Title: The Cross (John 19:17-30)
Content Today is Palm Sunday, when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, and crowds waved palm branches, sang Hosanna songs and cheered enthusiastically.
And this week is called the Passion Week.
Although the whole life of the Lord was a life of suffering, this one week in particular was the most painful one of the Lord's life.
Judas Iscariot, the disciple whom we had been together with for three years, sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, and Peter, who had shouted that he would go with the Lord to prison and even to death, denied Jesus three times thoroughly. Within a few days, the mouths of the crowd who had been shouting, 'Hosanna, Son of David,' were now shouting 'Crucify him,' and it was a week in which Jesus was abandoned by God until he died on the cross
It can be seen that many of the four Gospels are filled with accounts of what happened during the last days of Jesus, namely the Lord's crucifixion.
The writers of the Gospels focus on the events of the week that Jesus suffered, died on the cross, and rose from the dead.
The Lord's crucifixion is the death of the Son of God and the death of Jesus, the King of kings, not an ordinary person's affair.
Christianity is a religion of the cross. And it is the religion of resurrection. Therefore, Christianity is also called the religion of life.
Christianity without the cross cannot be Christianity. The cross is the culmination of God's love for human salvation.
Therefore, to know the cross rightly is to know the core of Christianity and to realize the atonement of Christ.
A true saint is one who clearly knows the meaning of the cross.
The meaning of the frame of the cross to man was pain, punishment, death, and a curse.
For the Romans and Jews, the most shameful death was the death of the cross. So the Romans at that time only enforced this method of execution on non-Romans, especially slaves, robbers and assassins.
Therefore, the cross was never a glorious thing. There was nothing to be proud of. Because it was a sign of shameful punishment and death.
This cruel cross was carried by Jesus, the King of kings. The sinless Son of God was crucified in the image of a sinner.
Jesus Christ, the Lord of life, took up this cross for our sins and headed toward Golgotha Hill.
Today, even in the midst of the Holy Week, I pray for the blessing of realizing the grace of the cross and moving closer to the cross when you hear the word of God under the title of the cross through the text.
1. It shows the punishment for our sins.
Verse 18 says that while they crucified Jesus there, two other men were also crucified with him, on the left and on the right, with Jesus in the middle.
God has provided a way to save people who have died in their sins and trespasses.
God sent Jesus Christ to this earth to save us from the penalty of death (Romans 6:23).
Just as in the Old Testament times, a lamb without blemish was needed to atone for human sins, so Jesus, who had no sin, came in the form of a sinner to receive wrath and punishment for sin.
Therefore, the cross that the Lord carried is to show us God's wrath, judgment, and punishment for sin.
A sinner can never stand before God. That is why God sent Jesus Christ to this earth to receive the punishment that all people deserve.
In this way, the cross shows the wrath of God who does not tolerate sin.
The cross that Jesus carried was a sacrifice that satisfies God's justice.
The angel's foreknowledge (Matthew 1:20-23) and the proclamation of John the Baptist (John 1:29) all testify that Jesus Christ is the sacrifice that came to atone for our sins.
The reason Jesus died on the cross was to fulfill God's great will to save mankind.
As the Bible testifies, Jesus came to give his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28).
Several places in the Bible show the sinless Jesus as the ransom.
Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, testified that I have sinned by selling the blood of the innocent (Matthew 27:4), and Pilate, who judged Jesus, I find no sin in him (John 19:6). I did.
Paul said that God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
The apostle John also said, ?쏽ou know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him is no sin??(1 John 3:5). 1 Peter 2:22).
Hebrews 4:15 says that we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sin.
Jesus, thus innocent, was given up for our sins (Romans 4:25) and gave himself in our place (Titus 2:14).
As the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), He chose a sacrificial death and death for His sake.
When we were still weak, when we were sinners, when we were enemies with God, Christ died for me! This is the cross that Jesus carried.
As the one to save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21), he took up the cross for us.
'There we crucified Jesus' There is nothing to explain here. The unspeakable cruelty, pain, and pain of human beings are all contained in this simple expression.
Why did the Lord have to die a cursed death for us
Galatians 3:13 gives us the answer.
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree.
