The Gospel of Mark: At the Cross

We’re looking at the gospel according to Mark, and we’re almost at the end. Here we have, of course, come to the actual moment of Jesus’ death. All four of the gospel writers are at pains to show us all the events of Jesus’ death happen in the dark. The betrayal, the denial, and the mistrial all happened at night. And even during his time on the cross darkness descend upon the earth, and from noon until 3:00pm it is absolutely dark. Darkness surrounds the death of Jesus.

During his crucifixion, many people were gathered around the cross that morning. It was the Jewish Passover and Jerusalem was swelled with hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. Jesus had been betrayed, tried and sentenced to death. He was forced to carry the horizontal crossbeam called the patibulum until he could go no further. Finally he was thrown down on top of the cross and spikes were driven through his hands and feet.

As Jesus drug that cross through the streets of Jerusalem word spread quickly that the miracle-working rabbi from Nazareth was being led to Golgotha. By the time the execution party and it's victim had arrived at Golgotha many thousands were following or had run ahead in order to get a ring-side seat.

The Pharisees were there; satisfied that they had finally achieved the conviction of the one who had so many times embarrassed them by exposing their hypocrisy.

Caiaphas, the High Priest was there. He smugly smiled as they nailed this blasphemous, would-be Messiah to the cross.

Pilate's soldiers were there; cold and indifferent, simply carrying out another routine execution.

Christ's mother, Mary, was there; her heart breaking and her grief pouring out as only a mother losing a son can experience.

Mary Magdalene was there; watching her beloved Lord die a cruel and humiliating death.

The disciple John was there; looking on as his world crumbled before him as the life ebbed out of the one he thought would restore Israel as an independent kingdom.

To these many different people, the cross meant many different things. The cross still means different things to different people today.

I. FOR MANY THE CROSS IS A STUMBLING BLOCK OR FOOLISHNESS

“But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;” (1 Corinthians 1:23, KJV)

ILLUS. D.L. Moody, the great Methodist preacher, once told a story about a blind man who was found sitting at the corner of a street in Chicago with a lantern beside him. Someone went up to him and asked what he had the lantern there for, seeing that he was blind, and the light was the same to him as the darkness. The blind man replied: "I have it so that no one may stumble over me."

1. what's the point?

a. stumbling blocks come in all shapes and sizes

A. SOME WILL NOT BE SAVED BECAUSE THEY STUMBLE OVER THE HYPOCRISY OF SOME CHRISTIANS

1. let's face it, not all professing Christians live as righteously as they should

a. they are backslidden and out of the will of God

b. they are saved, but they are not very sanctified

c. it is hard to tell the difference between their lifestyle, and that of the typical lost person

2. the unrighteous life of a Christian may serve as a stumbling stone and keep another person from accepting Christ

a. I think this is what Jesus may have been referring to when he said, "Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!" (Matthew 18:7, NIV)

ILLUS. In his autobiography Billy Graham tells the story of an interesting flight he had one time. He was headed to a large city for a crusade. One of the flight attendants was making a big fuss over him. "Do you want some more coffee Dr. Graham?" "Oh, my mother prays for you everyday Dr. Graham." "I must write to her and tell her about seeing you Dr. Graham." At the same time there was a wealthy Texas rancher up in first class, who had had a little too much to drink, and began making a scene. He started cursing and making passes at another flight attendant and was simply being rude and crude. Finally the attendant had had enough and walked up to the inebriated Texan and said, "Sir, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to be quite, and behave yourself. You see Dr. Billy Graham the evangelist is flying with us." The man responded, "Billy Graham? Billy Graham is flying with us?" The man got up from his seat and stumbled back to where Dr. Graham was sitting and said, "Billy Graham, I'm so glad to meet you. I just want you to know how much your sermons help me to live the Christian life!"

b. well, no ... obviously they didn’t

c. if this man really was a Christian, you have to wonder how many friends and neighbors were stumbling over his hypocrisy?

