"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law"—the Mosaic Law condemned us. It is like the illustration I gave regarding keeping the civil laws in my hometown. I am not rewarded for keeping those laws, and if I break one I am condemned. Christ has redeemed us from the penalty of the Mosaic Law. How did He do it? By "being made a curse for us." Christ bore that penalty.

"For it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." This is a quotation from the Old Testament, as we shall see, and is a remarkable passage of Scripture for several reasons. One reason is that the children of Israel did not use hanging on a tree as a method of public execution. Instead they used stoning. When my wife went with me to the land of Israel, she noticed something that I had not thought of. She said, "I have often wondered why they used stoning as a means of execution. Now I know. Anywhere you turn in this land there are plenty of stones." Capital punishment in Israel was by stoning, not hanging. However, when a reprehensible crime had been committed, this was the procedure: "And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance" (Deut. 21:22–23). That is, if he had committed an awful crime and had bene stoned to death, his body could be strung up on a tree that it might be a spectacle. But it was not to be left there overnight. The reason He gives is this: he is accursed of God—"that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance."

Christ was "made a curse for us." The question is: When did Christ become a curse? Did He become a curse in His incarnation? Oh, no. When He was born He was called "… that holy thing …" (Luke 1:35). Did He become a curse during those silent years of which we have so little record? No, it says that He advanced "… in favour with God and man" (Luke 2:52). Did He become a curse during his ministry? Oh, no. It was during His ministry that the Father said, "… This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:17). Then He must have become a curse while He was on the cross. Yes, but not during the first three hours on the cross, because when He offered up Himself, He was without blemish. It was during those last three hours on the cross that He was made a curse for us. It was then that it pleased the Lord to bruise Him and put Him to grief. He made His soul an offering for sin (see Isa. 53:10).

"Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree." The Greek word for "tree" is xulon, meaning "wood, timber, or tree." Christ was hanged on a tree. What a contrast we have here. He went to that cross, which was to Him a tree of death, in order that He might make it for you and me a tree of life!

McGee, J. V. (1991). Vol. 46: Thru the Bible commentary: The Epistles (Galatians) (electronic ed.) (55–56). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.