A commonly known and acknowledge aspect of Christ is Christ – the One Cursed and Hanged on a Tree (which is also the title of this week’s morning revival).
What can we say about this topic? In a sense it is easier to speak of the minerals of the good land and its riches, but when we come to the matter of Christ as the cursed One and the One hanging on a tree, what can we say?
If we dig into the word of God with the help of the ministry of the age, however, we will find many deep and profound matters related to this One, Christ as the One who was hanged on a tree and bore the curse for us.
In his respeaking of the commandments and statutes and ordinances, Moses included this particular ordinance concerning the execution of a criminal.
If someone committed a sin punishable by death, and he was to be put to death and hung on a tree, his corpse cannot stay overnight there, but it needs to be taken down and buried, for he who is hanged on a tree is cursed before God.
Seemingly this is a small ordinance, and we don’t know why Moses included it among the respeaking of the ordinances, but through this ordinance we are unveiled one of the greatest truths in the New Testament concerning the redemptive work that Christ accomplished for us.
We hope that by His mercy and grace the Lord will open the heavens to us, remove any clouds away, and grant us a clear sky so that we may see something of Christ in this crystal in the book of Deuteronomy.
May He bring us into the appreciation of Christ, seeing something that we never saw before concerning the matter of the curse, hanging on a tree, and the outcome of all these, to realize we are brought into the enjoyment of the blessing of Abraham, the blessing of the Spirit.
We need to have a much deeper appreciation of the wonderful redemption Christ accomplished for us by Him being a curse for us; not only did He bear our sins, but He took upon Him the curse, and even became a curse.
We also want to see that our being released from the curse of the law is so that we may enjoy the blessing of Abraham, the blessing of the all-inclusive Spirit, which is the reality of the good land.
What a Christ we have! Even some of the negative things such as this is a type of this wonderful Christ and the great work that He has accomplished for us!
Seeing how Christ was Prophesied to be the Cursed One Hanging on a Tree (Deut. 21)
In Deuteronomy 21:22-23 there’s a prophecy that Christ would be the cursed One hanging on a tree; here we have a type of the crucified Christ as the One who was hanged on a tree.
This was an ordinance spoken by Moses, but it was also a prophecy of Christ; in the New Testament Peter said in his epistle that Christ Himself bore up our sins in His body on the tree in order that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness (1 Pet. 2:24).
Peter applied what Moses said concerning this dying one hanging on the tree to Christ; Christ’s crucifixion is the fulfillment of that prophecy of one being hanged on a tree.
A criminal could be executed by being hanged on a tree; he who was hanged was accursed by God, so he had to be taken down before nightfall, not to remain on the tree overnight.
If in a man there was sin, a cause worthy of death, and he was put to death and was hanged on a tree, his corpse was not to remain overnight on the tree but had to be buried on that day, for he who was hanged on a tree was accursed of God.
This may seem such negative thing to speak of, but the Lord Jesus was killed by being crucified, that is, by being hanged on a tree – the cross – and He was buried on the day of His crucifixion (Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:39; John 19:31).
We shouldn’t think that what happened at the Lord’s crucifixion was accidental; rather, every detail that happened with the Lord’s crucifixion was according to the Father’s foreknowledge and ordination.
In Acts 5:30 Peter told the Jews that the God of their fathers has raised Jesus whom they slew by hanging Him on a tree; he seemed to be familiar with that prophecy, and he applied it to Christ’s crucifixion.
Then in Acts 10:39 as Peter was speaking in Cornelius house, he affirmed that the Jews hanged Him on the tree; in Acts 13:29 Paul also said that, after they had accomplished all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb.
The apostles were clear that the cross of Christ was mentioned by Moses and prophesied by Him in his ordinances.
In John 19:31 we have the fulfillment: when the Lord Jesus was on the cross and died, it was the Jewish day of preparation, and they asked for His body to be taken down from the tree and buried His body on the same day.
This was in agreement with what was spoken in Deut. 21. How we thank and praise the Lord that He came as the fulfillment of all that God has prophesied concerning Him, and He has been hanged on the tree, becoming a curse for us, bearing our curse!
