The Cost of the Cross (Easter)

Mark 15:42-47

Good morning, and welcome to you, as well as those who might be joining us virtually. We’re so glad that you’re here! Happy Resurrection Day (Easter)! He is risen! He is risen indeed! That is what we celebrate on this Resurrection (Easter) Sunday.

God created the world and everything in it, including us, then declared that it was “very good.” That didn’t mean that we were perfect or righteous — but rather innocent. Having the free will to choose. Unfortunately, from the very first human beings, our forbears, and on, we have all chosen poorly. Choosing ourselves over the God who created us and has given us everything. In whom we live and move and have our being (our existence). We turned our backs on the one, true, and holy God.

Since then, our world has been in chaos. That includes each and every one of us. Stained by the selfishness of our own desires. “Sinful” in what and how we think, believe, speak, and most certainly, what we do. We made our beds. And God, being ever the Gentleman, He obliged us. Left us to make up our own minds. To make horrible decisions and wrong choices, including their terrible consequences. Namely, to be separated from God and the grace, favor, and life He gives and of which He is the only true source.

Yet, even in respecting our free will, He couldn’t bear to leave it like that. While He is perfect, holy, and just — He is also so merciful. So gracious. So loving. He loved us so much that God, our Heavenly Father, sent His One and Only true Son — Jesus Christ (being God, Himself) on a mission to earth — to our world. To live as one of us, fully human (while also, at the same time, fully God). To be born as we are born. To live, struggle, and work, as we live, struggle, and work. But to do it perfectly. Without any sin, any mistake, any fault.

Not only that, but to die for us. To die a horrible criminal’s death on a Roman cross by crucifixion. To breathe His last, and to be buried — His dead body laid in and sealed way in a tomb. That was Friday. But that wasn’t the end of the story. Because on the third day, on Sunday, He was raised to life — resurrected by His Heavenly Father and the power of His Holy Spirit. And not just resuscitated, but resurrected. To eternal life forever. Not only Him, though, but giving all of us, just as He promised us — the hope — the opportunity to experience that same resurrection — that same eternal life. Forever in heaven with Him. Amen!

That is what we celebrate on this Resurrection Day. That Jesus rose and is alive forevermore! But if we just leave it at that, we might not truly grasp or appreciate the gravity (the real meaning) of Easter. We might walk away, having heard a familiar story, a familiar passage . . . unfazed and unchanged.

What a shame that would be. Because this is the greatest story ever told! Of the highest relevance to every one of us. For this story, and everything that it means — it came at a cost. There is a cost of the cross of Jesus Christ. Let’s consider that cost by turning to the Gospel of Mark. Mark 15:15-47. We’ll read the entire chapter, but really focus on the last 5 verses. While we have it on the screen behind me, we do have Bibles available for anyone here who doesn’t have one. If you would like one, just slip up your hand, and we’ll get one out to you. Mark 15:15-47

“15 So to pacify the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified. 16 The soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard of the governor’s headquarters (called the Praetorium) and called out the entire regiment. 17 They dressed him in a purple robe, and they wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. 18 Then they saluted him and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” 19 And they struck him on the head with a reed stick, spit on him, and dropped to their knees in mock worship. 20 When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified. 21 A passerby named Simon, who was from Cyrene, was coming in from the countryside just then, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. (Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus.) 22 And they brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). 23 They offered him wine drugged with myrrh, but he refused it. 24 Then the soldiers nailed him to the cross. They divided his clothes and threw dice to decide who would get each piece. 25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. 26 A sign announced the charge against him. It read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 29 The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. “Ha! Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days.” “30 Well then, save yourself and come down from the cross!” 31 The leading priests and teachers of religious law also mocked Jesus. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! 32 Let this Messiah, this King of Israel, come down from the cross so we can see it and believe him!” Even the men who were crucified with Jesus ridiculed him. 33 At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 34 Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” 35 Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. 36 One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. “Wait!” he said. “Let’s see whether Elijah comes to take him down!” 37 Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, “This man truly was the Son of God!” 40 Some women were there, watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James the younger and of Joseph), and Salome. 41 They had been followers of Jesus and had cared for him while he was in Galilee. Many other women who had come with him to Jerusalem were also there. 42 This all happened on Friday, the day of preparation, the day before the Sabbath. As evening approached, 43 Joseph of Arimathea took a risk and went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. (Joseph was an honored member of the high council, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come.) 44 Pilate couldn’t believe that Jesus was already dead, so he called for the Roman officer and asked if he had died yet. 45 The officer confirmed that Jesus was dead, so Pilate told Joseph he could have the body. 46 Joseph bought a long sheet of linen cloth. Then he took Jesus’ body down from the cross, wrapped it in the cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone in front of the entrance. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where Jesus’ body was laid.”

This details what happened when Jesus died on the cross. The last five verses said all took place on Friday, the day of preparation for the Jewish Sabbath, which is on Saturday. Since this was the Friday evening before the Sabbath, it was essential to finish any work. Tie up any loose ends before nightfall, as it was forbidden to do any work on the Sabbath. Not only that, it was shameful and disgraceful for a dead body to be unburied when night fell.

