At the Cross

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At the Cross

So we started talking about things that surround Easter. Last week we talked about the Lord’s Supper. We looked at why we do it, who is able to do it, and why it’s important. This week we’re going to keep looking at things that surround Easter, but specifically, we’re going to look at one of the major components of Easter, the cross.

Go on pull out a Bible and turn to Matthew 27. I’ll go on and warn you, we’re looking at a long set of verses, and we won’t be able to pull everything out of it, but I want address something that Christians today tend to overlook or not think to much about.

A lot of Christians I know have a cross they like to hang around their neck, or they display in their house as a form of decoration. I used to have a necklace that was three nails put together to form a cross. In a sense it’s a great symbol for us to have and to use, but at the same time, honestly it’s kinda disturbing if you really think about it. We’re going to take a look at the cross today, not just what Jesus did on the cross, but a bit of history behind it. So let’s read Matthew 27:27-44.

Read Matthew 27:27-44

Before we really get going, I have a video that I want to show. It’s a short video, and talks about the crucifixion. It gives a few details on some things that lead up to Jesus being put on the cross. Fair warning some of this stuff is a little rough.

Show Video:

What did you think about that video? Anything stand out?

Today we talk about the of Jesus like it was no big deal. It was just something that happened. The Romans started using a cross as a form of capital punishment in 6 BC and it lasted into the 4th Century. It was absolutely humiliating to be killed by being hung on the cross. Like the video said, it was done where people could see you so they would get the message not to mess with Rome.

The word Crucified was not a polite word to say. You wouldn’t talk about it around the dinner table on a Friday night. They would use alternate words instead of saying Crucified. Kinda like how some people say heck.

Dying on the cross was shameful. This was done outside the city. He was mocked, he was ridiculed

Hebrews chapter 12 helps us to understand that the cross is an instrument of shame. - according to the NT Dictionary of Theology, the word “shame” that is used in this verse literally means “to disfigure, make ugly.....shame exposes one to the ridicule of society.” - those words may bring to mind those sobering verses in Isaiah 53, where we’re told..... He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. - these verses aren’t telling us that Jesus was somehow physically unattractive---they’re telling us about the position in which Jesus placed Himself when He was dying on the cross for us. - the cross is an instrument of shame.

What the Romans Thought

By reading about what the Romans thought of the cross. - I’m speaking, of course, not of the Roman Christians, but of the secular Roman citizens. - The Roman writer Cicero described crucifixion as: “a most cruel and disgusting punishment.....It is a crime to put a Roman citizen in chains, it is an enormity to flog one, sheer murder to slay one; what then shall I say of crucifixion? It is impossible to find a word for such an abomination.......Let the very mention of the cross be far removed, not only from a Roman citizen’s body, but from his mind, his eyes, his ears.”

- so the cross, to the Romans, was a vile thing. - it was associated with torture, bleeding, nakedness, and agony. - it was reserved for the most wretched criminals only.....and only criminals that were not Roman citizens, but instead were considered aliens or foreigners.

- that’s why the NT scholar F.F. Bruce said, “To die by crucifixion was to plumb the lowest depths of disgrace; it was a punishment reserved for those who were deemed most unfit to live, a punishment for those who were subhuman.”

Well, what about the Jewish individuals of that day? - they too saw the cross as the most shameful way to die. - and if you said, PV, why is that? - its because they learned that in the OT. - here’s what Deut. 21:22-23 says - And if a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is accursed of God)... - God himself viewed crucifixion, described in this passage as “hanging on a tree”, as a curse. - which is why, by the way, Jesus was not crucified inside of Jerusalem. - they would have never allowed such a brutal death to take place inside the holy city. - they made Jesus do what with the cross?.....carry it outside to Mount Calvary. - one writer said, “The cursed death of the cursed man had to take place outside the city wall.”

What did the cross actually do.

The best way to describe what the cross did for us, is build a bridge between God and us. Jesus became that perfect sacrifice for each of us. 1 Peter 2:24 says He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.Contrary to what some people say today, He lived a perfect sin free life and willingly went to the cross. At any point he could have said, no I’m God, this is too much and got himself down. But instead he suffered and died so we could live forever. Because Jesus died on the cross we have can have full peace with God. All you have to do is place your faith and trust in Him, Admit you are a sinner, believe He is God Son and Confess it with your mouth that He is Lord.