The Tale of Two Timbers

Today I want to tell you a tale. It is more than a story, more than folklore, and more than legend. It is tale from days of old, a tale of One that makes all things new. It is a tale the world does not understand; a tale that is nonetheless true. It is the tale that answers the question… why did He die for me? Today… I tell you the Tale of Two Timbers. And be mindful for as this tale is told… things are more than they appear.

What could be said of two timbers? What timeless tale could they hold? For two timbers are inanimate objects… material that holds potential in the right hands.

A carpenter or woodworker might see within the timbers what they could become.

Perhaps the timbers would be used as supports in a beautiful new building. Perhaps they might be carved and shaped and placed as pillars in a great hall or beams in the ceiling structure of a home.

Perhaps they would be milled down and used to create a beautiful piece of furniture… a table, a chair, a bench or maybe a bed frame.

The potential is truly limitless of what they might become! But in the case of our tale today, the two timbers would become something… terrible. They would become one of mankind’s most terrible inventions.

They were not milled, they were not shaped. They were not made into majestic pillars or beautiful works of wood working art. They were made to form… a cross. One timber vertical, the other horizontal. This cross… this form was designed to do one thing only… it was designed to end life. And although rather simple in overall nature… the cross was good at doing what it was designed to do.

Our tale of two timbers is the tale of the cross… we know its shape and look very well. For the cross has become the symbol of Christianity… a symbol of hope, redemption, and victory. Yet that was not its original purpose. That is not what it was designed to be.

The cross was designed for the purpose of crucifixion - a death sentence. The cross was designed to publically humiliate the criminal as punishment… but also a warning to anyone who thought about breaking the law.

Many nations used this form of execution. Assyria, Media, and even Persia to name a few. Alexander the Great once crucified 2,000 inhabitants of Tyre when he captured the city.

The Romans later adopted this method and it was used often throughout their empire. Crucifixion was the Roman’s most severe form of execution - so sever in fact it was reserved for slaves and criminals. NO ROMAN CITIZEN COULD BE CRUCIFIED.

The cross, in and of itself, could not hold or bind a person to it. The victim had to be attached to the cross in some way.

A few cultures would use leather straps or bands but most… most would nail the hands and feet of the victim to the cross… a means by which they could not escape. And these nails would points from which the accused would hang… their full body weight on the nails.

With the arms stretched out and their weight pulling them down, the design of the cross now came into play. Blood could not circulate as normal and lungs could not operate as needed. Only when the crucified pulled up on the nails could they take in new air. It was exhausting. It was more painful than anyone could imagine. It was crucifixion… It was the most terrible form of execution ever devised… it was what the two timbers were placed together to do.

Now, the cross was meant for the blood of the condemned. The cross was made to end the life of the accused. The cross was made to bring intense suffering to the one now attached to it.

It truly was a symbol, a warning, a terrible thing. Galatians 3:13 reemphasized that “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” In biblical times, no one would decorate with a cross. No one would sing songs that refereed to the cross. No one bowed at the cross. No one saw the cross as anything but something to stay away from. That was until… the blood of the Lamb was shed upon the cross.

Before Jesus was crucified on the cross… to wear it as jewelry or to place one on the wall would be equal to having a picture of a lethal injection machine in you living room or an electric chair in the den. Too morbid a statement? Too violent of a thought? Yet that is what the cross was purposed as… an execution device that brought much suffering upon the one condemned.

But after Jesus was crucified… after the His hands and feet were nailed to the two timbers… after He breathed His last breath… the cross took on a completely new meaning. This meaning came all because of the blood… the blood of the Lamb. What had to be done was accomplished. The price that was owed now paid. But it came at great cost… and with great suffering. For on the cross… Jesus took on our debt… our sin debt… and He took on the suffering that came as a consequence of sin.

Jesus suffered greatly while nailed to those two timbers. Jesus experienced agonizing pain, humiliation, and heartache while nailed to those two timbers.

In that moment, Jesus truly experienced suffering in all areas - emotionally, physically, and yes… even spiritually… (another tale for another time). He did not deserve to suffer… but Jesus CHOSE to suffer while attached to two timbers.

He took on the suffering of sinners. He took on the brokenness of the world. And while the punishment of the cross brought sever anguish… I would propose the weight of the suffering world upon His shoulders was even greater. He took it all… and did so for great reason. For on that day… as His blood was spilt and His life came to an end… the cross… those two timbers took on a different meaning.

“Foolishness” the world might say. “Meaningless” the words of those who reject the truth. 1 Corinthians 1:18 reads, “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

You see… a transference took place that day. Those who do not believe see merely an execution… capital punishment at its worst. But for the believer… they see the power of God at work. Jesus… was broken on the cross… suffered greatly on those two timbers… so that we could be made whole again.

The Truth of the Tale

Brokenness is something that we all know. Brokenness is as universal as sin itself for brokenness is a result of our sin. But wholeness… to be made whole again… is something only a follower of Christ can find.

How many attempts have been made to find “wholeness” in the things, ways or methods of this world? How desperately do people search to find wholeness in things or even people that will only let them down?

A person might go from relationship to relationship seeking for the one that might make them feel complete. In each relationship… they give a little more until there is nothing left to give.

A person might work to feel accomplished. Earn to feel valued. Build to leave their mark… only to discover that there is always more to do, always more to earn, and always more to build. It is an endless cycle of discontentment.

