Sermon title for this morning is the cross.
When we look at the idea of a cross in our time, we see them
on church steeples, buildings, we see them in books.
Bibles have embossed crosses on them and we have this idea of a
cross. But in ancient times, during the
times of Jesus, when the government of its time, those
days wanted to execute a criminal, they would oftentimes
do so by nailing them to a cross was a very common practice in
those days. And we're not, we're not used to
that. I don't think any of us here has
ever seen a live person hanging on a cross.
So this morning we want to kind of go all over the place a
little bit in this topic of the cross.
What did it do? What did it mean for Jesus?
What would the impact? What's the impact of it?
Well, let's look, first of all, what the cross did.
What did the cross do? It brought an end to life.
It killed its victim in a very slow, prolonged, agonizing,
painful, humiliating way. First there was the there's the
process of nailing this person on it.
And then was put up right in the hole and it stood there.
This person is hanging there, dying slowly, bleeding and
dying. The idea behind it was to make
it last. To execute with a sword was too
swift, too too too too quick. They wanted this person to feel,
and they did. The Roman government had some
rules. One of the rules, one of the
laws, was that you could not crucify a Roman citizen.
That was too dehumanizing, too degrading.
And no matter what you did, if you're a Roman citizen, you
would never be nailed on a cross.
It didn't happen. History has it.
Tradition says so. I don't know if it's true.
I believe it possibly is, but the Apostle Peter was crucified.
It's not in the Bible, but the Apostle Peter, according to
tradition, was crucified. He didn't think himself worthy
to be crucified like his Lord Jesus.
So he asked to be crucified upside down.
There's there's records, there's stories that of that.
Now did it happen? I cannot say, but very possibly
because a lot of people were crucified.
But then the Apostle Paul, tradition has it, he was not
crucified. He was beheaded.
Now, why might that be? Well, Paul was a Roman citizen.
He was a Jew. Peter was a Jew.
Paul was a Roman citizen, Peter was not.
It makes sense. Another thing about the cross,
it was a form of communication for the Roman government to
really show who's in power and who's boss and who's not.
Of course, the man who got nailed to the cross was not in
power. Of course, they were vanquished,
but then let's look at the teachings of Jesus and we'll
bring this together eventually here.
Let's look at the teachings of Jesus for just for a little bit.
And it's amazing and it's surprising to me how often He
referenced the cross. You can jot these scriptures
down if you want. Matthew 10 verse 38 or Matthew
16 verse 24 or Luke 9 verse 23 and Luke 1427, The most
disgusting, despicable, abhorrent method of execution.
He says that, by the way, is the standard or the level to which
you have to be willing to go to follow me.
Those are Jesus words. Then later Paul as an apostle
takes this teaching and he goes and uses that as his foundation
for planting churches. 1st Corinthians 18.
It's not verse 18 one verse 18 I believe it is.
He says for the message of the cross is foolishness to those
who are perishing, obviously, but to those of us for being
saved, it is the power of God because the cross killed sin.
Jesus lived a life of the cross long before he was nailed to 1.
He lived a life of submission to the Father, a life of self
denial, self sacrifice, service to humanity.
In other words, he lived a life of the cross, and when Jesus
died on the cross, he once and for all broke the power of sin
and death over humanity. Jesus did not lose on the cross.
He conquered death by dying on it and then rising to life a few
days later. He willingly gave his life to
die on the cross, and then by doing that, dying on the cross,
rising from the dead, he forever conquered death.
And what is so amazing about the story of the cross is He didn't
do it in anger because he was forced to or he had to.
He volunteered to. What this tells us about Jesus
is how much worse we have in his eyes.
You see what some when something is of great importance to you,
when something is of great value to you, you will go to great
lengths to obtain that, whatever that may be.
The question we need, we need to ask ourselves from time to time
is how much are we worth to Jesus?
What length did He go to to redeem us?
He willingly went to the cross on our behalf.
He suffered. It's cruelty, it's shame, it's
agony and humiliation. Why?
Because He loved us. You ever wondered how much you,
I, we are worth to Jesus? He says in Romans 5.
Paul says in Romans 5 verse 8, while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us. We were not yet even saved when
it happened. Now if Jesus would start taking
inventory, and I use this sometimes when I visit with
people who are going through hard times.
I use this illustration sometimes.
If Jesus would start taking inventory of people and He would
have to now put a price tag on each human individual, how much
would you be worth to him or me or us together?
