Sermon for Sunday February 29, 2004

The Cross of Christ by Steve Shepherd

Mark 15:21-39

INTRO.- ILL.- The parents of a ten year old public school boy who was failing fifth grade math decided to enroll their son in a private Catholic school after exhausting all methods. The youngster stormed home the first day of school, walked right past them, charged straight to his room, and locked the door. Two hours later, he emerged for a quick meal, announced that he was studying, and went straight back to his studies until bedtime.

This pattern continued until the end of the first quarter. After school, the boy walked home with his report card, dropped the envelope on the family dinner table, and went straight to his room. His parents cautiously opened the letter, saw a bright red "A" under the subject, MATH, and rushed excitedly into their son’s room!

"Was it the nuns?" the father asked. The boy only shook his head and said, "No."

"Was it the one-on-one tutoring? Peer-mentoring?" asked the mother. Again, the boy shrugged, "No." "The textbooks? The teacher? The curriculum?" asked the father.

"No, no, no." the son finally spoke. "From the very first day of school, I knew that these folks were serious about math. When I walked into the lobby, and I saw a guy nailed to the PLUS sign, I knew they meant business!"

The cross of Christ is “the” sign to the world that God meant business! And His business was that of forgiveness. Salvation. Mercy. Grace. Heaven.

John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son (on the cross), that whoever believes in him (and in His death on the cross) shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world (and on the cross) to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Christ’s death on the cross was not a negative thing. Even though it was a very negative act, the idea was to produce positive results in this world. God didn’t send Jesus into world to condemn people to hell, but rather to save them from hell! And to save them from the hellishness of this world.

ILL.- Max Lucado wrote "[The cross] rests on the time line of history like a compelling diamond. History has idolized and despised it, gold-plated and burned it, worn it and trashed it. History has done everything but ignore it. Never has timber been regarded so sacred.”

No matter what people think of the cross of Christ; good, bad or otherwise, the cross is here to stay. The cross of Christ will always impact this world, with or without the movie THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST. I am “for” seeing this movie, but this movie will not make or break the effect of the cross of Christ. The cross is here to stay. The death is Christ will always be a positive or a negative in this world. To believers, His death is a horrible thing, which produced a very positive result. For others, the cross is a horrible thing and they are grossly offended by it, but regardless of what people think, the cross of Christ is a fact of history! And history is truly HIS STORY!

ILL.- Lois A. Cheney wrote a thought-provoking poem:
I stand before the cross and wonder.
I stand before the cross and fear.
I kneel before the cross and weep.
I pray before the cross and rejoice.

To know the cross is to know Christ.
To feel the cross is to feel Christ.
To gaze at the cross is to gaze at Christ.
To carry the cross is to be a Christian,
And not until then.

The cross of Christ provokes wonder, fear, tears, and yet joy. To know the cross is to know the Christ, to feel some of what He felt, to behold Him, to live for Him, to live as He lived.

PROP.- Today I want us to consider these thoughts.
1- the death of the cross
2- the blood of the cross
3- the power of the cross

I. THE DEATH OF THE CROSS

Phil. 2:5-8 “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!”

Jesus became obedient to death. What a strange phase? Does this mean that He didn’t have to die on the cross? I would venture to say “yes.” Death on the cross was a matter of choice for Christ. True, it was His father’s will that He die on the cross, but since Christ was still in the flesh, it was a matter of choice for Him.

You recall that in the garden He prayed, “Let this cup pass me. Nevertheless, not my will but thy will be done.”

Christ surrendered to the will of His father. CHRIST BECAME OBEDIENT TO DEATH. In our case, we have no choice. Death will come.

The death of Christ is a most important matter for us and for all mankind, because it is through Christ’s death that we are saved. One man had to die for many. For the whole world. That was God’s plan. Whether we can explain it or not, it was God’s plan. WE MUST CONSIDER THE DEATH OF CHRIST.

ILL.- A medical examiner in New York once spent 30 years studying the crucifixion. He said that if a death certificate had been issued today for Christ’s death, here is how it would have read: “Cardiac and respiratory arrest due to severe pulmonary edema due to cardiogenic shock, traumatic and hypovolemic shock due to crucifixion.”

I know that these words don’t mean a whole to us, but let’s listen further. He wrote that after Christ suffered intense mental fatigue in the Garden of Gethsemane, He was beaten with a whip of leather tails that had small weights of metal or bone. Jesus was reduced to a bleeding, mangled mess of welts and swelling, in traumatic shock, no longer able to stand, and craving water.

He later was beaten with reeds and was forced to wear a crown of thorns. While carrying his cross to Golgotha, He suffered severe loss of body fluids in the midday heat.

To study the effects of being suspended from the cross, this medical examiner conducted experiments with a number of male volunteers who hung from a 92 X 78 inch cross with leather gauntlets around their hands and a belt around their feet. The volunteers showed an increase of distress and muscle twitching after only 7 or 8 minutes.