A person might look to “comforts” found at the bottom of a bottle or the end of a needle. They might indulge on food or spend like there is no tomorrow in hopes to feel just a little bit of satisfaction.

All in all, they are efforts to cover our suffering. They are efforts to ease the pain… the longings we have in life.

Here’s the truth, church… there is only one source that can ease any and all suffering… and that source is Jesus Christ. Jesus took our brokenness to the cross… and nailed it to those two timbers… that we might be made whole again.

But there is something we must realize today. There is a truth that cannot be overlooked. Jesus IS the source of our wholeness but the path to believing… the path to receiving… is a path THROUGH the cross.

Jesus laid out what it costs to become His disciple… the cost of becoming a believer. This might seem confusing at first because we profess that Jesus paid it all… Jesus paid the price that we could not pay. But understand… there is a cost in being made whole again. A LIFE IN CHRIST REQUIRES… A DEATH TO SIN AND SELF.

Jesus made this clear in Luke 9:23. He said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Again, from the outset… such might sound foolish to one who does not believe. What benefit could be found in denying one’s self, taking up the “cross” daily, and following Jesus?

Sin has broken our self. Sin has brought suffering to our self. Our self is struggling and wrestling and doing all that it can to come out from under the suffering brought on it by sin… try as we might, there is no earthly escape from such suffering. This is the hard reality behind the biblical truth that all have sinned. Every person knows and understands suffering.

Jesus came to call us out! Jesus came to deliver those who would believe from their brokenness and suffering. When all the the world had to offer was not enough… Jesus came… and IS enough! His grace IS enough! His power is made perfect in our weakness.

Watch this: When Christ says the cost of following Him begins with the denial of self… this means denying and walking out from underneath the suffering and sin that has been looming over us. In our self… we find sin as our master. But in Christ we find freedom and forgiveness.

When we take up our cross daily, this means we follow the way that is Christ - a way that goes a different direction than the world. A way of deliverance and redemption - but a way that requires for our self to die with Him.

Galatians 2:20 reads, “ have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

Each day we take up our cross… each moment we spend crucified with Christ… is a moment we come alive in Jesus! That life… lived by faith… is a life set free by God’s grace and made righteous by the blood of the Lamb. Our sin, our suffering, OUR BROKENNESS is FOREVER left behind at the cross. For it was on the cross that Jesus won the victory over sin and suffering!

Jesus most certainly DID NOT DIE FOR NOTHING! He died to provide healing for our suffering. He died to bring wholeness to our brokenness.

Follow Jesus

I charge you this day… I encourage you who are suffering. I call to those who are perishing. I cry out to those who would see the message of the cross as foolishness… Choose to believe! Choose to follow Jesus! Choose to come out from under your suffering and find healing this day. Where the world has let you down… where your efforts have fallen short… JESUS CHRIST IS ENOUGH! HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT!

And for those who believe… for those who have taken up the cross of Christ… I send this reminded found in Romans 6:8, “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.

Jesus calls to the lost… and reminds those who are found… Jesus took on your suffering… Jesus took on your pain. Jesus took on the root of it all - your sin - and nailed it to the cross… two timbers purposed for pain… and the moment His blood was shed… the cost was paid. And the two timbers immediately took on new meaning.

That symbol… that image of suffering and pain now became a beacon of hope and healing. For the death Jesus died… He died to sin ONCE AND FOR ALL. Come alive today! Come alive in Jesus!

With every hammer blow we are renewed. With every strike to His body, we are restored. With every drop of blood, we are redeemed and by every stripe upon His body… WE ARE HEALED!

But here’s the deal… we MUST believe in the message of the cross. In order to be saved… we must believe to be saved… we must believe to experience the power of God.

What is the message of the cross? It is a message of transformation. Jesus died, taking on our sin, our condemnation, our suffering.... so that we might be forgiven and set free.

And in believing… before we can follow Jesus, before we can take up our cross daily… we must first deny our self. We must come out from under the weight of our sin and suffering. We cannot do this alone… we must take the hand of Jesus - OUR SAVIOR - and make His death OUR death to self - and His resurrected life OUR VICTORY.

In Christ our old self and ALLLLLLL that goes with it was nailed to the cross. It is crucified with Christ and no longer lives. THEN… WE TAKE ON HIS RESURRECTION. WE TAKE ON HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS! WE TAKE ON NEW LIFE!

Watch this: Just as the work of Christ changed the story of the two timbers… So Christ wants to change YOUR STORY today! In Christ, the old is GONE… I want you to say that with me today… THE OLD IS GONE! Do you believe that today… THE OLD HAS GONE! BEHOLD!!! THE NEW HAS COME!

Where is the old? Left behind at the cross! Crucified forever. “But pastor… there are days that I feel more like the old and less like the new.” Then you’ve got to do what Jesus instructed us to. DENY THAT OLD SELF AGAIN! Sometimes this is a DAILY step of faith. Listen, CHRIST IS ENOUGH. HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT. His work was COMPLETE on the cross.

Today we aim to accept and believe the message of the cross.

Maybe its a first time of receiving Jesus… maybe it’s a reminder to our self that it has been crucified with Jesus… whatever the case… today is NOT a day of suffering but is a day of COMING ALIVE IN JESUS!

Prayer - Salvation

Prayer - crucify that old self and come alive in Christ. EMBRACE THE NEW! The cross changed it all!