7 Sayings of Christ on the Cross-Part 2

25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

This is a very difficult statement to consider. Our tendency, when we read through history about the Crucifixion, is to focus only on the suffering of Jesus on the cross, and rightly so, He was, after all, the Savior, born to die that we might be afforded the opportunity of an eternity in heaven. We also need to understand that our perspective on this whole scene comes, in some ways with the end in view. We have a far more complete view than did His mother, His death purchased our pardon, and we know that 3 days later, He rose from the dead. Mary’s view is mostly limited to the moment, she see’s the face of her Son disfigured so badly that He didn’t look human. We have enough parents and grandparents here this morning, that I want to challenge you to change the perspective in your minds for a few moments. In your mind, I want you to look at what is unfolding before us from the eyes of a mother. It is your son hanging on the cross. It is your son unjustly accused and unjustly convicted. It is your son facing a brutal death penalty for a crime he did not commit. The pain of the crucifixion didn’t end with Jesus.

Thankfully, Jesus, while hanging on the cross recognized this and in the midst of His pain and anguish, sought for the well being of His mother. I don’t know about you, but there is nothing about the life of Jesus that isn’t impressive to me. When I think through what is taking place, what Jesus, Himself, is facing, the pain, the anguish, the rejection, the mocking, the abandonment by His closest companions, I am blown away that He could think of anyone else other than Himself. Yet we see in the first 3 statements from the cross, that His mind is on others more than Himself. From Father forgive them for they know not what they do. To Today, you will be with me in paradise. To this statement, the focus on the Savion is not on His own circumstances, but on the well being of others. Please don’t miss this important lesson for us. The example Jesus has set for us, is that even when we are traveling through troubled waters, and none of us have faced more troubled waters than these, we can take our eyes off of our own circumstances, and direct them elsewhere.

There is one more key item I don’t want us to miss this morning on this statement, and it fits very well with His mind being on others over Himself. To see this key, let’s look at

Matthew 26:31 & 35

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English Standard Version Chapter 26

31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32 But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” 33 Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” 34 Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” 35 Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.

There are 3 important factors to consider based on these verses. Next Slide

John had abandoned Jesus.

Sometimes I believe we forget that Peter wasn’t the only one of the disciples who abandoned Jesus approaching the cross. They all did, including John. Next Slide

John had returned.

They all also returned, but we don’t know that any of the disciples returned before John. Here we find John so close to the cross that Jesus could speak to him. What is amazing to me, is what Jesus says to him. There is no hint of disappointment or unhappiness at the disciple who had abandoned Him. You see: Next Slide

Jesus had forgiven John.

And beyond just forgiveness, He trusted John, who had abandoned Him less than 24 hours earlier, to care for His mother.

This is so important for us to consider, because not a one of us can claim to have never abandoned Him. We have all had moments where we turned our backs on Jesus, and none of us had the privilege of spending 3 years of our life walking with Him, being taught by Him, watching Him perform miracle after miracle. The point is this, if Jesus could forgive John, none of us is beyond His forgiveness.

I love what Arthur Pink writes in his book The Seven Sayings Of The Savior On The Cross, he writes; “Is there one who reads these lines that has wandered away from the side of the Savior, who is no longer enjoying sweet communion with him, who is, in a word, a backslider?… Oh may the arrow of conviction now enter your conscience. May Divine grace melt your heart. May the power of God draw you back to Christ, where alone your soul can find satisfaction and peace. Here is the encouragement for you. Christ did not rebuke John on returning; instead, His wondrous grace bestowed on him and unspeakable privilege. Cease then your wanderings and return at once to Christ, and He will greet you with a word of welcome and cheer; and who knows but what He has some honorous commission awaiting you!”

This brings us to Jesus 4th Saying from the cross: Next Slide

The Word of Anguish Matthew 27:46

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Matthew 27:46 ESV

46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

These words came on the heels of 3 hours of complete darkness in the middle of the day. 3 hours in which Jesus suffered in silence. It was only after he had completed the substitutionary sacrifice for our sins that He uttered these words. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me” As we consider the astonishing fact that the Son of God had been forsaken by God the Father, that an unparalleled perfect relationship that had existed from eternity past, had been interrupted because of sin, not the sin of the Son, but our sin thrust upon His back, let us not forget that those of us who are believers, never have to be concerned with being forsaken of God. When Jesus was forsaken of the Father, that eliminated any chance that you and I ever have to face that same tragic experience ourselves. This is such an incredible truth that ought to be an encouragement to all of us. But there is another important truth I don’t want us to miss this morning.

We have a Savior Who can relate to us in one of the hardest things we will ever face. There are few things in life harder than being forsaken by someone we love, and Jesus not only experienced it from all of the disciples, He also experienced from God the Father. Oh, and let’s not forget, we have also forsaken Him.

Our Savior didn’t just pay the price for our sins, He also understands our struggles, not as One Who watches from His lofty throne in heaven, but as One Who has walked in our shoes, Who has experienced our troubles. When we receive comfort from Him, it means something.

