enfaithment." God the Father gave his all and indeed more than his all by sending his only begotten son. This compassion on the Father's part is his yes to creation and his no to the powers that seek to destroy. What we see on the cross is war.