I came across this succinct summary of the paradox of Christ’s victory on the cross in my reading for this Sunday’s sermon:

In the scandal of the cross, and in the lives of his followers who labored in its shadow, a heroic victory—God’s own victory over human sin, and error, and false pride—would be won. Yet the victory would be hidden within the appearance of defeat. — Charles L. Bartow [1]

[1] Charles L. Bartow, Feasting on the Gospels: Luke, Volume 1, Chapters 1-11, ed. Cynthia A. Jarvis and E. Elizabeth Johnson (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2014), 19.