So, a man named Joseph on the Jewish high council (known as the Sanhedrin — the same body of religious leaders that condemned Jesus to die, although Luke’s Gospel tells us Joseph voted against it). Matthew’s Gospel tells us that Joseph who was from a nearby town called Arimathea, secretly became a follower of Jesus, himself. On behalf of Jesus’s followers, Joseph asked the Roman Governor, Pilate, for the body of Jesus for burial.

Normally, when Romans crucified a criminal, they would simply throw all the bodies into mass graves. But this was highly offensive to the Jews. It wasn’t uncommon, then, for a family member to request the body of their loved one for burial, and the Romans often granted such requests to maintain some small shred of dignity and favor with the people in Israel. It wasn’t common, though, for a non-family member, like Joseph to make this request.

Pilate granted Joseph’s request. But not before expressing his shock at the report that Jesus was already dead. The Romans used crucifixion as a brutal form of execution to strike fear and terror into the hearts and minds of their subjects in conquered territories. The technique was to tie a person (mostly men, but there were women crucified also) up on the cross in a position that made it impossible for them to breathe without pushing up as best they could with their feet.

The idea was for all to witness their process of dying. Being subject to the blistering sun. The elements of the weather (being stripped of any protection they had of their clothing), and even the nibbling of scavenger birds and insects. All without anything to drink or eat. Being dehydrated, depleted, demoralized, and exhausted, even a fairly healthy or strong person would eventually tire to the point they couldn’t go on any longer, and they would literally suffocate. In most cases, a person would linger alive for days, not hours (in many cases more than 3 days).

That’s why Pilate was shocked to hear that Jesus was already dead. John’s Gospel tells us that in respect of the Jews and their Passover Festival week, the Romans ordered that Jesus and the two criminals crucified alongside him have their legs broken to expedite the process of their suffocation and death, so they could remove the dead bodies by the beginning of Sabbath at sundown. Yet, when they were about to break Jesus’ legs, they discovered that He was already dead.

It was the job of the centurion, the commander in charge, to ensure that the person sentenced to die really did die. When Pilate asked, the centurion verified that Jesus was indeed dead — even before the order came down to speed it along. These might seem like minor details in an otherwise familiar story. But they are important. First, it confirms — Jesus really did die. That critical part of the Easter story — and of the entire Bible and all of Christianity. Jesus died on that cross. Second, Jesus’ body was released to Joseph — He was buried in a real tomb. That means that we know whose tomb was really empty three days later. He wasn’t just thrown in a mass grave. The report of the women meeting the angel at the tomb, seeing the risen Christ for their own eyes, and later His disciples and arguably up to almost a thousand others — it wasn’t a hoax, a joke, or a setup. It really happened!

But thirdly and very significantly, Jesus was dead in hours, not days. It might have been the fact that Jesus prayed through the night without sleep, so anxious and grieved the night before, agonizing in prayer for His mission — for you and for me — so much so that it burst His blood vessels open. Or the fact that when He was arrested, He was mocked and beaten — beyond recognition, according to what Isaiah predicted 700 years prior.

That even after He was shamelessly mocked and beaten by Jewish thugs, He was beaten again by Roman soldiers. They made a crown of thorns and mashed it down on His head. Do you know how much that would hurt? After that, He was whipped with 39 lashes with a Roman cat of nine tails, which not only had leather cords and tendrils, but also having metal, bone, and rock embedded in them. Jesus was so mutilated, beaten, and in bodily shock and exhaustion from the trauma, that there was no way He could carry His crossbeam up that hill — a random pilgrim from North Africa, named Simon, had to do it for Him.

Medically and scientifically, Jesus was already near death before they even hung Him on that cross. Even then, instead of just tying Him up there, they nailed Him to that cross through His hands and feet. The sight was so grueling, that Luke’s Gospel tells us even a hardened criminal was led to desperation — knowing his own crimes, realizing that what happened made no sense. That while he deserved to die, Jesus didn’t. Not at all. But certainly not like that!

Yet this was God’s Son. God Himself. At any time, He had the power to undo all of this. He had the authority to command His holy angels to come rescue Him. Why did the typical person last days? Because we, who are merely human and destined to die, cling with all that is in us to survive. We hold on for dear life, as we say. We do all that we can to run from death.

Our God, our Savior — Jesus Christ — though, who being God, Himself, and has always existed and never dies — He ran to death. He was God — He didn’t have to die. Whether by crucifixion, or natural causes at a ripe old age. Yet, He embraced death. Embraced mockery, suffering, humiliation, and torture. Embraced the worst imaginable, brutal, and excruciating form of death. Worst of all, He embraced the worst of all possible experiences — that His heavenly Father, our God, turned His face away from Him, as He bore the sin and shame of us all. Beyond the physical recognition of His followers. Beyond the spiritual recognition of His Father in heaven. As 1 Peter 2:24 tells us: “24 He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.” Jesus paid the price — the cost of the cross.

