No other symbol is more clearly associated with Christianity than the Cross. The Cross captures the central truth of the Christian faith, that our eternal life is secured by the death of another, that happiness is through suffering, that joy is found through pain. The truth of the Cross should shock as well as comfort us. Yet two thousand years of religious significance has caused us to forget the horror of the Cross as we have transformed the bloodstained wooden Cross of Calvary to the diamond-studded gold cross of a cathedral. We have sought to domesticate God by softening the harshness of the Cross, by trying to remove the offense of the Crucifixion. Execution by crucifixion was devised by the Persians as a means of exposing the criminal to animals of prey which would consume them alive. It was taken over by the Carthaginians and later perfected by the Romans as the most sadistic form of state-sponsored execution. Death on a cross was designed to be unspeakably painful and degrading. The criminal would either be spread eagled on an X-shaped structure or, in the Roman fashion, arms were spread out and feet nailed together at the base. Nails were inserted in the wrists, not the palms as is often depicted in religious art, so that the nails would not rip through the hands. A few years ago archeologists in Palestine uncovered the skeletal remains of a crucified man, the spike still impaled in the wrist and hand of the victim. Once nailed to the structure, the cross would often be placed anywhere from several inches to a couple feet in the air so that people would get a good view of the criminal. Above his head would be placed a sign detailing the crimes for which the torture was enacted. Only the worst criminals from the lowest socio-economic class could be treated in this fashion. Once the victim was set in place, the process of death could take anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of days, during which time the victim endured countless spasms as he would pull his arms and push with his feet against the spikes so as to keep his chest cavity open for breathing and then collapse in exhaustion until the demand for oxygen demanded renewed convulsions. The scourging which often preceded the crucifixion, the loss of blood, shock from the pain, all produced agony that could go on for days. Welcomed death would come by means of suffocation, cardiac arrest or loss of blood. But as civilization has banished such a horrid means of torture to the relics of ages past, the meaning of the Cross been forgotten. Over time the Cross has been transferred from a symbol of barbaric cruelty to an object of worship and admiration, so much so we have taken it upon our selves to think of it as a piece of jewelry or an object of art. Crosses adorn all sorts of places, from the steeples of churches to the dashboards of cars; they are on grave stones and hung over an infant’s crib. In the days before Easter Sunday some Christians think that in order to make the power of the Cross more meaningful it is necessary to focus on the gruesome aspects of the Cross in order to better appreciate its importance. Passion plays reenact the horrors of the painful cross. In some countries people go as far as to experience the torments of crucifixion as a misguided means of devotion to God. In the Philippines each year dozens of Filipino worshipers are nailed to crosses, some year after year, as sacrifices of thanksgiving for loved ones who recovered from illnesses or in vain attempts to pay for their own sins. In ancient Jerusalem thousands throng the Via Dolorosa to walk the footsteps of Jesus to the traditional spot of the execution. After the small Bavarian town of Oberammergau found itself tormented by the plague in 1633, the villagers swore that if they survived they would replay the Passion story every ten years. They have kept their promise since that day as about half of the villagers every ten years produce an elaborate five hour presentation of the agony of the cross. The crucifixion depicts the horrors with a realism that is hard to stomach. While the Cross is central to the Christian faith, its message can often be blurred by the Crucifixion. A misguided focus on the horror, the blood, the pain will leave us forgetting what actually occurred two thousand years ago. In Matthew the focus of the story is not the view of the Cross, but the view from the Cross. We are told precious little about the Crucifixion in Matthew, just the simple participle in verse 35, “when they had crucified him”. What is described are not the physical torments which Jesus endured, but the torments through mockery which the crowd hurled at Him as He hung there. What was said to Him provides an ironic reminder of why He died for us, why the cross is so central to our faith, why it forms the summary statement of all we believe. 32. As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33. They came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). 34. There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35. When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36. And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37. Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 38. Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40. and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!" 