Golgotha (Part 2)

Don’t Run Away, Draw Near

Introduction

Recap Session One

What did we talk about last week? What series did we start? So Golgotha is a series where we’re going to discover different characters that were present around the time of Jesus’ crucifixion.

Last week, we looked at the soldiers who were at the foot of the cross. What did they do? They were totally complacent about what was going on around them and the fact that the King and Savior of the world was hanging above them. They were more worried about His clothes.

Which should serve as a reminder to not settle for the things that seem close to Jesus and miss out on the real Jesus right next to us.

Optional Illustration: Moment of Fear vs Courage (Personal Story)

When I was in the 8th grade, the basketball team was going to be announced at half time of the varsity game. All the players would go out on the court and the announcer would say your name. All of the 8th graders went to the game, but didn’t want to go out on the court so they left before half time. Me and my friend Micah were the only people left at the game without a ride. We both thought it would be super embarrassing to stand out on the court with the water boy, so instead we ran to the concession stand and hid. Coach could see us through the door. We were in big trouble and got chewed out the next day at school. I was embarrassed and scared to go out on the court, so I ran from it.

What about you? Have you ever experienced a time when you were afraid of something, and it paralyzed you or caused you to stop and retreat? A time when you lost your courage.

Today, we’re going to look at a new character in the crucifixion story that didn’t run. Someone who had every reason to run and avoid it but who stayed. Who showed her faith and courage.

Our key takeaway today is don’t run away; draw near to Jesus.

1. Reaction to the Cross

Tension

When we are faced with difficult moments or times where we have fear, how we respond and where we turn says a lot about the foundation of our belief system.

For example, in your times of fear, where do you turn? If you turn inward and isolate yourself, then you are either trying to avoid your fear or you think you can handle it all on your own.

When you make a life decision and you are scared about what to do, where do you turn?

How you respond to these moments matters.

Jesus spent the last few years of His life doing ministry alongside who? His disciples. They were His closest friends who traveled with Him, taught with Him, ate meals with Him, and witnessed His life up close and personal. They were the closest people to Jesus.

So, when Jesus was going through His hardest moments, you would think these guys would stay by His side without any question. They would have His back, fight for Him, and never betray Him. Right? If you know the story of the Cross, you know it looked a little different than that.

The disciples’ reaction.

The disciples spent 3 years with Jesus and believed in His teachings. They trusted that He was who He said He was. He was the Messiah and He came to save them.

But Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion threw them for a loop. It momentarily shattered them. All of a sudden, this Savior that they prayed for, this mighty King, this Messiah is arrested and headed to hang on a cross.

And in the midst of their fear and confusion, they ran, they scattered, and they hid. They didn’t want to be seen associated with Jesus because of what could happen to them.

Sometimes, its easy to be like the disciples. We face hard moments, and we let our faith waiver. We run away from Jesus and avoid Him when He’s the very place we should turn to.

So, reflect on yourself. When you are faced with hard times and difficult decision, where will you turn? In your hardest moments, do you run from Jesus or draw near to Him?

So we see the reaction that the disciples have, but what if the Bible demonstrated another response to Jesus? What if the Bible demonstrates another response to our trials and hardships? Let me introduce you to Mary, the mother of Jesus.

If we’re going to look at these different characters surrounding the Cross, we can’t leave out Mary. She has been alongside her Son, Jesus, throughout His entire life.

From the moment of His birth to His resurrection, we see a response of trust and commitment to the Lord. It’s a response we should take note of.

Mary is a completely different reaction to look at. Her response challenges us to reconsider how we approach the Cross.

Mary shows us there’s an alternative to fear. There’s trust, commitment, and standing by Jesus.

2. Response to Uncertainty

Truth

Before we go straight to Mary’s account at the Cross, let’s rewind about 30 years to when Jesus was born. In Luke, we read about the birth of Jesus to come through a miraculous birth from a virgin named Mary by the work of the Holy Spirit.

Read Luke 1:34-38

Luke 1:34–38 ESV

And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

This is right after the angel appeared to Mary and told her about the birth of Jesus coming through her. To no surprise, Mary is confused. How can this be? She is a virgin. She’s unmarried. And when the angel tells her that it will be through the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary responds.

She says, “Let it be to me according to your word.”

In Mary, we see a willingness to trust.

When it comes to our response to the Cross, it starts with trust. We trust what Jesus has done because He is trustworthy. God’s promises are true and His Word is true.

In one of the biggest moments of Mary’s life that truthfully made no sense, the position of Mary’s mind and heart was to trust. She was willing to say, “Lord whatever you want to do through me, let it happen.”

That’s real trust. We all have real fear in our lives. Real things that might haunt us or keep us up at night. But what do you do with those? Do you turn inward and try to deal with them in your own strength? Or are you willing to be like Mary and trust in God and His faithful Word?

Mary was venturing into the unknown, raising Jesus. But her surrender and willingness to trust God made her an incredible servant for Him.

It’s easy to trust God when life is good. The greater test is trusting God when your steps are unknown.

The next area of Mary’s life we’re going to look at is at the foot of the Cross. Here’s some background on this scene in the Bible.

We are at the crucifixion of Jesus. Jesus has been betrayed, falsely accused, beaten, and hung on the Cross.

Now, something that’s hard to wrap our minds around because we don’t have a frame of reference for it is public execution. In Jesus’ time, being crucified was a public execution that the Romans would practice.

It was a horrible, terrible, violent, and extremely painful way to die. The Roman soldiers who would do this were really good at it.

However, that’s what’s happening. This is a spectacle, and people are there to watch. This isn’t a funeral; this is the death that proceeds the funeral, and friends, family, and enemies are all there to watch. And at the foot of the cross…is Jesus’ mother, Mary.