If God would put a price tag on each one of us, you know, price
tags in the store, Imagine that there would be no one on
discount. There'd be no one on sale or 50%
off. Nobody would make the clearance
rack in his eyes. You and I, we have eternal
value, unending infinite value. Think about that.
Jesus as godson, He has infinite value, and yet He was willing to
lower himself, become a human and do what?
Die on a cross? It does not matter old or young,
rich or poor, the richest billionaire to the poorest St.
person, the oldest, wisest person to the newborn or the
person on the street. If God would put a sticker price
on you and me, He would say the life of my son.
That would be the price. And this is a free gift that God
extends to us through grace. When we believe in Him, we put
our faith in Him, and it's available to every human being
who wants it. God does not show favoritism.
I want to mention something here before we get to the scripture
passages. Over the last year, something's
been on my mind that I've been really spending a lot of time
thinking about. In my heart, I know what I
believe and have for decades, and I've never really paid deep
attention to the different various interpretations of the
gospel, specifically salvation. But since last year had numerous
people come to me with questions about salvation, how do I
understand it? What do I believe about
salvation? So on.
So I've done a lot of thinking and reading and listening and so
on. And I will just say this.
There are preachers online and in churches and Bible teachers
who say Jesus didn't die for everybody.
He died for the call of the elect.
That's it. He didn't die for those who will
not be saved. He only died for those who would
choose to be saved. And they use different,
different words that are maybe hard for some to understand like
predestination and so on. And I won't take time in this
room to unpack it all, but let me just say this.
Jesus never taught that a purse person does not have a choice.
And responding to his invitation, he never said that.
He never taught that. And this whole point in bringing
us to salvation is he wants a relationship with us.
Why else do you think He calls people to repent and believe and
be saved? And it's over and over and over
again in Scripture. Why do you think Jesus
constantly called, invited, warned, encouraged, and drew
people to Himself if they have no choice and can't reject
salvation if He chooses them? Here's what I believe.
God wants to have a relationship with you and me, and it's free.
If it's not free, it's not a relationship.
And if it's free, it can be terminated, it can be rejected,
and sadly, some do. Jesus made it possible for you
and me to be in relationship with Him when He took our place
on the cross and He died for our sins.
And today this gift of salvation is free by grace to those who
want it. He draws us to Himself.
Yes, but we, you and I, we do the accepting or the rejecting.
There's a very well known verse in Scripture that I've, I'm sure
many of you know off by heart. John 316 For God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. This is 1 passage of many, but
this passage tells us God so loved humanity, the world, not
select, He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever, not
only some, whoever believes in him, should not perish but have
everlasting life. That means this means we have a
choice. It tells us God valued us far
more than we can ever know. Jesus valued and loved human
beings above all else. For some people this is a hard
thing to understand and accept, and understandably so sometimes,
given the environment they've grown up in, or how they've been
trained and taught and so on. Is it safe to say that there are
people who love themselves a lot less than God loves them?
Just a thought. We are purchased by the blood of
Jesus. That happened when he died.
So let's look deeper into the story and how it unfolded.
What was Jesus cross? Let's look at that as well #2
what was Jesus cross? Well, we know he died on a
wooden cross, but he lived a life of the cross long before
that day when he was nailed to 1.
We know Jesus often said to his followers, if anyone wants to
follow me, let him take up his cross and follow me.
He was not referring to a literal physical cross when he
said those words. He was referring to a lifestyle,
to a way of life, and he modeled it before he actually died on
it. But nevertheless, it was on Good
Friday that Jesus made the final ultimate sacrifice when he
physically died on a Roman cross.
But he had already carried a cross of service and ministry
long before now. He was finishing this ministry
with one final act of self sacrifice so that all people
could have access to him for all time.
When we think of the cross, we all too easily just think of a
wooden cross. But on a day like today, we
remind ourselves that a cross in the biblical sense is not
something pretty, something to admire.
It is an instrument of death. And I'm not saying we shouldn't
have a beautiful cross hanging somewhere as a reminder.
It's not my point. But that's not what a cross is,
really. And the other thing about Good
Friday, I've often wondered about this.
Why is it called Good Friday? It's good for us.
Wasn't good for Jesus in the sense of what he went through,
but it's good in the outcome of it.
When we talk about Jesus, when we read about Jesus, we find
only love and forgiveness from him and all of this, there was
no hate or anger or malice in him at all.
