Tonight, on this very special day, I want to spend just a few minutes talking about the cross. I don t know how many of you here tonight have ever been a part of a team or maybe a task force where your assignment has been to try to come up with a logo. Maybe for a business or a club you were part of, maybe a restaurant or a school, perhaps even a church. If you ve ever been a part of that process, then you know that it s actually a lot more difficult than what you might think, because you spend hours and hours trying to develop this symbol, this graphic that is eye-catching and is memorable and is connected to the message that you re trying to communicate. The big idea with the logo is that when people see it, they recognize it and they even think to themselves, I want to be a part of that. Now, with that definition in mind, it s kind of ironic and even a bit strange that the logo for Christianity (if you will) is a cross. In fact today, we see crosses so much and we have looked at them so often that, largely, the meaning of a cross is lost on us today. It s actually become more of a fashion statement. It s become a piece of art because we ve cleaned it up. In fact, even people who aren t believers will wear a cross on a necklace or maybe on a t-shirt or a bumper sticker because it s become this icon. The meaning of it to us today has largely been lost, especially from those who would have lived during the first century and the meaning that it was for them. So today if somebody from the first century were to walk our streets or walk into this room and see a cross like this up on the wall that is cleaned up and artistic they would actually be a little bit nervous and nauseated because the cross represented something dramatically different in that day. In fact, did you realize that the cross was not the symbol for Christianity for the first 300 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus? In fact, the early church fathers, the guys who came right after the apostles, they even made it illegal for you to draw or depict a cross because of what it was associated with in that culture. It didn t even become a piece of art until the last person to ever see a crucifixion had passed away. Because, you see, in the first century the cross and crucifixion that was a Roman invention. Rome invented this crucifixion basically to keep their thumbs on (especially) the Jewish people. So they would readily crucify somebody as basically a billboard. It was kind of their logo to say: Hey, don t mess with Rome; you get out of line, remember who s in control here. So every now and then there d be a group of young Jewish rebels that would rise up and they would resist the authority in Rome and Rome would swiftly crucify them. Sometimes up to 2,000 of them at a time. Crucifixion was so common during this time that Jesus undoubtedly had seen many of them. They wouldn t crucify somebody behind the closed walls of some isolated torture chamber somewhere; they would crucify people on Main Street, on the primary thoroughfares, at the intersections. So that way every man, woman, and child could see it. It was a billboard from Rome that said: You stay in line; you see what kind of power we have here. Because of that when somebody saw a Roman cross, they really didn t want to be associated with it because of all the baggage that came with it. In fact, Constantine would even say that it was an Traders Point Christian Church. All rights reserved.
embarrassment that Jesus, his Savior, his Lord would have to die a Roman crucifixion. Thousands of people, from Alexander the Great all the way through Constantine had experienced crucifixion, but the reason why we are gathered here tonight and the reason why we re even talking about Roman crucifixion is because of one. In fact, if Jesus hadn t gone to a cross, Roman crucifixion would be nothing more than a footnote in a history book. But we re here tonight, on this Good Friday, to remember One out of thousands and thousands of Roman crucifixions; to remember that Jesus went to the cross. But it almost didn t happen. As you read through the gospels you begin to see that Jesus was taken from illegal trial to illegal trial, and the reason for that is that the only way that they could crucify Him was if they could somehow frame Him up to be an enemy of Rome. So, beginning in the Garden of Gethsemane, when you read in the gospels, Jesus is arrested and then all night long it is as if He is getting buried by the circumstances of life. All of the accusations, all of the lies, all of the criticisms just pile up on Jesus. I want to read out of Mark 14 (this passage will be up on the screens for you to follow along). Jesus has just been arrested; He s taken before the Sanhedrin. Listen to what it says Mark tells us that They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders and the teachers of the Law came together. In verse 55 it says, The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put Him to death... In other words, they ve gotta somehow make Him an enemy of Rome, otherwise Rome would never crucify Him. But notice what it says next: but they did not find any. Many testified falsely against Him, but their statements did not agree. Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against Him: We heard Him say, I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands. Yet even then their testimony did not agree. Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, Are You not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against You? But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. So this was kind of stunning to the high priest, that here somebody brings an accusation against Jesus and almost immediately, it is disproven. Somebody says Jesus did this, and somebody else says no, wait a second, Jesus didn t do that. And the high priest is looking at all this and he sees that Jesus is standing there and He s not offering a word to explain anything or to defend Himself; if you or I would have been in Jesus shoes, we most definitely would have. Somebody says something false about us, we immediately try to correct that, we immediately try to qualify that, we immediately get defensive, and yet Jesus just stands there taking it and the high priest is surprised. In chapter 15:1-5 it says, Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound Jesus, led Him away and handed Him over to Pilate. Are You the King of the Jews? asked Pilate. You have said so, Jesus replied. The chief priests accused Him of many things. So again Pilate asked Him, Aren t You going to answer? See how many things they are accusing You of. But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed. Now why was Pilate amazed? Understand that Pilate did this for a living. Pilate was used to seeing men who were standing on the threshold of incredible pain and incredible suffering; lesser men would have caved by now, but not Jesus. He stands there at peace; He stands there not offering any sort of defense or explanation and Pilate asks Jesus a question that I would have asked Him and you would have asked him, had we been in that room. He turns to Jesus and he says, Jesus, aren t you going to speak up? Traders Point Christian Church. All rights reserved. 2
Jesus, do you even care that this is happening? Are you even the least bit nervous about this? Jesus, do you remember that time in the temple courts when you went postal on everyone? Remember that time when you flipped over the tables of the moneychangers and you showed a little bit of passion, you showed a little bit of excitement? Where s that passion now, Jesus? How can You just stand there and take it? Jesus was being very intentional. You see, Jesus was giving Himself up. No one took His life. He gave it. No one took His life away from Him. Jesus willingly gave it and you were on His mind and I was on His mind as He was being passed around from court to court to court. Jesus didn t speak up to give any sort of explanation because He knew this had to happen. And they nailed Him to an old rugged Roman cross. The Bible says that, on the cross, He who knew no sin in other words, Jesus had never experienced sin, He didn t know what it was like, He didn t know the guilt and shame, He didn t know what it felt like to feel dirty after some act or something that had come out of His mouth He who knew no sin (completely innocent of it) He became sin on our behalf and they nailed Him to a tree. Do you realize what that means for you today? It means that thing that you brought in here tonight that you feel the guiltiest of in your life nailed to a cross. That thing that you would literally pay money to keep under wraps nailed to a cross. The biggest defeat that you ve experienced in life nailed to a cross. That little, silly argument that you got into with your spouse earlier today nailed to a cross. That thought that you dwelt on a little bit too long last night nailed to a cross. Jesus became your sin, He stretched out His arms and He died on a tree and with that one act of compassion, Jesus changed the way that we would see the cross forever. You see in the first century the cross represented defeat, but Jesus turned it into the symbol for victory. The last words that Jesus spoke on the cross were the words It is finished. Something gets lost in the translation there because in our western culture when we hear that phrase, we kind of immediately think of some sort of an admission of defeat, right? This would be something that a college basketball coach would say at the end of the game when the clock is counting down the final seconds and his team is down by one and his player gets fouled and he goes to the free throw line and this is the last hope and the final free throw bounces off the back of the glass and the coach throws his hands up in the air and says, It s finished. It s done. Game over. We ll get em next year. But in the first century, that statement had a different meaning. Oftentimes when a nation would win a battle, or a war, or something good would happen for them, it wasn t uncommon for them to run the streets yelling out that phrase: It is finished! It is finished! It s time for us to celebrate! It was a statement symbolizing celebration. So when Jesus utters those words, It is finished, people had no idea what that could possibly mean. He s saying, I ve just turned this defeat into a victory for those who would trust in me. You see the cross represented guilt, but Jesus turned it into a symbol for grace. A Roman cross was reserved for rebels and those who had committed some sort of a crime against Rome. Yet, that s how Jesus died: a criminal s death. Hebrews 9:22 explains that without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of sins. Now all of a sudden the Old Testament begins to make a lot more sense. God, out of His holiness and His purity, demands a perfect sacrifice the shedding of blood to cover the nation of Israel. And yet, here Jesus says, I m going to shed my innocent blood once and for all for those who would trust in me and now you are declared not guilty. We are literally the people of the second chance. Traders Point Christian Church. All rights reserved. 3