Thank You Lord Jesus for being incarnated to be a man to go to the cross and be hanged on the tree, bearing the curse on our behalf. Thank You Lord for becoming a curse for us; You fulfilled all the prophecies concerning You, and You bore our curse and even became a curse on our behalf. Thank You Lord Jesus for Your wonderful redemption. We thank and praise You, and we believe into You to be saved and redeemed from the curse!
Christ was Crucified and became a Curse to Redeem us out of the Curse of the Law
The origin of the curse is man’s sin (Gen. 3:17; Rom. 5:12). With man’s sin something came about – the result was ruse. God brought in the curse after Adam’s sin, saying, Cursed is the ground because of you (Gen. 3:17).
After Adam and Eve sinned, God came in and cursed the serpent, and the ground was also cursed because of man.
Although God didn’t directly curse man, He cursed the ground and, due to that, all the descendants of Adam were indirectly brought under a curse.
As descendants of Adam, all sinners are the curse; Adam brought us all under the curse. Just as through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin, death, and thus death was passed to all men, for all men sinned (Rom. 5:12).
Adam was the head of all mankind, and whatever happened to him, also happened to all men.
In the same way, through one righteous act by the man Jesus Christ, who is the Firstborn of all creation and the Head of the new creation, now justification can be brought to all men (Rom. 5:17-18).
Ultimately, the curse is death; death, including all other sufferings, is the consummation of the curse (vv. 12, 17; 6:16, 21, 23).
After Adam sinned, the earth brought forth thorns because of the curse, so thorns are a sign of being cursed (Gen. 3:18; Heb. 6:8).
When Jesus was on the cross, He wore a crown of thorns; this means that He bore the curse, for thorns are the result of the curse God gave to the ground.
However, as the Seed of Abraham, Christ in His humanity was crucified and became a curse on our behalf to redeem us out of the curse of the law.
Man was not cursed; man fell under the curse when he fell in sin, and the law formalised the curse and made it official.
Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law, He Himself becoming a curse on our behalf, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone hanging on a tree” (Gal. 3:13).
Christ died for us on the cross as a Substitute; He not only bore the curse for us but also became a curse for us.
The curse of the law issued from the sin of man (Gen. 3:17), but when Christ took away our sin on the cross, He also redeemed us out of the curse of the law.
All men have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; however, the curse was not altogether official until the law was given.
Because none of us can obey the law of God in full and fulfill it, all the fallen descendants of Adam are under the curse.
The law administers the curse; before the law came, we were under a curse but we didn’t know it, but once the law came, the curse became official.
The curse is related to the law of God, for it is the demand of the righteous God upon us, the sinners.
But praise the Lord, Jesus Christ came as a man, and He in His humanity died for us on the cross; He was hanged on the tree and bore the curse for us, even becoming cursed – for cursed is anyone hanging on the tree.
All men today are under the curse of the law, and we all sin and fall short of the glory of God; but Christ came and was hanged on the tree, becoming a curse on our behalf.
Hallelujah, Christ in His humanity was crucified and became a curse on our behalf to redeem us out of the curse of the law! Thank You Lord Jesus for becoming a man so that You may bear the curse and even become cursed on our behalf, so that we may be redeemed and enter into the enjoyment of the Triune God! Oh Lord, we were born in sin, under the curse of the law, but we believe into You – we believe in Your redemptive work on the cross so that we may be freed from the curse of the law and be brought into the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Spirit as the reality of the good land! Dear Lord Jesus, we love You, we believe into You, and we praise You for what You have done for us!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. James Lee for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Deuteronomy, msg. 18 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Deuteronomy, week 8, Christ — the One Cursed and Hanged on a Tree.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Free from the law—oh, happy condition! / Jesus hath bled, and there is remission; / Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall, / Christ hath redeemed us once for all. (Hymns #1001)
– What made You, Lord, to die for me? / Why would You die for me, Your enemy? / You took my place to hang on a tree, / To be a curse, a curse for me. (Song on, What made You die for me)
– Thou hast fulfilled the law, / And we are justified: / Ours is the blessing, Thine the curse; / We live, for Thou hast died. (Hymns #111)
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