A Question from a Muslim brother

Date of Inscription: November 12, 2025

Scribe: Kemuel Dizon

💬 The Question

"If he did that, wouldn't people laugh at him and say, 'Look at this king who tortures and humiliates himself instead of punishing or forgiving the offender?' You say that God, out of His intense love for His creation, tortured Himself instead of them. Did God differentiate in His love between His servants?"

🕊️ The Answer

This question contains two powerful strands of inquiry: one about the world's perception of the Cross, and one about the universality of God’s love. Let us unravel them in the light of His Word.

1️⃣ The Wisdom of the Cross and the Foolishness of the World

You are correct. People did laugh. They were scandalized. The Cross was, and remains, the ultimate paradox that inverts all human expectations of power and glory.

• The Prophesied Mockery: Centuries before it happened, the Spirit of Messiah spoke through David, foretelling the very scorn He would endure: "All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; 'He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!'" (Psalm 22:7-8). This was fulfilled at the foot of the cross (Matthew 27:39-43).
• Greek Etymology: • Skandalon (σκάνδαλον): This is the word for "stumbling block" or "offense" (1 Corinthians 1:23). The Cross is a skandalon—it trips up human logic. To the religious, it is an offense that God would die a criminal's death. To the rationalist, it is foolishness that a single death could solve a global problem. • Mōria (μωρία): This means "foolishness." "For the word of the cross is mōria to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18).

The king in your analogy fears the laughter of his court. But He is the King of a Kingdom that operates on a different value system.

The "foolishness" of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the "weakness" of God is stronger than human strength (1 Corinthians 1:25).

God was not subject to the court of public opinion; God was establishing a Kingdom that would outlast every human empire, built on the foundation of sacrificial love, not coercive power.

2️⃣ The Universality of God's Love and the Particularity of Its Application

This leads to the second, deeply important part of your question: Does God differentiate in His love?