A Cross for a Conquering King

There is such confusion in our world about spiritual matters. What is the real way to heaven?  Whose religion is the right one?  How can we know what is true and what is false?

J. C. Ryle declared more than 150 years ago, Christ’s death is:

“the grand peculiarity of the Christian religion. Other religions have laws and moral precepts,—forms and ceremonies,—rewards and punishments. But other religions cannot tell us of a dying Saviour. They cannot show us the cross. This is the crown and glory of the Gospel.”

The whole purpose of Christ coming in the flesh to live on this earth was to die in order to give us life.  Satan and many others would like for us to believe that the cross was the end of it all.  They would like to convince us that this was a major glitch in God’s design.  However, we know from the Bible that this was God’s plan even before the beginning of time.  

There are several obvious benefits which you and I received because of the death of Jesus Christ. This was a once-for-all sacrifice that requires nothing else. Jesus does not have to be re-crucified.  We do not have to do more to assure ourselves of heaven.  Without the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the Church does not exist and has no purpose.  We proclaim Christ and Him crucified and raised from the dead and alive forever more.  

As a result of Christ’s death on the cross, we have been declared righteous by God.  That is the legal term which Paul used in Romans which is to be justified.  It is not we who earned this righteousness; it was given to us by Jesus Christ when He paid the price for our sins.  

As a result of Christ’s death on the cross, we are declared by God to be redeemed.  We have been purchased from the slave market of sin and have been made children of God and slaves to Jesus Christ.  

As a result of Christ’s death on the cross, we have been made acceptable to God.  The theological term for this is Christ’s propitiatory death.  What Jesus did on the cross satisfied God’s wrath against sin.  

As a result of Christ’s death on the cross, we have been reconciled to God.  We are no longer His enemies.  

Leon Morris actually came up with a list that shows what Christ’s death on the cross means for the Christian.

1. We are redeemed, Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:19

2. We are made nigh to God, Ephesians 2:13

3. We are reconciled to God, Colossians 1:20, 21; Romans 5:10

4. Jew and Gentile are now made one, Ephesians 2:16

5. We are cleansed, Hebrews 9:14; 1 John 1:7

6. We are justified, Romans 5:9

7. We are sanctified, Hebrews 10:10; 13:12

8. We are perfected forever, Hebrews 10:14

9. We have been purchased unto God, Revelation 5:9

10. The bond that was against us has been nailed to the cross, Colossians 2:14

11. We have boldness to enter into the holy place, Hebrews 10:19

12. We are loosed from our sins, Revelation 1:5

13. We may overcome by the blood of the Lamb, Revelation 12:11

14. By His cross, peace with God has been secured, Colossians 1:20

15. His blood establishes a new covenant, 1 Corinthians 11:25

16. His death was to redeem us from all iniquity, Titus 2:14

There are countless hymns and Gospel songs and contemporary Christian songs and writings about what the death of Jesus Christ means for humanity and especially for the Christian.  Yet, there is not a lot written about what significance Jesus’ death had for Himself.  In fact, if we had been with the disciples, we may have been just like them; seeing this whole thing from our perspective and the ramifications it had for us.  Very few of us would have even considered what good or bad this might mean for Jesus.  

Understanding the cross from Jesus' perspective can help us to understand what is eternally  significant.

The Cross Allows for the King to Come. - 14:28

“You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

Looking at the cross from his own perspective seems to be why Jesus makes this comment in verse 28.  You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’   In fact, there are at least 12 different times where Jesus alludes to His departure and return.  In the next part of this verse, as He speaks of genuine love and rejoicing in His soon departure, it becomes clear that the disciples were not really thinking of the big picture.  If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced.  They were not seeing things through His eyes, yet.  If they would have been seeing the cross from His perspective, they would have rejoiced.  There are so many reasons that they would rejoice, as we will continue to see as we dig deeper.  

We, also, must look at the cross and what it entails from a broader perspective.  It’s not just about us.  Yes, Jesus did die on the cross for us. However, looking at the cross purely for the benefits of what it did for you and me causes our focus to be very narrow. It limits our understanding of who God is and what His broader, eternal purpose is.  Jesus goes on to explain in the next part of this verse.

Because I go to the Father.  His whole ministry time on this earth would be a success.  He had set aside His heavenly rights and intentionally limited Himself while on this earth.  He would be separated for a short moment in eternity while on the cross paying the penalty for our sins, but it was still temporary.  This is one of the reasons for the disciples to rejoice, if only they could see the benefit of the crucifixion of Jesus on the cross. It would be in knowing that He was once again going back to sit at the right hand of His Father.  He was going to be exalted and would be at the Father’s right hand.  Every person who had dared or would dare to mock Him and ridicule Him and strike Him would find themselves bowing before Him one day as their judge.  Every person who has experienced becoming a new person in Christ will one day bow before Him in worship as our Savior.  

The last phrase of this verse,  for the Father is greater than I, is not speaking of Jesus as an inferior Person to the Heavenly Father.  Jesus is speaking of the hierarchy which exists in which He intentionally and willingly submits Himself to His Father’s authority.  This has to do with the different roles and functions.  It has nothing to do with their nature.  