His Words of Anguish provide us with a Savior Who understands our pain and also eliminates any chance we have of being forsaken of God. His Words of Anguish become our shouts of praise to the God Who promises to “Never leave us or forsake us”.

That brings us to the 5th Saying of Jesus on the Cross: Next Slide

The Word of Suffering John 19:28

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John 19:28 ESV

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”

This is said to fulfill what was recorded in:

Psalm 69:21

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Psalm 69:21 ESV

21 They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.

But going back to the previous day, Christ left the upper room. From there He went to Gethsemane and fell on His face and He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.” From there He is arrested, tried, slapped, punched, whipped and crucified. He takes no refreshment and has no rest. At 9 o’clock in the morning after a sleepless night, He is impaled on the cross. The day warms up and the crowd spends the morning jeering. Someone offers vinegar mixed with a drug of some sort. He tastes but doesn’t drink it. He must retain His full consciousness. He cannot allow Himself to be drugged. He must not receive anything that alleviates His suffering. He knows that His soul is to be made an offering for sin. His sorrow and suffering will be infinite. We cannot imagine them. We cannot describe them except by saying what they are not: they are not finite, but infinite; not measurable, but immeasurable; not bearable, but unbearable; we cannot describe them, they are indescribable.

Leading up to this saying from the cross, Jesus had already fulfilled every prophecy concerning His life on earth except this one. Though He is in the midst of utter anguish, He still has all things under control. Knowing Psalm 69:21 is still awaiting fulfillment, He says “I thirst”. At that, a soldier put a sponge on a hyssop branch, soaked it in, you guessed it, sour wine! Keep in mind David wrote this Psalm over 900 years earlier! Somehow God knew 900 years before this event, that there would be sour wine in a jar at the foot of the cross. Thus Jesus fulfilled every prophecy written of His 1st coming. By the way, while Jesus did thirst, He had no need of anything to drink, for a few moments later He breathed His last. The only purpose for this statement from the cross was to fulfill one last prophecy. Just 2 verses later we see the 6th saying from the cross: Next Slide

The Word of Victory John 19:30

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John 19:30 ESV

30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

“It is finished.” He is not declaring that His life has finished, but that His mission has finished. It is not “I am finished,” but “It is finished.” In His sacrifice on the cross, Jesus had successfully completed every requirement that God’s righteous Law required. God’s holy wrath against sin was now appeased, every prophecy had been fulfilled, all of His suffering on earth had been completed, there was nothing that needed to be added to what Christ had already accomplished.

On this cry of victory, Arthur Pink writes; “In His words, ‘My God, my God, why has thou forsaken Me?’ We heard the Saviors cry of desolation; in His words ‘I thirst’ we listened to his cry of lamentation; now there falls upon our ears His cry of jubilation—‘It is finished.’ From the words of the Victim we turn now to the words of the Victor. It is proverbial that every cloud has its silver lining: so had the darkest cloud of all. The Cross of Christ has two great sides to it: it showed the profound depths of His humiliation, but it also marked the goal of the incarnation, and further told the Consummation of His mission, and it forms the Basis of our Salvation.”

With His mission on earth completed, it was now time for Jesus to surrender His life, with that we move to the last of the sayings from the cross: Next Slide

The Word of Contentment Luke 23:46

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Luke 23:46 ESV

46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

His act of love and obedience & sacrifice now completed, Jesus last words from the cross are words of contentment. He was entrusting His spirit into the Hands of His sovereign Father. He understood that there is no better place to be than in the Hands of God, He understood that as painful as this experience had been, God was in complete control at all times, that it was all a part of the perfect plan of His Father.

This lesson is so important for us. This has been a challenging and painful week for many in our church body this week. When you are in the middle of painful times, contentment can be hard to come by, in fact I am not so sure that contentment isn’t more of our hope than our experience. By hope, let me remind you that the hope we see in Scripture is not the same as hope we see in our world today. In our world today, hope is generally dependent on circumstances changing, circumstances that many times are out of our control, circumstances that are in the hands of others, and often times those others do not have our best interests in mind. That is not what hope is in Scripture! Hope in Scripture is a confident expectation in Hands of a Sovereign God, Who is in control of all things, Who has a plan for our lives, not just a plan, a perfect plan. In Jeremiah 29:11 we read: Next Slide

Jeremiah 29:11-14a

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

But let’s not miss what Jeremiah goes on to write: Next Slide

Jeremiah 29:12–14 ESV

12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

Our hope, our contentment, does not come from our circumstances, it comes from calling upon the Sovereign God, seeking Him with all our heart, resting in Him, trusting in Him and His perfect plan. He has assured us, when we do these things, “I will be found by you, declares the Lord”

The lesson for us in this contented statement from Jesus on the cross, and this lesson from Jeremiah, is we can choose contentment no matter what our circumstances may be. Because God is in control.

May we declare like Jesus, not just at deaths door, but at all times, Next Slide