You see, the cross represented condemnation, but Jesus, He turned it and He turned it into a symbol for freedom. See, we were all condemned by our sin. Now that s not a very popular thing to think about; it s not a very popular thing to say within our culture, but we are all condemned every last one of us that is sitting in this room today condemned. Romans 8:1 says, Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ the law of the Spirit of Life set me free from the law of sin and death. See, my sin separated me from God and it required a perfect sacrifice without blemish. There is no human being that was perfect, without blemish. God is the only one and yet, the only one that could pay for that sin was a human being. So God came to us in the form of a man whose name was Jesus and He paid the price for our sins. You see, the cross represented pain, but Jesus turned it into a symbol for healing. I love the prophet Isaiah in chapter 53, verse 5 he says, He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him; by His wounds we are healed. So Jesus body was literally torn apart on the cross and yet, in the act of doing that, He was making you whole once again. The cross represented death, but Jesus turned it into the symbol for life. Romans 6:23 says, The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. So God takes this symbol, He takes this logo (if you will) that represents shame and humiliation, a tool that was used to beat down people God takes this and He turns it around. It becomes a symbol for those who would put their trust in Jesus, of the love and the hope and the trust that we can have in God. That Jesus would stretch out His hands and he would say this is how far and how deep and how wide God s love is for you. You want to know what God s like? You want to know how much God cares? You look to a cross. You look at what He was willing to do for you and for me. See here s the deal: crucifixion was forced upon thousands of people, but it was only chosen by one. Men, they died on a Roman cross because of their rebellion against the Roman Empire. Jesus was nailed to a cross because of my rebellion against God. Philippians 2:8 says, Being found in appearance as a human being, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death [but not only that] - even death on a [Roman] cross! The death of a criminal. A humiliating, gruesome, demeaning kind of death. He did that to show you how much He loves you. I sometimes wonder, maybe this is why the Christians in the book of Acts were so bold. Maybe this is why they were so passionate. Maybe this is why they were so full of vision. Because sometimes I walk into a church, and I don t see that boldness; I see a lot of apathy. Sometimes I walk into a church, even the church that I lead, and I don t see a whole lot of passion. I don t necessarily see a whole lot of vision at times. Because we have cleaned up the cross and it s just become a piece of jewelry. It s just become an icon from a long, long time ago. It s just a piece of art. But those believers in the first century church they had literally seen what Jesus did for them. They saw how Jesus died. They saw the compassion on His face. And they would never forget that. So it would mark them with boldness and passion and vision. I just wonder what that would do in my personal life with Jesus and I wonder what it would do in the life of our church if we could remember the cross as those believers in the first century saw it. You see this symbol of suffering and humiliation and shame it is really an invitation. It s an invitation on this Good Friday for you to begin to put your trust in Jesus once again. It s an invitation for you to ignite a passion in your life to follow him once again. It s an invitation for you to be bold for Jesus instead of Traders Point Christian Church. All rights reserved. 4
ashamed of Him bold for Jesus because He would give up His life to secure your life for all eternity. That s why this is a good Friday. This isn t just the pre-game festivities for Easter Sunday. This is why we can call Him Savior. This is why we can call Him Lord. Because He would subject Himself to unbelievable pain so that you could be free of yours. Tonight we are going to take communion together, basically to remember this. This is my favorite service of the year to take communion. Because the little piece of bread you are going to take in a few minutes represents Jesus broken body; and the juice you are going to drink represents the blood that He shed for you on that cross. One of the things I started to do a few years ago this is my little thing is to pick up the piece of bread and before I would take it, I would snap it in two in my fingers, just to remind me that Jesus body was broken for me. Tonight I invite you to do that; I invite you just to try that out as you come up to take communion. You are going to be dismissed row by row here in just a moment and I want to ask you to exit to your left; wherever you are sitting, exit to your left and come down here to the stations. I want you to take the bread and go ahead and place it in your mouth and take the juice and drink it right where you are and then go and take your seat once again so that way we can get everybody through the station. While you are waiting, you can be praying and you can be reflecting. After you take communion, you can go back to your seat and pray and reflect on this sacrifice that He made for you and for me on an old rugged, Roman cross. Father, we come to you tonight confessing our apathy towards the cross. Confessing that maybe it s become a symbol that has lost its meaning on us. So Father, even though we don t really care to remember the gruesome details of Roman crucifixion, sometimes it s necessary to remind us just how passionate You are about having a relationship with us and how serious our sin is. That it s not just some mild thing that can be overlooked, but the gore and the pain and the blood that You shed on the cross shows us how much of an offense our sin is to a holy God. We thank you that you are just; we thank you that You are willing to step into that void and pay a price that we could never pay on our own. Thank you for nailing my sin to a cross so that I could have hope that when life buries me with all of the pain and all of the unmet expectations and all of the stress, that I could look to a cross and be reminded that that s where Jesus bailed me out; that s where Jesus demonstrated His love for me. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen. Traders Point Christian Church. All rights reserved. 5