B. SOME WILL NOT BE SAVED BECAUSE THEY STUMBLE OVER THEIR OWN SIN

““Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them?” (Ezekiel 14:3, ESV)

1. it's so easy for lost men to set up idols in their hearts which keep them from faith in Christ

a. some will set up the "idol of church"

1) they put their faith in baptism or church membership rather than in a personal relationship with the Lord, Jesus Christ

b. some will set up the "idol of work"

1) their whole life revolves around their vocation

2) their "god" is productivity, their "temple" is the office

c. some will set up the “idol of family”

1) family become all-consuming

2) they turn a good thing into the wrong thing

d. some will set up the "idol of pleasure"

1) they work hard and play equally hard

2) "the good life" is their chief pursuit and euphoria is their deity

2. the prophet Ezekiel reminds us that some people are so preoccupied with their idolatrous pleasures, evil desires and hedonistic lifestyle that they never give God a moments thought

a. their own sin is a stumblingblock to salvation

b. they set the stumbling block ... before their faces

1) it means that they can’t see any further than the thing that has become most important to them

C. SOME WILL NOT BE SAVED BECAUSE THEY STUMBLE OVER THE CROSS OF CHRIST

1. the orthodox Jew of Jesus' day placed his or her hope of salvation in a personal lifestyle of right living and participation in rituals of animal sacrifice

a. they longed for the promised Messiah, but did not recognize him when he came

2. they simply could not accept the fact that God would send them a Messiah who lived the life of a humble servant rather than a conquering hero

“but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”” (Romans 9:31–33, ESV)

a. the cross became an offence to them

b. what kind of Messiah dies a criminal's death, executed upon a Roman cross on top of what was then the city's garbage dumb?

D. SOME WILL NOT BE SAVED BECAUSE THE CROSS OF CHRIST SEEMS FOOLISH

1. the cross of Christ was equally a stumbling block to the educated Gentile of the day

“For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,” (1 Corinthians 1:22–23, ESV)

a. the gods worshiped by the gentiles of that day cared nothing of the plight of men

b. they were lofty and detached from the problems of men on Earth

ILLUS. Besides, if you know anything about the Greek or Roman gods, they had too many problems of their own to worry about. The Greek pantheon was a pretty dysfunctional lot!

c. salvation for the pagan was achieved by placating the gods with offerings and hoping — at the most for the favor of the god's — at the least, just to be left alone by the gods

d. a God who cared so much about men as to allow His own son to be offered up in such a barbarous way was of course, silly to them

4. the cross seems equally foolish to people today

a. the cross of Christ is perceived by many moderns, believe it or not, as immoral

ILLUS. Several years ago, British Baptist theologian Steve Chalke, wrote a book in which he compared the biblical doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement to cosmic child abuse. The idea has become avant-garde theology among the liberal chic of western culture. The biblical story that God would pour out His wrath toward sinners on his own innocent son should be repugnant to a enlightened society.

b. in the same way the Jews could not stomach the idea of a Suffering Savior, neither can today’s liberals fathom Crucified Son sacrificed for them

5. two thousand years after the fact, most of mankind remains scandalized by the cross

a. the notion that Jesus had to die a horrible death on the cross in order for God’s justice and wrath to be satisfied simply does not resonate with the 21st century mind

II. FOR SOME MEN THE CROSS IS A SYMBOL

1. we see the cross everywhere in our society

a. we place it upon the top of our church steeples

b. rock stars where them around their neck, in their ears or even in their noses

c. we make pretty little book marks out of it to stick in our bibles

d. we see it on billboards

2. Hollywood would have us believe that it has magical powers against werewolves, vampires and all shapes and sizes of demons

A. THE CROSS IS A SYMBOL OF DEATH

1. this is what the text of Mark is all about — the cross was the epitome of man's barbaric imagination

a. few other means of death – even in our day – scarcely equal the hideousness of crucifixion

2. the cross was above all else an instrument of death

a. the routine of crucifixion was always the same

1) when the case had been heard and the criminal condemned, the judge uttered the fateful sentence: "Ibis ad crucem" which is translated as "You must go to the cross."

2) the condemned man was then placed in the center of four Roman soldiers who often lashed and goaded the victim along the road as he carried the horizontal cross beam called the patibulu, upon which his hands would be nailed

3) before the victim walked an officer with a placard on which was written the crime for which the condemned was to die

4) on the way to execution the victim was led through as many streets as possible to increase his shame and increase his suffering all the more

3. the Church needs to put the cross back into proper perspective

a. Jesus was not crucified in a Cathedral on a marble cross between two golden candelabrums . . .

1) but on a rough wooden cross between two thieves . . .

2) on the town garbage heap . . .