We see this taught in Philippians 2:5-8: 

Christ Jesus … although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  

The Cross Affirms the King Is Correct. - 14:29-30a

Now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe.  I will not speak much more with you,

This seems like a good reminder to the disciples and to us that Jesus is God.  Only God can speak accurately about what is coming in the future.  Even weather forecasters, who have some of the greatest technology and scientific knowledge, will miss forecasts.  However, God is 100% right all the time.  When He spoke to the disciples of future events, it was a continual reminder that He is God and we can trust His promises with absolute confidence.

There are many religious charlatans today, just as there were in the times of the Bible.  False prophets and false teachers were often misleading the people.  Sadly, many people accepted them rather than deal with them as they should.  After all, their messages were positive and uplifting and accepting of all. That’s much more pleasant at the time than being perceived as narrow-minded and insisting that there is only one God.  That is, until judgment comes or negative consequences because of the foolishness of what people were led to believe.  

Again, the first part of verse 30, I will not speak much more with you, informs the disciples that He fully understood that His time was drawing near.  He was not concerned; but merely informing them.

The Cross Attests that the King is Clean. - 14:30b 

for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me;

There are three times that John quotes Jesus as describing Satan as the ruler of the world.  Satan is the ruler of all this world’s systems and thoughts which set themselves up against God.  Satan was not given the role of ruler, but rather stole it (with God’s permission, obviously) when Adam sinned and rebelled against God.  

Here, as Jesus states, the ruler of the world is coming, the probable reference is that of Judas and the religious leaders coming in alliance with Satan against Jesus.  This is not the first time that Satan has been in direct conflict with Jesus while Christ was on this earth.  You recall that even as a small child, Satan tried to destroy Jesus with the decree which Herod put out, snuffing out the lives of all male children two years and younger.   Less than three decades later, in the very beginning of the earthly ministry of Jesus, Satan met Jesus in the wilderness and tried on three separate occasions over the 40-day period to tempt Jesus to take a shortcut.  Satan wanted Jesus to do things differently than what the Father had planned.  There were various times during Jesus’ ministry that Satan had tried to move people to kill Jesus.  Each time Satan was unsuccessful.  It simply was not the time.  Even with what is ahead, Satan will think that he has won.  However, he won’t realize that even the crucifixion of the Son of God was part of the divine plan.  The crucifixion will still happen, with Jesus in control in obedience to His Father’s will. 

How ironic that when Satan thinks he is the one who is triumphant, that Jesus is actually the one who will conquer sin and death and ultimately defeat Satan. 

“… that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. 2:14)  

In fact, the last part of this verse 30, he has nothing in me, shows that Satan could not hold Jesus in death.  It is actually a Hebrew idiom showing that the devil had no legal grounds against Jesus.  You see, the only reason that death would occur is because of sin. Jesus had no sin. The Greek shares it as an absolute by using a double negative.  D. A. Carson writes:  “How could he?  Jesus is not of this world (8:23), and he has never sinned (8:46). The devil could have a hold on Jesus only if there were a justifiable charge against Jesus. Jesus’ death would then be his due, and the devil’s triumph.” 

Thus, Satan could not and can not have any claim or foothold on Christ.  And as Warren Wiersbe states:

Since we are “in Christ,” Satan can get no foothold in the believer’s life, unless we permit it. 

The Cross Announces The King’s Commitment. - 14:31

but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let us go from here.

The victory was indeed Christ’s.  You remember that earlier, Jesus spoke of the great mark of love being that of obedience.  Here, He will show His love and commitment for the Father by being obedient to the Father’s will.   

The last sentence suggests that they are leaving the Upper Room and heading outside.  It would seem that they would walk through Jerusalem to head out to the Garden of Gethsemane.  And as Jesus had done multiple times in the past, He would use this walk as another opportunity to teach His disciples.  

Conclusion

So what exactly did Jesus’ death mean to Him?  I believe that Hebrews 12:2 offers one of the most glorious descriptions:

“for the joy set before Him [that He] endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  

Jesus showed His love for the Father by willingly going to the cross to be crucified according to the Father’s will.  And I believe firmly that Jesus showed His love for the world by willingly and voluntarily laying down His life for us.  

Satan thought he had the victory, but he was really quite clueless.  As C. S. Lewis appropriately worded it in his classic The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, when the White Witch’s servants killed the Lion, King Aslan,

they may have understood part of the mystery that they could kill the king, but they never understood the deeper mystery that this lion king would, in fact, conquer through his death.

Understanding the cross from Jesus' perspective can help us to understand what is eternally  significant.  It’s more than what the cross has done for us.  It is a reminder that without the cross, Jesus could not be King, much less a King who would come back.  

We can better understand that the cross is a reminder to us that Jesus is absolute truth and correct all the time.  

We can also be reminded that Jesus was able to go to the cross and give His life for us because there was absolutely nothing in Him which could give Satan a legitimate charge against Him.  There was no sin whatsoever in our King.

The cross also shows us that before time began and will continue for eternity, the great love the Son and the Father have for each other.  

These are all affirmations of our King Jesus.  The cross, when seen from Jesus’ perspective is of great benefit to enabling us to understand what is eternally important.