Read John 19:25-27

John 19:25–27 ESV

but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

And there Mary is, standing by the cross of her Son.

With this passage, we have to do some thinking about what it might have been like to be the mother of the crucified. I can’t even imagine what it was like for Mary to see Jesus, her Son, go through that.

I want you to understand the depth of this. This is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Let me walk you through what motherhood looks like:

a) This is a woman who has birthed a child, who she has raised, who she took care of in His early life, literally was His life support, took care of Him, and raised Him. Before there was 30-year-old adult Jesus, there was a young boy who Mary helped raise like many other moms do.

b) Mary raises the God-child, God in the flesh. She comes up to Him at a wedding when the wedding goes bad and says, “Hey, can you fix the wine situation? Like, can you perform a miracle today, Jesus?”

She has a personal relationship with Him like nobody else ever has.

c) And then now, her Son, not just any other person but the living God in the flesh. To everybody else, He's like a great rabbi; maybe He's this political rebel, He’s a friend, He’s a leader, who knows what He is to each person. But to Mary, He’s her son.

d) Sometimes, we always talk about Jesus as the Son of God, but when He was on Earth, Jesus was also the son of Mary.

Now look at how she responds compared to the characters like Peter and the disciples, who were denying even knowing Christ at this point.

a) Peter was overwhelmed with fear of being arrested and persecuted for affiliating himself with Jesus, and the Bible records Peter denying Jesus three times leading up to Jesus’ death.

In what looks like her own and Christianity’s darkest moment, Mary isn’t running; Mary isn’t scared of the guards; Mary isn’t scared for her own life; she only wants to be with Jesus. She stays near Him despite her fear of what is happening.

3. Resolve to Follow

Mary’s response shows her commitment to Jesus.

Earlier in Mary’s life, she and Joseph took their newborn Son to the temple for His dedication. A godly man named Simeon was there and saw Jesus. He took Jesus in His arms and blessed Him.

After blessing Jesus, he tells Mary that she will be pierced in her own soul.

a) It’s at the cross where Mary experienced this to its fullest. Out of all of those who looked at the Cross of Jesus, none of them suffered like Mary did.

But then we have to think, if she's the saddest at the Cross, who's the happiest to see Jesus raised from the dead?

One of our greatest celebrations is found in the resurrection. Try to put yourself in the time of Jesus’ followers. They saw Him die, and they mourned. As we think about the Cross, we mourn.

a) I read what Jesus went through, and I feel sorrow. I feel anger. I feel sadness. I feel unworthy. That my Jesus, my Savior, would go through that terrible death on the cross because of His love for me.

The best way to celebrate what Jesus has done for us is to fully understand the crucifixion. To not always jump so quickly to the fact that Jesus did rise from the grave. Don’t overlook the crucifixion so quickly. Take the time to feel what those onlookers probably felt. Look through the lens of each person that was there. Process the crucifixion accounts yourself. As we read through the different people’s perspectives of the cross, you will see what Jesus did for you. So draw near to Him. Seek Him. Give Gratitude for what He has done for you and live your life committed to Him. Our greatest response to Jesus’ sacrifice is to commit and surrender our lives to Him.

Application

So, how do you respond to this? What does your response look like to the Cross in light of what we’ve learned about Mary?

Draw near to Jesus. Every day, make the choice to draw near to Him. As you run away from the things and pulls of the world, you run towards Jesus and His word.

Worship

a) One way we draw near to Jesus is through worshipping Him. We can spend time in prayer and singing to Him.

b) Mary’s response to the announcement of giving birth to Jesus was a song of praise.

c) You can read it in Luke 1, but the Bible records her song of praise where she talks about her soul magnifying the Lord, rejoicing in God, trusting God to do great things, being holy, showing strength, being a provider, helper, and not leaving her alone.

d) In our response to the Cross, we worship Jesus.

Scripture

a) Draw near to Jesus by reading His Word. Set up a plan and commitment to be in God’s Word every day.

b) Do a Bible reading plan or come talk to me afterwards and I can give you a suggestion. A great place to start would be to read through the Gospel of John.

c) Find a friend here and commit to reading through a Bible reading plan together.

d) Our relationship with Jesus is directly impacted by the amount of time we spend in His word.

Surrender to God’s plans

This is Mary’s response.

Surrender to God’s plans. Whatever happens in your life, you lay it down at the feet of the Cross and let God use it for His glory.

That’s what trust and surrender looks like.

Gospel

At the Cross, we see clearly the love of God on full display. His love for mankind has never wavered. He did for us what we could never do for ourselves. He paid the ultimate price for our problem of sin by sending Jesus to that Cross. Jesus never walked away from His mission. He came to lay down His life for you, me, and the entire world so that we might find forgiveness of our sins and have a relationship with our Creator, God.

Paul writes in Romans 5 that “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Maybe your response to Jesus today is to accept that truth. To receive the work He did on your behalf to cover your life. What Jesus has offered is a gift, but you have to receive it.

If I wanted to give you a $100 bill for no reason other than that I love you and want you to have it, and you still have to put your hand out and receive it. I can hold it out in front of you all your life, but until you extend your arm, open your hand, grab it, and make it yours, it’s still mine.

Much like what Jesus has done for you on the Cross, you still have to receive it. You have to embrace it in your life.

If that’s something you want to do or want to talk more about, don’t go home today without talking to me, a leader, or another student about how to begin a relationship with Jesus.

Conclusion

Be like Mary. Let your life be known for how you trust God and your commitment to Him. Each and every day, you have the opportunity to demonstrate that. So, will you?

When we face whatever our lives bring, both the good and the bad, will you be the person who doesn’t run away but draws near to Jesus?

Let’s pray.