He said, “Jesus was severely flogged. Add to this the scourging and the crowning of thorns, the effects of carrying the cross and the crucifixion process, and anyone with a medical background cringes and wonders how He lasted as long as He did.”

ILL.- A man by the name of Farrar said these words about the crucifixion: “For indeed a death by crucifixion seems to include all that pain and death can have of that which is horrible and ghastly: dizziness, cramping, thirst, starvation, sleeplessness, traumatic fever, tetanus, shame, long continuance of torment, horror of anticipation, mortification of unattended wounds…”

The truth of the matter is that Jesus suffered a horrible death on the cross! The physical pain and agony had to be tremendous and horrifying! Worse than anything we could imagine.

As excruciating as the cross was, Jesus suffered even more torment and agony. Physical suffering alone did not set Jesus apart from the rest of mankind. His suffering was greater, deeper, more deeply felt and hurt.

Hebrews 2:9 says that Jesus tasted death for us. But it was more than just a physical death!

Rev. 20:14-15 speaks of a second death, which is separation from God. And that’s what death is: a separation. The first death is a separation of the spirit from the fleshly body and the second death is a separation of the spirit from God.

I believe that when Jesus died on the cross He suffered separation from God! Why else did Jesus say, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

I don’t think Jesus went to hell, but I think He suffered the torment and agony of hell on the cross!

- In hell there is outer darkness.
Matt. 25:30 “And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep…”

At Calvary there was darkness all across the land. Matt. 27:45

- In hell there is thirst.
Luke 16:24 The rich man cried out from hell and said, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue…”

At Calvary Jesus said, “I thirst.” John 19:28.

- In hell there is great torment and agony. Rev. 20:10.

At Calvary, Jesus suffered great torment and agony. He bore the sins of the whole world upon Himself. That was the crushing weight upon Him. In essence, Jesus died of a broken heart.

- In hell there is separation from God.
Luke 16:26 and II Thess 1:9.

At Calvary Jesus suffered separation from God. Matt. 27:46 “My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?”

II Cor. 5:21 “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Have we realized what Jesus suffered for us in His death on the cross? Hopefully, we have something of a glimpse of His suffering, but none us will ever know the depth of pain He felt.

ILL.- When Lincoln’s body was brought from Washington to Illinois, it passed through Albany and it was carried through the street. It is said that a black woman stood on the curb and lifted her little son as far as she could reach above the heads of the crowd and was heard to say to him, "Take a long look, honey. He died for you". So, if I could, I would lift up your spirit to see Calvary. Take a long look, because He died for you.

II. THE BLOOD OF THE CROSS

Col. 1:18-20 “And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

God made peace through the blood of Christ on the cross. The peace in this text refers to peace with God and peace with men.

ILL.- Joe Kerkofsky was at one time, America’s blood-donor champion. The American Association of Blood Banks honored the 62-year-old retired security guard at a special presentation in Chicago some years ago.

Mr. Kerkofsky lost an arm in an accident when he was six. He was then rejected for military service in World War II. Since then he has donated nearly 31 gallons of blood. The human body contains 10 or 12 pints of blood. Joe has donated more than 20 times that amount.

“Giving blood makes you feel like contributing life itself,” he says. “There’s no more precious a gift than life. Money can’t buy the joy of giving blood to help someone who needs it.”

Since that time, I read that when Congress needed a role model for its annual blood drive competition, whom did they call? When U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher wanted to team up to tape public service announcements on the importance of blood donation, whom did he tag?

Howard Drew, the same man who has donated more than 200 units of blood over the last 50 years and whose phone number might as well be on speed dial at the Clinical Center’s department of transfusion medicine. Drew is a former reference librarian at the National Library of Medicine and the first inductee in the NIH blood donor Hall of Fame.

"I received blood in World War II," Drew explains, "and I realized the importance of blood donation. Later, while still serving in the Army, I decided to give back. I’ve been donating regularly since then."

Apparently, no one has given more blood to others than Joe Kerkofsky or Howard Drew, BUT SOMEONE HAS GIVEN BETTER! It’s not the quantity that counts, it’s the quality!

I Pet. 1:18-19 “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”

Under the O.T. dispensation, the blood of thousands and perhaps millions of bulls, goats and calves was offered as a sacrifice for man’s sin. But on the cross of Calvary it took only the blood of Christ to secure the forgiveness of sin for all mankind!

Heb. 9:11-14 “When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”

Under the O.T. dispensation it was an imperfect dying for the perfect. (the blood of bulls and goats for man) But when Jesus died on the cross it was the perfect dying for the imperfect!

Heb. 9:22 “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

We may not fully understand why God required a blood sacrifice, but He did and Christ paid it!

ILL.- A preacher spoke from the text, “The blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin.” Suddenly, he was interrupted by an atheist who asked, “How can blood cleanse sin?”

