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At the Cross Part I
The story of the cross is both joyous and heartbreaking at the same time. The word cross can be found around 32 times in various New Testament verses, and we can learn a lot of what happened to our Savior that died on the cross in “a place called Golgotha, or Place of a Skull.” (Matthew 27:33). There are many songs in our song books that reference the cross. There was a lot going on that day and a lot can get missed or overlooked due to all that is transpiring all at once. And so, I want us to look at a couple of things that we know and believe are true that can help us to live more like Him by looking back on what happened at the Cross.
The first thing I want us to see and realize is that Jesus Christ was crucified on that cross. In Matthew 27 and in Luke 23 we see Pilate has asked the crowd which prisoner they wished to release, which was accustomed during the feast. And they chose to release Barabbas. When asked what to do with Jesus, they responded, “Let Him be crucified” in Matthew 7:22 and Luke 23:21. Could you imagine being falsely accused and then to be sentenced to death, by the most inhumane way possible. Pilate even asks again if they truly want to crucify Him, and they stood firm that they did. Jesus came to save the world, and the world crucified Him. And they didn’t simply kill Him, but beat, mocked, scourged, and spit upon the Son of Man.
The next thing to look at is that Jesus had a forgiving heart. And He truly shows this in Luke 23:34 when He said: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” He has suffered great pain and humiliation by their hands, and yet Jesus never stopped showing that forgiveness should always be given. It doesn’t matter who it is or what they have or do to you. Christ even forgives and tells one of the criminals that “today you will be with Me in Paradise.” I can’t begin to imagine the terrible pain or anguish that Jesus must have felt, but He pushed it aside and cared more about forgiving than He did his own pain or anguish. No matter how much torture, beating, mocking, insulting or any other depraved thing that man could through at Him, He never stopped loving or forgiving.
Jesus shed His blood at the Cross. Jesus didn’t simply spill His blood, but He shed it. Look with me at Matthew 26. Here Jesus is instituting the Lord’s Supper and as He takes the cup, I want you to look at the wording He uses. “For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Paul writes in Ephesians 1:7 that it is through His blood that we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Through the shedding of His blood, He was the perfect and complete sacrifice to cleanse the stain that sin had left on us. It is through His precious blood that we truly can become washed spotless, just as He is.
Jesus surely and truly did die on that cruel cross. In Matthew 27:50 it is recorded “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit. Paul writes in 1st Corinthians 15:3 “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. You normally hear someone say that I want to die in my sleep with my family around me. Well, that wasn't the case for Jesus. Most there wanted to see Him not only put to death, but to suffer as well. This wasn’t meant as a glorious death, as we see it, but meant to mock and ridicule the Son of God. He came to give life, yet they killed Him on the cross. It is easy to say something when surrounded by friends and family, you can find that extra motivation to continue, but here He wasn’t surrounded by friends and family, but enemy and foe. And yet He never wavered in doing the Father’s will. “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last. Luke 23:46. And in the next verse, after witnessing all that has transpired, the centurion glorified God!
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