The Cross of Christ
Notes
Transcript
The Cross of Christ
The Cross of Christ
Please open your bibles to the Gospel of Luke
We will be in chapter 23:32-49
we are in part 3 of our Road to the Cross
and today we will be covering Jesus Crucifixion
i would like to open us up with poem
to set our hearts on the shadow of a cross
as i walk i see a shadow — a shadow of a cross;
for calvary still casts a shadow for those would suffer loss.
near the cross is no place for a name —
not prestige or gain; not power or fame.
the cross is the beginning of freedom; the end of strife.
it is the death of self; the beginning of life.
an old rugged cross many have carried —
they were scorned and mocked; some crucified and buried.
but only one sinless lamb gave his life in pure love;
his name is Jesus, God’s gift from above.
so, it is in the shadow of his cross that i seek to abide;
to be shaped and formed, not just carry wood by my side.
it is his message of love that is seen in the cross.
and that is why i desire to live in the “shadow of the cross.“
what a wonderful poem written by Keith Wheeler Ministries
This morning we will reflect on
Jesus’ Cross
and the events that occured
while he was hanging there
So, please stand with me
as we read the perfect word of God
Luke 23:32–49 “Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has …”
Pray
Illustration
Illustration
Many of us wear crosses around our necks
we have crosses on our vehicles
I have a cross here on my wedding ring
But, what is so special about that cross
Well, I can tell you what the cross is not
its not used to ward off evil
and Im not really sure it works on vampires
its not a lucky charm such as
that of a rabbits foot
to the first century Jew
and Christian
it would have meant fear
it was a weapon of torture
it would have meant execution
the very word excruciating
literally means
“out of crucifying”
there is no way we would have seen
anyone within the first couple of centuries wearing a cross
in fact, for the first probably
300 years of christianity
christians used symbols of
fish
or Shepards crooks or doves
to display their allegiance to Christ
it wasn’t until Christianity was made legal
by Rome and crucifixions were stopped
that people started using it for Christ
yet, what is it about the cross
see, the significance of the cross
does not lie in its physical being
but in what it represents
see, it is not a symbol only of power
but a symbol of suffering
it is a reminder of what Christ suffered
to pay for our sins
it is but a representation of the atonement
of our sins
a symbol of the event that occured on the cross
the very event, we will discuss this morning
the cross isnt about 2 peices of wood nailed together
it is about the one the was hung upon it
Our outline of the events of the cross are divided into
3 points this morning as
we will see exactly what must happen
in order for us to receive salvation
and what exactly made the cross so significant for us
Those points are
Jesus Shamed (V32-38)
Jesus Satisfied (39-43)
Jesus Succumbed (44-49)
Jesus Shamed
Jesus Shamed
Luke 23:32 “Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him.
Some hundreds of years ago this very moment was
predicted by Isaiah
Isaiah 53:12 “Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors;
or the criminals
yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”
It was predicted long ago that Jesus would be put to
death along side other criminals
and here we see it come to fruition
and this was to add to the shame
See it wasn’t enough for them to beat Him
it wasn’t enough for them to torture Him
It wasn’t even enough for them to break Him physically
they knew the most awful way to top this off
was with shame
see from where we left off last week
to this week
Jesus would have been betrayed by his very own
disciple
abandoned
and left alone
he was arrested
he was tried in various kangaroo courts
he was beaten
mocked
spit upon
he had a crown of thorns smashed into his
head and the crowd choose
Barrabus
a convicted insurrectionist, robber, and murder
he choses to be released instead of him
during their passover celebration
he was deemed innocent by the government
only to receive the death penalty anyway
but before he was led to this point with these criminals
he was dealt a criminals blow as well
as he was scourged almost to death
DESCRIBE SCOURGING IF THERE IS TIME
then after he was scourged he mocked even more
and forced to carry his cross
to carry his cross next to these 2 criminals whom were on their way to get what they deserved
and that in fact was what that walk to the cross and his mocking was all about
to shame the one that would bear the sins of the world
to hang the innocent
so as he is walking to that cross
thanks to the aid of Simon the Cyrene
we must also picture the shame
the shame of being escorted through the
streets of Jerusalem
along side other criminals
to die a criminals death
only Jesus was no criminal
he was in fact the lamb of God
whom was taking on our shame
our text continues with
And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.”
