Who, then, is the ultimately guilty one in this fiasco of the cross? Have we, even now, glimpsed the full dimensions of the crisis hanging over human history?

…Clearly, as he hangs alone in desolation on the cross, and then is buried in the cold, malodorous godlessness of the Arimathean’s tomb, Jesus of Nazareth has failed—not so much in the collapse of his controversies as in the undermining of his personhood.

Perhaps he had been deceiving others, or was perhaps himself deceived, when he claimed the authority of heaven, acting as regent of God’s final kingdom and the embodiment of eschatological good news for all the nations.

Or perhaps those were indeed his credentials, and he had finally betrayed them—his filial faith and obedient trust weighed and found wanting in the ultimate test?

from Between Cross and Resurrection