And on the day he died, he made the biggest payment ever by
dying on a cross and giving his blood for our sins. 2nd
Corinthians 5 verse 21 the apostle Paul writes for he made
him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the
righteousness of God. What does that mean?
Our debt became Jesus's debt. He decided to pay for it.
He volunteered for it. God sent him and he he, he says
I lay my life down. Nobody takes it from me.
I lay it down on my own. So again, does Jesus death on
the cross for me have the same value for me that my life is to
him? In other words, would I or do I
hold Jesus as closely to my heart as he holds me to his?
By reading the biblical accounts, we know what we're
worth to Him, His life, and how. The question becomes, is He
worth that much to us too? To understand and appreciate
what He did for us, we must look.
We must study what really happened.
And we know that for Jesus to redeem us from sin, it cost him
first and foremost everything. I mentioned that Jesus carried a
cross in life, not just when he went to Golgotha, to Calvary.
He carried a cross in his life. But let's look at some of the
things that happened even before.
We know the final outcome of Good Friday.
He died, was dead, buried in a grave.
We know those things. But God choose to use the evil,
sinful deeds of mankind to bring this about, to allow a son to be
killed and to die for our sins. So let's look at #3 the pain of
the cross. Jesus didn't suffer cheerfully
with a smile on his face. There was deep and real pain.
In many ways, and I've sometimes said it this way, the cross was
not meant to be an easy thing. It was an instrument of self
denial of pain. Jesus lived the life of the
cross before he physically died on it.
Part of what makes a life of the cross so painful is that it
intersects with one's life at so many levels.
And it did that in Jesus life too, and we'll do that in our
life too, if we decide to take up our cross and follow Jesus at
the human level in his day-to-day life.
The Pharisees caused Jesus a lot of pain.
So there was pain at that level. They had turned against him
because he interfered with their teachings, their sinful
lifestyles, their corrupt ways. They rejected him.
On Palm Sunday when Jesus wrote into the city of Jerusalem, that
was last Sunday, the crowds, even children were praying,
praising and shouting and worshipping and the Pharisees
upset about it. They didn't like it.
Let's let's read chapter Luke chapter 19, verse 37 and onward
to the end of verse 40, Luke 1937 to verse 40.
This is now going back to last Sunday.
Then as he was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of
Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice
and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they
had seen, saying, Blessed is the king, who comes in the name of
the Lord, peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
And some of the Pharisees called to him from the crowd, Teach or
rebuke your disciples. But he answered and said to
them, If I if I tell you that if these keeps silent, the stones
would immediately cry out. For Jesus as a man, it was a
very difficult and emotionally hard thing to see the deep
rooted and strongly entrenched sin and spiritual blindness of
the Jewish leaders, especially the leaders.
The leaders and Pharisees had turned God's laws into
self-serving programs that took advantage of the people for
their own personal gain and Jesus was deeply troubled by
that. But then there are also the
disciples, the Last Supper, and even before they were also
worshipping. And they're also thinking, yeah,
Jesus is going to come now and we're going to Jerusalem.
He's going to inaugurate the Kingdom and we're going to throw
out the Romans and we're going to be the national government.
They're all excited about what Jesus is going to do.
And they're saying, I'll be this and I'll be that.
And they were arguing among themselves and what did Jesus
do? How did Jesus respond to all of
that in fighting and so on. Luke 22, verse 19, let's go
there. Luke 2219 and onward says, and
he took bread, gave thanks and broke it and gave it to them,
saying, this is my body which is given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me. That was communion which we'll
celebrate here at the end of this sermon.
He brought His disciples together for the Passover meal
to bind them together to to bond them together in one unity, and
didn't go as as it could have. Let's read verse verse 20.
And then on likewise He also took the cup after supper,
saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood which is
shed for you. But behold, the hand of my
betrayer is with me on the table, and truly the Son of Man
goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he
is betrayed. Then they began to question
among themselves which of them it was who would do this thing?
Who's going to be right? Verse 24.
Now there was also a dispute among them as to which of them
should be considered the greatest.
What? They weren't getting it.
While Jesus was trying to teach his disciples about sacrifice
and suffering, the disciples were already jockeying for
position in what they believed would be the new government.
They completely missed the point where Jesus was getting ready to
suffer. They were getting ready to rule.
They were blind. Are there times in our lives
when we're blind? When we fail to see what's
happening in our own lives, in the lives of others, this is an
area of weakness in the church. Many times people see following
Jesus as something to gain status and position and control.