The Lord was cursed in our place to save us from the curse of the law. There is one principle about the cursed death: it is hung on a tree (Deuteronomy 21:23). Jesus was crucified like the damned.
Therefore, we must be able to see our miserable sinners in front of the cross during the Holy Week. I wish you the blessing of being able to grieve when you see my filthiness, have the grace to suffer, and to shed tears in front of the cross as you thoroughly repent of your sins.
2. It is the bifurcation point that separates.
Verse 18 says that there they crucified Jesus, and two other men were also crucified with him, on the left and on the right, with Jesus in the middle.
The cross became the turning point between those who are perishing and those who are being saved. The cross separates the sheep from the goats, the tares and the wheat. The cross separates salvation and judgment, heaven and hell.
Therefore, the cross was not just God's judgment on mankind's sins. On the one hand, it was a strong expression of God's self-love in redeeming sinners.
At the moment when two robbers on the left and right sides of the cross Jesus was carrying were being killed together, the robber asked the Lord for salvation (Luke 23:40-42).
Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom!
Right before his death, for the first time in his life, he faced the essence of the cross and became a life saver.
However, the robber on the other side slandered Jesus and distorted the essence of the cross.
Even the Roman soldiers, after nailing Jesus, divided Jesus' cloak into four parts, and his underwear was woven in a tub, so they couldn't divide it, so they were too busy to earn extra income by casting lots.
They were sinners who could not see the Messiah because they had no interest in the essence of the cross, which gave salvation and life, and eternal life.
They were not interested in who Jesus was or why He had to die. They thought it had nothing to do with them. Their only concern was their greed to have more than others. They were people who had no idea other than to live better than others.
Humans have fallen so completely. Even at the moment when the Messiah died a substitutionary death on the cross, he did not know the meaning of the cross.
Those closest to the cross knew nothing of the meaning of the cross.
Isn't this how they look like us?
If I, who says that I follow the Lord the closest, and I who serve and serve the Lord diligently do not have feelings and gratitude for the cross, then there is definitely a problem somewhere.
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18).
The two paths of death or life are split at the cross.
Therefore, no one who trusts on the cross will be destroyed.
I bless this grace in the name of the Lord.
3. It shows the completion of salvation.
In verse 30 of the text ...it is finished...
About six hours after He was crucified, Jesus cried out a short word again. 'It is finished' and he died.
Matthew and Mark only record, 'He cried out with a loud voice and died,' but did not say what the content of the loud voice was, but the Apostle John clearly records that the content of the loud shout is 'It is finished'.
This short word contains a tremendous amount of God's truth. Perhaps it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a word that implies everything from Genesis to Revelation.
what do you mean you have accomplished
Jesus said that He would come into this world and die on the cross for sinners (John 3:14), and it means that He has accomplished all His work and His purpose now.
The Old Testament sacrifices were no longer needed.
The work of redemption was completely accomplished through the death of Jesus Christ once on the cross.
All the prophecies of the Old Testament were fulfilled in Jesus.
Although Jesus was incarnate with God (Philippians 2:6), He appeared in human form, humbled Himself, became obedient to the point of death, and died on a cross (Philippians 2:8).
His entire 33-year life was a series of hardships, and he silently walked the way of the cross that could have been avoided.
All done!
This cry of Jesus is a proclamation of the fulfillment of prophecy. This cry is a proclamation of the completion of the mission. This cry is a proclamation that guarantees the ultimate victory of the saints. This cry is a proclamation of the fulfillment of salvation that breaks sin and death. This cry is the Lord's proclamation that guarantees eternal life to the saints.
Through Jesus Christ, who completed the atonement, God and man were reconciled (Ephesians 2:16).
Therefore, now the saints who have been saved through the cross of the Lord must live a life separated from the world.
Dear saints,
We received the word of God called the cross during the Holy Week.
The cross shows the love of the Lord who has removed our curse. The cross places us at the right hand of the Lord and enables us to be saved. The cross gave us victory by completing the fulfillment of God's prophecy.
Who will condemn us who have received the grace of this cross Who will be against us Who will separate us from the love of Christ
I bless you in the name of the Lord that you will become blessed saints who are deeply engraved in your heart as you meditate on the grace of this cross once again.
-Amen-