41. In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42. "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, `I am the Son of God.'" 44. In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him. SOLDIERS MOCK JESUS WITH COMFORT Comfort in bitter refreshment (verses 33-36) Jesus is taken from the soldiers barracks where He was whipped and is forced to carry the cross beam through the streets as a public reminder to the populace of what happens to those who seek to usurp Rome’s power. His journey takes Him outside the city walls to a place called Golgotha. The Aramaic name Golgotha is translated the Place of the Skull, from which we use the Latin form: Calvarium - what we call Calvary. Why this name we are not sure. Some point to a hill which has a skull-like shape, but its location seems unlikely. It may refer to the normal place of execution where perhaps the skulls of others littered the ground. The condemned were taken to this site and prepared for execution. He was offered wine, but what would be meant for comfort was only ridicule. Mark describes the drink as wine as mixed with myrrh. Some scholars see this as an aid given to those who are about to be tortured as a narcotic which would dull the pain. So they conclude that Jesus refused the wine so as to have His wits about Him as He suffered the agony of the Cross. But Matthew pictures something else. He describes the wine not by what was added (myrrh) but by its taste (bitter). Jesus rejects the wine after tasting it not because it would ease His pain, but because what was given to Him was a cruel joke. It was a bitter concoction which would only make the suffering worse. The same soldiers who mocked Jesus in the courtyard with the crown of thorns and the scarlet robe and bowing down in false worship, now play a trick of kindness which causes more pain. This is all in fulfillment of what David said in Psalm 69:20-21. As Christ is nailed to the cross and it is lowered into place, the soldiers gather His belongs to divide among themselves. This common practice points to the humiliation of Jesus hanging on the cross, stripped naked, what few possessions now being gathered up by those who are overseeing His execution. Comfort in hollow confession (verse 37) Above the head of the convicted criminal was posted a white tablet inscribed with black letters describing the charge as a deterrent to crime. John’s Gospel tells us that the charges were written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, which may explain why each of the Gospels describes the charges somewhat differently. Matthew’s inscription places emphasis on “this” so that what is written is more of a proclamation, not just a statement. But this confession was empty, insulting. It was placed there by Pilate as if to say to Israel: “This is the only kind of king you are going to get.” CROWDS MOCK JESUS WITH A CHALLENGE They challenge Jesus to save Himself (verses 49-40) As the people in Jerusalem prepared for the Passover, they would pass back and forth on the roads leading into the city. As they walked past the crucified criminals they hurled insults. The word translated "insults" in the NIV is the word for blasphemies, for although the people were unaware of what they said, their words were profane accusations against God. As they said this they shook their heads. This is not the sorrowful lowered head, swaying back and forth in disbelief, but the waggle of a tease, like the five year old who has a toy the other child wants and says: “Nah, nah, nah, nah-nah ya.” What they say is blasphemous for they refuse to believe what Jesus said and challenge Him to act before His time. They mistakenly think that they may dictate how and when the Son of God should exercise His divine position as God’s Son. They challenge Jesus as Satan did before. As Jesus began His ministry being tempted by Satan, so He again is challenged to exercise His rights as God’s Son to forgo suffering. There is the underlying idea that suffering is outside the purview of God’s Son, that His divine status necessitates that He bypass suffering and come down. Notice what their challenge entails: “If you are who you say you are, you must cease doing what is required of you. To show us you are God’s Son, you must cease being God’s Son." The very reason for Christ’s incarnation was to be sacrificed as the sin offering for God’s people. The reason He took on flesh, the reason for the suffering on the Cross was so that others would not have to die an eternal death. The crowds say that they would believe He is the Son of God if He came down from the cross, but we believe He is the Son of God because He stayed up. LEADERS MOCK JESUS WITH CONFIDENCE Confidence that He could save others (verses 41-43) It's hours before the highest day of the year, but they have nothing better to do than to torment, spitting venom on God’s Son. But in their ridicule they acknowledge that Jesus could save others, that He could do what others were unable to: give sight to the blind, make the lame walk, raise the dead. In saying that they unknowingly point out that Jesus’s refusal to save Himself was the greatest demonstration of His power to date. His power was seen in His control, His willingness to be powerful in being so weak. Confidence that He is the King of Israel They jeered His Messianic royalty, demanding that their willingness to believe must be predicated upon His denial of being the Messiah. If He comes down, then they will believe. But if He comes down they will have no reason to believe. The very reason to believe is seen in the fact that He remained on the Cross. Confidence that He trusted in God Notice their reasoning here - they acknowledged that He trusted in God and that trust should be rewarded by help from God. Isn’t this all too common and dangerous religious wisdom here seen today? “If you believe in God, God will rescue you!” The danger comes when this is reversed - what happens when God does not come to your rescue? Certainly God comforts those who are His, but to reverse it is when the lies come in - to experience discomfort is not necessarily to conclude that God is absent. They debate whether God wants this one who so trusted in God. “If God wants Him!” That hurts. The implication is, ”Of course God does not