Fast forward and and from Palm Sunday to Thursday night.
Then Friday morning it was the Pharisees who egged the crowd on
and stoked their anger. Was they who said crucify him,
crucify him. Not just did the Pharisees hurt
Jesus, not just did the disciples hurt Jesus, so did the
people. Again, back to to Palm Sunday.
We're back to Luke 19 verse 41. As he drew near, he saw the city
and wept over it, saying if you had known even you, especially
in this day, this your day, that things that make for peace, but
now they're hidden from your eyes.
For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an
embankment around you, surround you, enclose you and on every
side and level you and your children within you to the
ground. And they will not leave on you
and you one stone upon another, because you did not know the
time of your visitation. Jesus saw this coming.
And in 76 AD it literally happened.
Jerusalem was destroyed. So Thursday, Palm Sunday,
through the week, teaching in the temple, Thursday night,
Friday morning, people just kept missing it.
Then there was Gethsemane. Jesus was hurt by the judgement.
The hardest thing for him was to experience the punishment of sin
when he had done nothing to deserve it.
Matthew 26, we read. Then Jesus came with him to a
place, verse 36, Matthew 2636. Jesus came with them to a place
called Gethsemane and said to the disciples, sit here while I
go and pray over there. And he took with him Peter and
the two sons of Zebedee. And he began to be sorrowful and
deeply distressed. Then he said to them, My soul is
exceedingly sorrowful even to death, Stay here and watch with
me. He went a little farther and
fell on his face and prayed, saying, Oh my Father, if it is
possible, let this cup pass for me.
Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.
Then he came to his disciples and found him sleeping, and said
to Peter, What could you not watch with me one hour?
Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.
The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Again a second time he went away and prayed, saying, Oh my
Father, if this cup cannot pass away from me unless I drink it,
your will be done. And he came and found them
asleep again, for the for their eyes were heavy.
So he left them, went away again, and prayed the third
time, saying the same words. Then he came to his disciples
and said to them, Are you still sleeping and resting?
Behold the hours at hand. The Son of Man is being betrayed
into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going.
See, my betrayer is at hand. This was the most agonizing time
in his life, and he agonized alone.
Then the soldiers came. They arrested him, bound him up
and off. He was led to the high priest it
says in John 18 verse 12 and on says then the detachment of
troops and the captain and the officers of the Jews arrested
Jesus and bound him. They led Him away to Anas first,
for He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas who was high priest
that year when he was before the leaders.
And remember this is early Friday.
He was treated very poorly. They spat in his face.
We read Matthew 26 verse 67. They spat in his face, they beat
on him, they struck him with palms with their hands, saying
prophecies to us. Christ, who's the one who struck
you? There was not a lot of good
about that except that we got redeemed.
After that, he was sent to Pilot.
Things did not go any better. Pilot actually wanted to release
him because he said, I don't see any reason why he should be
killed. And that's when they said, if
you release this man, you're no, you're not.
You're no friend of Caesar. Pilots saw what was happening.
They were starting. They're cornering him.
So he sided with a crowd, handed Barabbas over to be released and
Jesus to be crucified. It says in John 19 verse one it
says So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him and the
soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on his head.
They put on him a purple robe and they said hail king of the
Jews, and they struck him with their hands.
He gave them what they wanted. Jesus got whipped, beaten, and
the Jews insisted on crucifixion and he gave that in that as
well. And He was made to carry a cross
to his death. It was a heavy cross and he
couldn't carry it by himself. He was too weak by that time.
And so a man coming in from the country was stopped, and you
take his cross, and so he had to carry it.
But John 19 verse 17 says he, bearing his cross, went out to a
place called the place of a skull, which is in Hebrew called
Daldatha. And there, outside the city,
Jesus was nailed to a cross. Luke 2332 adds a bit more detail
to the story. And it says there were also two
others criminals LED with him to be put to death.
And when they came to the place called Calvary, there they
crucified him and the criminals, one on the right hand and the
other on the left. He was just a common criminal.
That's how they viewed him. And yet Jesus voluntarily
accepted all this as a part of God's plan for him to pay for
the sins of the world. He lived out the life of the
cross in every aspect, in every part of the way, emotionally,
spiritually, physically, everything.
And then he died. His death was no less dramatic
than his suffering. We read in the forces of nature.
Even God sent darkness and there was an earthquake and then one
of the Gospel that says the Roman centurion said truly, this
was the Son of God for salvation to happen, this had to happen.