While we who die cling to life, Jesus who never should have died clung to death. All in obedience to His Father. Sharing in the incredible, unceasing, and incomprehensible love of the Father — for us. Giving everything for the possibility of redeeming us — pulling us back from what our own poor choices had doomed us to — which is death. And the price? The cost of that redemption? Everything. For the life of God, Himself, the source of all life — all that is — is quite literally everything.

It cost God everything — it cost Him Jesus — His life — separation from the One He has loved forever and ever. That was the cost of that cross. His unspeakable suffering — the beatings, the mockery and humiliation, being literally spit on, and then tortured. His death. Which was excruciating — impossible really — to watch. So much so, that all but one of Jesus’ closest friends (John) fled. They were afraid to be there. They couldn’t or wouldn’t bring themselves to look.

A few years ago, a pastor talked about losing his father to brain cancer, and how hard that was to watch. A man who had been so strong, healthy, and full of energy — now wasting away and weak and dying. It was his dad’s dream to see the Galapagos Islands. A few months before he died, this pastor took him on a cruise to see those islands. He talked about how difficult it was. How every part was an ordeal. So much so that he felt awkward in front of the other passengers — that he and his dad were a burden on everyone else. But many people came and told him, “Your dad is my hero!”

I wonder if that’s what that criminal on the cross thought, watching Jesus — an innocent man, suffering horribly, whose last words were prayers for the very people who put Him there. Same with the women who were there. They watched Him live so powerfully, now watching Him die so humbly. Surely it’s what now moved Joseph, despite his role, his education, his upbringing, his understanding of power. He wanted so much to experience the very meaning all of those things — to experience God. To see true power on display. The superhuman power to embrace life-ending suffering. But as One who was meek and mild. Gentle and lowly. The superhuman power — divine power — of love.

Jesus, God Himself, His mutilated body hastily wrapped in linen burial wrappings and laid in a tomb. Can this really be happening? Nightfall came, and He’s still there. Lifeless. Dead. The next day came. No change. Nightfall yet again. How can this be? Our Savior — He really died. That’s what was sinking in when those same ladies came to visit His tomb that Sunday morning. Only He wasn’t there. Because He is risen. Risen indeed. Resurrected to eternal life — alive forever more, never again to die. And as He is alive forevermore, we also can be.

The price — the cost to us? Nothing. Completely free. It cost Him everything — so that it would cost us nothing. We can’t buy it. We can’t earn it. We could never afford it! Sure, it was good of the ladies to stay with Him to the end. It was good of Joseph to risk imprisonment by approaching the Roman governor, and more likely, risk excommunication from the Jews who wanted Jesus dead by paying for and arranging for Jesus to have a proper, dignified burial. Just as it was good of Simon to carry His cross. Yet all of those put together by factors of millions can’t come close to what He has done for us. Our kindness hold no candle to His lovingkindness — putting to death our sin, shame, and death in His death . . . if we only let Him.

Jesus experienced death — in order to unleash life — abundant and eternal life. The price of admission then is for us to accept His free gift. But more than that, to be like Simon, and take up His cross, and follow Him. Even unto death. That we might experience death to ourselves — to our sin, shame, and trying to be good enough — that we might embrace His life. His abundant, eternal life.

Why this is the greatest story every told — what we refer to as the Gospel — the good news — and why it’s of ultimate relevance is that no one here is perfect and not in need of His rescue. We look down the line, whether that seems near or a long way off, at our own ends. Our death, at least in this life, is certain and inevitable. A bitter, terrifying end. But it doesn’t have to be! Because Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And everyone of us can have Him — the way, the truth, and the life. Not by our good deeds. Not by trying to be a good person. But simply by reckoning with the truth — that we need His grace. Then by accepting His grace. And then by surrendering our will, our lives over to Him. To experience His death so that we experience His life.

That’s what we remember at Easter. It’s also what we remember when we celebrate communion together. Jesus paid it all. The cost of the cross. So that our price of admission is zero. He spared no expense — gave us front row seats to the concert for the ages. Free. All we have to do is take His free tickets, and follow Him. For we who have already decided to do that, this is our moment to celebrate.

Our conviction at CBF is that anyone who believes and trusts in Jesus as their Lord, and whose life lines up with that, regardless of whether you are a long-time member or first-time guest may share in this celebration with us. We welcome you! But for anyone who has not made that decision, or who is still on the fence, the best thing for you to do is to make that choice today. To accept the price that Jesus paid for you, and decide today that you want to follow Him. If you were to do that right now, you could literally join us as a brother or sister this morning at the Lord’s Table. But if you still need to process, do that. Talk to God. Pray to Him. Find me or someone else, and ask — what do I do next? Don’t leave here with a question or a doubt in your mind, or at least — this week, reach out, and let’s talk.

Philippians 3:10–11 “10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!”