want Him - look at Him.” But eyes lie. “It is always contrary to the nature of faith,” John Calvin said, “to insist on the adverb `now’”. To insist that God intervene and destroy His own plan for saving His own people is foolish, but the leaders do not understand this. There is nothing more absurd than to restrict His love to particular moments of time. God promised He would be our Deliverer, but if at times He is blind to our troubles we should bear the delay with patience. What is the reason we have this view from the Cross? What benefit is it that we are told how victorious Jesus’s enemies seem at this moment? All this was predicted by David in Psalm 22. Read verses 3-8; 12-18. But there is more to this passage than just seeing Scripture fulfilled. What the crowd says in derision is strangely prophetic; they speak far more than they understand, for what they say is truthful, whether they believe it or not. There is more, for as we see this view from the Cross we see ourselves in the soldiers' false comfort, in the crowds' challenge, in the leaders' confidence in their own position. When Christ looked down from the Cross, as He hung there suffering for our sins, the mocking words could just as easily have come from our lips, too. The faces Jesus sees are our faces. We offer superficial comfort. We offer our Savior a bitter mixture whenever we offer ourselves to Him in song or prayer, whenever we pretend to think that all we are and have is His, but we cling to what we own with clench fists, we refuse to give back to Him a portion of what He has given us. We throw the dice just as the soldiers, enjoying ourselves with the wonderful life we have, while Christ bore our nakedness so that we might be clothed in something far more wonderful than a torn tunic. We are far too easily content with scraps when God offers us His dear Son’s righteous garments. God willed His own Son be stripped that we should appear before the Father in a suit of Christ’s righteousness. Why be content with your petty morality when God has perfect righteousness ready to be credited to you? We tack a placard stating that Jesus is King, but the words are hollow. When we profess in our worship, when we gather to eat this afternoon and pray for our food and with our children - do we do so with empty words, confessing our faith in a hollow fashion? May we not be like the soldiers encamped beneath the Cross, but ignorant of its value. We offer an unbelieving challenge. We are so often like the crowds, like the religious leaders whenever we confess truth at one moment and deny the validity the next, whenever we challenge God to answer our prayers on our time, in ways we demand. Our unbelief shines forth clearly when the pressures of life are heaviest. At those times we find it far too easy to laugh at God’s grace. We laugh at God’s grace every time we demand God to meet us on our own terms. When suffering appears too great and we think we deserve so much more, we demand God to come to our bidding, forgetting that God’s plan for His perfect Son was suffering; why should we think we deserve more? Grace is meaningless apart from those tough times, for when we find ourselves stretched far beyond our abilities, then grace has meaning. We laugh at God’s grace whenever we superficially skip over the Cross. We love the wonderful moral stories Jesus told; we enjoy the witty insights into our plight, but do not like to dwell on the pain and agony of the Cross. As I prepared this message I looked through some resources of contemporary sermons on the Cross and could find none. One database on the internet had scores of sermons on the gospels, but not one looking at the Cross. They loved Easter morning, but that is meaningless without the Cross. Some are willing to believe in Christ, but not in Christ crucified. They admit that He was a good man and a great teacher; but by rejecting His vicarious atonement they un-Christ the Christ, as these mockers at Golgotha did. "Womanist" theologian Dolores Williams at the Re-imagining Conference a few years back said of the Cross: "I don't think we need a theory of atonement at all.... I don't think we need folks hanging on crosses and blood dripping and weird stuff." There are many religious leaders today who use the name of Christianity but say they can accept everything about Christianity except the Cross. If Jesus would just abandon the Cross, they could swallow the whole thing. They don't like the Cross because of the gore and the blood. If you ever hear a gospel preached that doesn't have at its core the Cross of Jesus Christ, then you are listening to what Paul called "another gospel," which is anathema to God. The Cross is at the very heart of the good news of Jesus Christ. But that is not what God desires for us. As we take in the view from the Cross we see ourselves there; we see our sins which nailed Him to that tree, our lawlessness, our disbelief, our selfishness. When we turn from ourselves and look up at the Cross we see God’s anger poured out. Not on us the deserving, but on His one and only Son. We look at the Cross and we see not the physical pain, but the torment Jesus endured on our behalf and then we hear Him say: "I am here because of you. I am bearing your sin, for your curse I suffer. The debt you owe I am paying, your death I am dying." When we face ourselves and our sin and face our Savior and His death in our place, then we must either renounce our own morality, our own righteousness and joyfully embrace Christ’s, or continue to curse God, mocking His gift to us and proudly cling to our own deadly goodness. It is at the foot of the cross that you, good as you are, must realize that your goodness will never be good enough. It is there that you must accept that God’s love is far greater than you will ever imagine. |