You and I cannot pay for our sins and live.
That's a that's a true statement.
We, you and I, we cannot pay for our sins and live.
We can only have Jesus pay and then we live.
God designed it so that sin cannot survive due to its
nature. Sinful living, selfish living,
always leads away from God. It destroys.
It never brings life. Sin must meet its death by its
own actions. When sin happens, a debt is owed
and the debt must be paid. In eternity there will be no
balance owing. There will be no unpaid debt.
All the debt of sin is paid, but held to account for those who
won't receive it. For people who reject it,
they'll be held accountable for their own sins.
They'll spend eternity separated from God.
Sin can only be paid for with life.
Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Hebrews Chapter 9, verse 22. The writer says according to the
law, almost all things are purified with blood, and without
shedding of blood there is no remission.
God knew from the beginning that because of sin in the world,
blood would have to be shed so His people could live.
Sin and holiness cannot coexist side by side.
So what's the lesson for us in the cross?
What does the cross matter for you and me today?
We can turn to the cross, embrace, welcome it and treasure
it, or we can reject it and turn away.
The choice is ours to make. There's a judgment coming.
And all who repented, who put their faith in Jesus, who are in
relationship with Jesus, they will spend eternity with Jesus.
We, you and I, we get to choose in the Gospel of Matthew.
I won't read the passages. We have the story of Jesus
coming in his glory. Matthew 25 He sits on his
throne, and the nations are before him.
And he'll separate the sheep from the goats.
And he'll say to the sheep on his right, come blessed by my
Father, and inherit the Kingdom, prepared for the foundation of
the world. I was hungry, you fed me,
thirsty you give me to drink, a stranger you took me, and naked
you clothed me sick, and you visited me.
And they'll say, when did we ever do that?
And he says what you did to the least of these, you did for me.
You see, friends, that's the life of the cross in action.
The life of the cross means walking with Jesus, living for
Jesus, embracing the opportunities he provides for
us. There's also the other side.
He also that says in Matthew 25 as well, that he turns to those
on his left. He says, depart from you, curse
into the everlasting fire, prepare for the devil and his
angels. They wonder why he says, you
didn't invite me. You didn't give me to drink.
You didn't visit me. Is it?
When did we not do it? He said he will say in verse 45,
I say to you as much as you did not do it for one of the least
of these didn't do it for me. And they will go into
everlasting punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.
These are sobering words. On Good Friday was when that
divide happened. Unless the story of Easter
results in a changed life in US, it's empty and has no meaning.
There's no detour, there's no shortcut.
Everyone comes to the cross, to God.
That's the only way. His victory on the cross is our
salvation. That's the gift.
We don't have to earn it, We don't have to work for it.
We just live it out. So I encourage us this morning,
let's surrender ourselves to Him continually.
Jesus suffering was deep and very real and painful.
It was at every level, emotional, spiritual, physical,
and in every aspect. He died for us.
You see our sins with our names on them, we're laid on Jesus.
So what does it do to you and me?
Do we just yawn and think, OK, what's for lunch?
Are we willing to carry a cross? Where the true Church of Jesus
Christ is, there is also a cross.
Without faith. Without a cross, there's no
hope. Without a cross, it's not really
faith. Without the cross, there's
really no relationship with Jesus.
This morning we again want to celebrate communion.
We want to celebrate what Jesus did for us.
We want to participate and remind ourselves what Jesus did
on the cross for us. He paid our penalty.
So as we celebrate communion, may our hearts, our minds and
focus be on Jesus and what he did for us.
I want to go to prayer and as I pray that the worship team will
come up, our ministerial will come forward and distribute the
bread and the juice. Then you want to celebrate
communion. So that's let's pray.
Lord Jesus, you gave not just much, not just a portion, You
gave everything. You love this world so much that
you gave your Son your all so that whoever believes can have
eternal life. Whoever believes will have
eternal life. Lord, on this side of eternity,
we will never fully understand at all, but we can remind
ourselves repeatedly of your love for us and how much you
loved us. Lord, may you be our King and
Lord, maybe worship you a Savior, but especially also as
King and Lord. Help us, Lord, to remember what
you did for us. Lord, as we celebrate communion
here now, this morning, may our hearts be right with you.
Lord, we pray that we'll continually reflect on what
you've done for us by dying for our sins and help us to
surrender fully and totally at all times.
We thank in Jesus name, Amen.