All 4 of the gospels are extremely brief with their description of
the crucifixion
perhaps it is because their audience was unfortunately
very familiar with the process
and the very act of crucifixion it self
was shameful
as it was a public display
of suffering
a public display
of mocking
a public display of helplessness
and there was Jesus
beaten and bloody
hanging in the middle
probably almost unrecognizable among those around Him
but yet the center of attention
now in order to get him up there
they would first lay the cross beam onto the ground
then throw him down upon it
no doubt the splinters
and the rough wood working its way
into Jesus’ already torn
body
then they took nails
5-7 inches long
and roughly 1/2 inch square
and drove them into
his wrists
piercing the nerves that ran
up his arm
adding to the agonizing pain
and ensuring the nails could carry
the full weight of his body
then they would
put the cross beam up and
attach it to the upright post
they would then bend his knees
and
sit his feet on a little board
because the thing about cruxifiction
is that it was slow
see the angles of the arms
and the fact that he would
have to slump over
would put the torso into a position
so that in order for Him to breath
he must push up to expand his
lungs
so on top of the pain
on top of the agony
he would have to find the
physical strength to push
himself up to even take a breath
and in order to ensure that he was able to
do this
the Romans would drive a nail through both
of his feet
so that they would not slip off
Now, I am sorry for the graphic nature
of this brother and sisters
but we must understand
what Jesus went through
we must understand that
this is historically
accurate
and we must understand
that it should have been us
on that cross
Now with all of this shame and
pain coursing through the
veins of Jesus
we hear his only words
spoke during this portion of text
in fact we only hear 3 sentences from Jesus
during this entire encounter according to Luke
and the words that come out of Jesus’ mouth
should send shockwaves to our cores
see instead of proclaiming his innocence
he said
Luke 23:34 “And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
brother and sisters
he prayed for those
that were doing this to Him
knowing that even at that very moment
should they put their
faith in Him
they would be saved
and let us also contrast this
act of mercy by
the beaten man on the cross
with the other members of this story
And they cast lots to divide his garments.”
Luke 23:35–38 “And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.””
we have 4 distinct groups
active during this time of Jesus
upon that cross
we have the common people
the religious elite
the romans
and the 2 criminals
we have the common people
who just stood by and watched
most likely made up of those
that truly followed Christ as savior
as well as those coerced
by leaders to crucify him
They were standing there in awe of what was occurring
they would have most likely been the most sympathetic
of the group
but no doubt
they stood by
proposing no objection to the
things occurring
the second group of people we see on the
ground were the rulers
the religios rulers and elite
who were getting exactly what they wanted
they sneered and scoffed at Him and mocked
the fact that Him as the Son of God
could not even save Himself
looking back to Deuteronomy 21:23 which elude to that fact that
anyone hung on a tree or a cross was cursed by God
Then we have the Romans
who added insult to injury
by mockingly proclaiming him king
by giving him a mock ordination
by pretending to worship him
only to strip him of all he had
and leave him practically naked upon that cross
Brothers and sisters, there is no
doubt that
at some point in our lives
we are able to identify
ourselves with each one here
remaining quiet as the crowd did
putting rules in front of the gospel
or worshiping Him with our
mouths and not with our actions
and each time we have done that
we should think of it
as once again driving a nail through his wrists
yet, because God is so good
and Jesus is so righteous
you know what he says
as He intercedes for us
Father, forgive them
there is no doubt that we will fall short
In fact we do each and every day
yet the grace that prevails on that
cross is greater than any of our sins
the power of that cross
can withstand the worst
of our transgressions
and that is exactly why Jesus
went through all of that for us
he put on our shame
and
by his stripes we are healed
by his power we are saved
Just as Jesus prayed to forgive those
actively involved in His murder
He can forgive us for anything
we could ever
or have ever done
there is no one too lost for Jesus
no one that is too far from him
he will accept any of us
just as he would accept any of those
there, at the foot of the cross
which leads us to our next group involved
in this story of redemption
the criminals
Jesus Satisfied
Jesus Satisfied
Luke 23:39 “One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!””
Jesus spent several hours on the cross
and during these few hours he had
a conversation with the criminals
and we see this one criminal was hurling the same insults that
he heard the romans sayings
he continued with mocking and with the insults
yet we see that during this time
something changed in the other criminal
Luke 23:40–41 “But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.””
see at some point during these hours
the other criminal saw something different in Jesus
and somewhere between God’s sovereignty
and this mans personal responsibility
he man saw the grace Jesus Christ on that cross
His eyes were opened to his own sinfulness
and he chose to go against the others
and stand up for the man on the middle cross
and after rebuking the other criminal he turns
to Jesus and says
Luke 23:42 “And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.””
Just as we just saw
Jesus will forgive anyone no matter
what their transgression
and here
we see that it is never too late
either
the offer of forgiveness and
salvation is always on the table
the offer is always there
the only thing we must do
is to come to Christ
come to him and ask for his
forgiveness
ask for his mercy
it is never too late
to confess his glory
and his power
over our sins
because when we do that
we will hear the very words the
2nd criminal heard on that cross
and the only words said by Jesus
during this point
Luke 23:43 “And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.””
