Good Friday 2018 - The Work of the Cross

Question for Everyone

Sum up in one word, what does the cross mean to you?

It could mean hope, grace, love, salvation, forgiveness etc. These things are all true, they are our experiences

The Roman Cross

was devised by the government of Rome to be the most excruciating form of human execution.

it was literally devised that as you hung on the cross your death would be slow, it would take your breath away.

While the person hung on the cross they would have to push themselves against the wood using only the force of the nails that were in their wrists and ankles.

using your strength to hold yourself up by the nails was the only way you could breath. Every time the person would lose their strength they would lose their breath. Eventually not being able to breath.

the cross is one of the most horrific torture devices that humans have ever come up with.

The Cross Has Been Transformed

Yet, historically believer or not the cross has been transformed.

Jesus took this torture device and transformed it into an icon of mercy.

when you see the cross you see forgiveness, redemption, hope and salvation.

if I asked you to sum up in one word the gas chamber, or the electric chair, no one would call them beautiful or see forgiveness.

The reason we don’t see the cross for what it is, is because of what Christ did on it, and through it.

This Good Friday morning I want to take a look at a section of the easter story in the Gospel of Luke.

Luke 23:44–49 NLT

By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle. Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last. When the Roman officer overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshiped God and said, “Surely this man was innocent.” And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went home in deep sorrow. But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching.

Darkness Falls and So Does the Curtain

Darkness across the land

It was noon, there was no reason for it to be dark out. Some have explained this as a solar eclipse, but that is not possible during the time of the passover full moon, and the fact that an eclipse would not last for three hours.

This was a supernatural darkening as an expression of God’s displeasure and a sign of fulfilment.

Amos 8:9–10 NLT

“In that day,” says the Sovereign Lord, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth while it is still day. I will turn your celebrations into times of mourning and your singing into weeping. You will wear funeral clothes and shave your heads to show your sorrow— as if your only son had died. How very bitter that day will be!

2. The Curtain is Torn in Two.

Hebrews 9:2–3 NLT

There were two rooms in that Tabernacle. In the first room were a lampstand, a table, and sacred loaves of bread on the table. This room was called the Holy Place. Then there was a curtain, and behind the curtain was the second room called the Most Holy Place.

a. The place behind the curtain was where the arc of the covenant was kept. It was considered to be the place where God dwelled, where His presence was.

b. The only time anyone went back there was during the day of atonement, the priest would go behind the curtain to bring an atonement offering for the people.

c. God’s presence was now open for everyone. The atoning sacrifice was now complete. Christ took upon himself all of our sins, becoming the perfect sacrifice to fulfill the requirements of the law for good.

d. Our sins can now be forgiven, because of Christ’s death on the cross we can be in the presence of God. No more ceremonies. Humanity can now be offered forgiveness, grace and peace with God. Jesus took upon himself what we deserved.

e. This moment is the most significant moment in the Gospel. It is the Good news, the news that the work of salvation has been accomplished for us by Jesus Christ.

This moment is the beginning of the New Covenant, a Covenant that changes lives, that offers forgiveness unconditionally. A Covenant that offers each of us God’s presence in our lives.

In this story we see people’s first reaction to this new reality.

Life Transformed

Luke 23:47 NLT

When the Roman officer overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshiped God and said, “Surely this man was innocent.”

The Roman Officer

The text tells us that the man who was overseeing the execution saw what happened. Luke doesn’t tell us what that is, but one can only think that after experiencing everything this man would have seen that he was touched by the hand of God.

He would have witnessed how Jesus willingly went to the cross, the strength he had while on the cross, the discussion he had with the criminals hanging beside him.

His reaction wasn’t to run, or be happy that his shift was over because the death had happened. Instead the text tells us that he worshiped God. His heart was transformed by Christs work on the cross!

Mark 15:39 NLT

When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, “This man truly was the Son of God!”

Closing

No doubt many others in the crowd had the same transformation, yet I am sure some just walked away in deep sorrow. But the transforming power of the cross was now a reality.

This is the power of the cross, it takes a symbol of death and suffering and turns it into freedom, forgiveness and peace.

The death of Jesus Christ changed the world, and the cross represents that change. It brings a broken and suffering world hope, and peace.

The cross changes everything! Has the cross changed you? Do you believe that Jesus gave his life for you on the cross?

The man in charge of the execution believed and worshiped God. This is the power of the cross. He became right with God.

Romans 3:21–26 NLT

But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.