3) at a crossroad so cosmopolitan that they had to write his crime in Hebrew, Latin and Greek ...

b. Jesus was crucified at a place where cynics talked smut, and thieves cursed and soldiers gambled

1) that is where Jesus shed his blood and those are some of the things he shed his blood for

4. the cross is a symbol of death — the death of the one who knew no sin for those who only know sin

ILLUS. Someone once said, "If men can get to heaven by being good then the death of Christ is the worst waste in human history."

B. THE CROSS IS A SYMBOL OF DARKNESS

“At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.” (Mark 15:33, NIV84)

1. the cross is a symbol of the darkness that is in us

a. physical darkness everywhere in the Bible represents spiritual darkness

b. in Luke’s account of the arrest and trial of Jesus we read, “Then Jesus said to the chief priests … and the elders, who had come for him, ‘… this is your hour—when darkness reigns.’ ”

1) Jesus is using the word darkness here as a metaphor for everything that’s wrong with us, everything that’s wrong with the world, everything that’s wrong with the human race

2. the cross is a symbol of the darkness that Jesus received

a. in vs. 34 we read, “At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

b. what is happening there? What’s going on there?

1) all the darkness of man’s sin has settled upon Jesus, the Father has turned away from him and Jesus is experiencing the full range of human evil.

2) the sinless Son of God and never experience the darkness that comes with sin

c. Jesus Christ is getting judgment day ... He’s getting our judgment day

1) it’s coming down on him

3. Jesus’ darkness can dispel our darkness

“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8, ESV)

4. the irony of the cross is that while it was a feared instrument of death, it was also a demonstration of God's redeeming love

“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5, ESV)

5. at the cross God demonstrated that ...

a. life has power over death

b. light has victory over darkness

c. that triumph can be achieved in the midst of defeat

6. when Jesus cried out from the cross "It is finished!" he was not talking about his life!

a. that would be obvious three days later

b. Jesus was informing the world that all that God could do to save men from their sins had been accomplished

ILLUS.Max Lucado, pastor and author, has written "If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a Savior."

III. THE CROSS IS A SOURCE

A. FOR PAUL THE CROSS WAS A SOURCE OF PEACE

“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.” (Ephesians 2:14–16, ESV)

1. it is good to know that if we have died with Christ through being born again, we will not have to die spiritually

2. our faith in Christ's atoning death gives us peace with God

B. FOR PAUL THE CROSS WAS A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,” (Colossians 2:13, ESV)

“He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” (Colossians 2:15, ESV)

1. what a source of inspiration!

a. in the cross, Satan and all the powers of hell thought they had won a victory

b. in the cross God disarmed the world, the flesh and the devil

c. not only did Christ's death on the cross disarm them, he publicly humiliated them!

2. it was this demonstration of power that inspired Paul to invest his life in the man who died on the cross

a. it was his inspiration for holy and righteous living

b. it was his inspiration for witnessing

c. it was his inspiration for sacrificial giving

ILLUS. An anonymous author once made this striking comparison: "Socrates taught for 40 years, Plato for 50, Aristotle for 40, and Jesus for only 3. Yet the influence of Christ's 3-year ministry infinitely transcends the impact left by the combined 130 years of teaching from these men who were among the greatest philosophers of all antiquity. Jesus painted no pictures; yet some of the finest paintings of Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci received their inspiration from Him. Jesus wrote no poetry; but Dante, Milton, and scores of the world's greatest poets were inspired by Him. Jesus composed no music, still Haydn, Handel, Beethoven, Bach, and Mendelssohn reached their highest perfection of melody in the hymns, symphonies, and oratorios they composed in His praise. Every sphere of human greatness has been enriched and influenced by this humble Carpenter of Nazareth.

C. FOR PAUL THE CROSS WAS A SOURCE OF REVELATION THAT LEAD TO SALVATION

"What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ" (Phil 3:8, NIV)

1. the cross says that God thought you and I worth saving

2. the cross reveals the love God has for us, and the mercy He has extended toward us and the grace He freely gives to us

To all of you who have burden too heavy to bear yourself I say to you, Ibis ad crucem- You must go to the cross! To those of you who are hurting I say, Ibis ad crucem- You must go to the cross! To those of you who are depressed and lonely I say unto you, Ibis ad crucem- You must go to the cross. To those of you who are lost in your sin, and bound for an eternal hell, I say, Ibis ad crucem!- You must go to the cross, because that is where you will find Jesus. That is where you will find God's forgiveness, that is where you will find peace and joy and strength for daily living.

Related Media

Related Sermons