For a moment the preacher was silent and then he said, “How can water quench thirst?” “I don’t know,” replied the atheist, “but I know that it does.”

The preacher said, “Neither do I know how the blood of Jesus cleanses sin, but I know that it does.” AND IT DOES!

III. THE POWER OF THE CROSS

Eph. 2:13-16 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations.”

“His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.”

ILL.- It is possible to live under a delusion. You may think you are kind, considerate and gracious when you are really not. You may think you are building positive stuff into your children when in reality, if you could check with them twenty years later, you really didn’t. What if you could read your own obituary? How do people really see you? Listen.

One morning in 1888 Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, woke to read his own obituary. The obituary was printed as a result of a simple journalistic error. You see, it was Alfred’s brother that had died and the reporter carelessly reported the death of the wrong brother.

Any man would be disturbed under the circumstances, but to Alfred the shock was overwhelming because he saw himself as the world saw him. The "Dynamite King," the great industrialist who had made an immense fortune from explosives. This, as far as the general public was concerned, was the entire purpose of Alfred’s life. None of his true intentions to break down the barriers that separated men and ideas for peace were recognized or given serious consideration. He was simply a merchant of death. And for that alone he would be remembered.

As he read the obituary with horror, he resolved to make clear to the world the true meaning and purpose of his life. This could be done through the final disposition of his fortune. His last will and testament--an endowment of five annual prizes for outstanding contributions in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace (the sixth category of economics was added later)--would be the expression of his life’s ideals and ultimately would be why we would remember him. The result was the most valuable of prizes given to those who had done the most for the cause of world peace. It is called today, the "Nobel Peace Prize."

Many of us live under the delusion that we are thus and so, when in reality the people view us as this and that. It’s really sad, because most of us are not what we think we are or how people really view us. Alfred Nobel had that rude awakening.

Alfred Nobel wanted to promote peace, not destruction, with his inventive powers. Many people of the world have missed entirely the meaning of the cross of Christ. GOD HAS BEEN MISUNDERSTOOD. The cross of Christ was not meant to be a destructive thing to mankind, but rather a means to peace and reconciliation.

The power of the cross is seen in its ability to reconcile man to God and man to man.

ILL. - She was only a tiny girl, unused to traveling, and it happened that in the course of the day, her train crossed two branches of a river and several wide streams. The water awakened doubts and fears in the child. She did not understand how it could be safe to cross. As they drew near the river, however, she saw a bridge across a body of water. Two or three times the same thing happened: finally, the child leaned back and relaxed. "Somebody has put bridges for us all the way!" she sighed with relief.

Christ’s death on the cross made a bridge for us all the way to heaven. Christ’s death is what bridges the gap between man and God, between man’s sinfulness and God’s holiness. There is no way that any human being can approach God or stand in His presence. No one has the right. No one has the ability. No one has the power. But Christ’s death on the cross made it possible.

By rights of His holiness, God should be extremely mad at us, at all of us, because of our sin. If we didn’t do it in the body, we did it in the mind. WE HAVE SINNED. WE HAVE DISGRACED THE HOLY GOD WHO MADE US.

But God is not mad at us. That’s what the power of the cross is all about. Reconciliation. Christ’s death on the cross has both pleased the Father and appeased him. Christ makes it possible to be reconciled in peace with our holy God. Christ is the only way to peace with God!

John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Christ’s death on the cross also enables us to have peace with one another. For the most part, the people of the world is at odds with one another. We hear about it every day on the news: war, disputes, arguments, fights, killings, violence, etc.

But Christ’s death on the cross enables people to be reconciled to one another in peace regardless of differences. Jew and Gentile. Black and white. Male and female. Slave and free,

ILL.- Many years ago in a Western city a husband and wife became estranged and finally separated. The left the city and resided in different parts of the country. One day the husband happened to return to the city on a matter of business. He went out to the cemetery to the grave of their only son. As he was standing by his grave, remembering, he happened to hear someone behind him. It was his estranged wife. The first thought of both was to turn away, but they had a common, binding interest in that grave. And instead of turning away, they held hands over the grave of their only son, and were reconciled to one another.

Do you realize that it took nothing less than the death of Christ on the cross to reconcile man to man? Only through Christ’s death is reconciliation to one another possible. IF IT DOESN’T COME THROUGH HIS DEATH, IT WILL NOT COME AT ALL! That’s God’s plan.

CONCLUSION-----------------------------------

ILL.- On the outskirts of London there stands a white cross. One day in the heart of the city a policeman heard a little boy crying as if his heart would break. The officer found the child and said, “What’s the matter? Can I help you?” The child said, “I am lost.” “Well, don’t cry,” said the officer. “We can fix that. Where do you live?”

The little boy said, “If you will take me to the hill where the white cross stands, I can find my way home.”

THE WAY OF THE CROSS LEADS HOME. And so it is for us today. Home is heaven. Home is where God our Father dwells. And the way of the cross of Christ leads home.