This very night
this man would be in paradise
having only been a Christian
for some lets say 3 hours
This man was not baptized
this man did not attend Sunday
school
this man did not understand
justification
sanctification
and glorification
this man never even
read a verse from the bible
yet, with Jesus
he was united with the Father in
heaven
now I am not saying that we shouldn’t
at some point gain an understanding of the things
said
I am simply saying that at the core of the gospel
is the fact that we are sinners in need of a savior
and no amount of doctrine or tradition will get us there
only, by putting our faith in Christ
can we get there
only by realizing
that Gods wrath
that was meant for us
upon that cross
was satisfied by Jesus
this is the good news
this is the gospel
and each of us are invited to
it, should we only turn
from our ways and believe in Him
which brings us to our final point of the morning
Jesus Succummed
Jesus Succummed
After all of these things were completed
Jesus sensing his hour had come
succumbed to His injuries
and to His fathers will
Luke 23:44 “It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour,”
Jesus hung on the cross for 6 hours
and this 6 hours was divided into
two section
the first 3 hours we just covered
and now we will enter into the final 3 hours
of Jesus
during these final 3 hours
we will see 2 very dramatic events
the first we see is the darkness
that was over the whole land
right now, at this sixth hour
it would have been noon
the sun would have been directly above in the sky
yet, darkness took over the land
some would say this darkness was due to a
solar eclipse, yet that is impossible
because there is always a full moon during
the passover and you won’t get an eclipse
during a full moon
not to mention that eclipses do not last
for 3 hours
No the darkness was there
to signify the day of the Lord
Amos 8:9 ““And on that day,” declares the Lord God, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.”
See the world rejected the light of God
and took the life of the innocent one
that came to save it
But in all honesty
God knew that very thing would happen
because he sent is son to that cross for
that very reason
to take the punishment for our sins
and as this world is darkened
not only because the light of the world
had been put out
it is darkened because God’s wrath has
come to rest upon it
The very punishment deserved for us
was put upon the shoulders
and body of Jesus Christ that day
as he took our place
and received the wrath of God
that he prayed about in the garden just
a few days prior to this
then after the sun failed we see the second event occur
verse 45 continues with Luke 23:45 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.”
The curtain here is the curtain that divided the
Holy Place of the temple
to the Holy of Holies
See the Holy of Holies was the most sacred
place in the temple
and no one other than the priest
could enter that place
no one had full access to
God
their entire religious system
was set up in respect to this
and the people, in order to have their
sins forgiven they had to be atoned for by a priest
by someone else that
was in control of this area
but with Jesus death
their corrupt religious system was rejected
as this very large curtain
was ripped in two
from the top to the bottom
I can almost imagine as
the light was coming back after the darkness of
God’s wrath had receded
the priests in the temple would
have started their sacrifices again
remember, this is the Friday of passover
when the sacrifices were made
and i can just imagine as they resumed
the slaughter of the lambs
they were startled as they heard a loud
tearing coming from the most holy of
places on the planet
and with this very action
the atonement of Jesus was
complete and the atonement of
animals was no longer needed
the curtain that separated us
from God was now destroyed
as we all now have access to
God through the Son, Jesus Christ
No longer can they hold their religion
over the peoples head
no longer can they dictate what the people do
in the name of religious rules
the people and us
every single believer
can now go straight to God
just as the thief on the cross went straight to
Jesus for forgiveness
so can we!
and with that
Luke 23:46 “Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.”
Psalm 31:5 “Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.”
This prayer that Jesus prayed here
the final one before his last breath
is the same prayer the Jewish people would pray
as part of their evening prayers
this prayer would have been on the lips of
the people that very time Jesus
uttered it
and this prayer is one by King David
which signified commitment to God
in the face of your enemies
see with this prayer
and with the light now back
Jesus’ union with the father was
re-established
and in his death
salvation was secured for all of humankind
The greatest act of love ever to known
was now complete
So much so
that those looking upon this event
the very ones that participated in his death
were changed
Luke 23:47–49 “Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.”
These last 3 verses show the unfathomable reaction
of some of those involved and watching this unfold
we have the centurion
whom was likely in charge of this whole ordeal
we have the crowd
and we have all of His acquaintances
each and everyone of these
had just witnessed
Jesus’ behavior towards his enemies
his dignity in the face of torture
and ridicule
the words spoken and forgiveness granted to the repentant
criminal
the supernatural unexpected darkness
Jesus’s prayer to the father
and then
they witnessed Jesus giving up his life
and each of them walked away from this event changed
the centurion announcing that this
man was truly innocent
most likely walked away a believer
the crowd
walked away beating their chest
signifying their
grief, guilt, and fear
their hearts were no doubt changed
then there were his devoted followers
who walked away in disbelief
over the events that had just occured
the ones that he had loved and spent so much time with
his mother, the other women, and John
this is not how the story was supposed to end for them
they were clearly devastated
that is, until Sunday morning
which brothers and sisters
is where the really good news
begins
Conclusion
Conclusion
So as we wrap up this morning
I pray we understand just what Jesus
went through on that cross
the shame
the torture
the physical and mental
anguish
and I pray we dont take it lightly
I pray that we all understand
that without that
event
the world would have no hope
So i beg you this morning
if you do not know Jesus Christ
as your savior
Commit your self to Him
and receive his salvation
because he died upon that cross
for you and for me
and I can assure you, you will not be disappointed
and for those that have given their lives
to Jesus as their savior
I pray we understand that although
we will all undergo suffering
we will all undergo trials
Christs love far outlasts
our suffering
and it is within this hope
that we too, will one day dwell with him
in paradise
Let us Pray