Hope Crucified: The Message of the Cross
Notes
Transcript
Welcome
Welcome
Welcome to Eastern Hills Baptist Church’s Good Friday Family Worship.
My name is Pastor Joe Vivian. I’m the Children’s and Families Pastor here at Eastern Hills and I’m glad you are joining us…Either in person today or online through our different platforms: Facebook, YouTube or on our Web Page…Welcome.
We’re going to discuss the Cross today as we continue in our series Disciple-Hope in the Book of Mark. Today’s title is Hope Crucified: The Message of the Cross
Friends, In some ways, we have become too accustomed to the cross. We see crosses every day of our lives. Many churches have them atop their buildings. There is one behind me right now as I preach this message. Now, I am not against seeing the cross; but like any other symbol, it can lose its power in our lives if we become too familiar with it. In other words, we can become desensitized to the cross.
Think about this: For many, the cross is nothing more than a piece of jewelry that is hung around the neck. For some, the cross is an icon designed for worship; they kneel before the cross and pray to it. Some see the cross as an amulet that contains supernatural power; they hang it over their bed or carry it around to ward off evil.
The cross is offensive to some people. In 1 Cor. 1:23,
23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.
Paul calls it a “stumblingblock”. This word comes from the Greek word “skandalon” which meant a trap or a snare. It came to mean something that trips a person up and causes them to fall. We get the English word “scandal” from this word. To the Jews, the cross was a scandal! They could not conceive of the Messiah being nailed to a cross! They literally stumbled over the cross!
The cross is foolishness to some people. Again in 1 Cor. 1:23, Paul uses tells us that the Greeks considered the cross to be “foolishness”. This word comes from the Greek word “moria”, which gives us the English word “moron”. The sophisticated Greeks looked at a Savior dying on a cross and they declared it to be “moronic foolishness”.
But, for a few, the cross is an object of power and wisdom. In 1 Cor. 1:24,
24 Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God,
Paul says that those who have grasped the true message of the cross understand that it is not weak or foolish. It is instead, the power of God and the wisdom of God. It is the power of God because through the cross God forever destroyed the kingdom of Satan and broke the grip of sin. It is the wisdom of God because in the cross, God used a tool that neither man nor devil could have ever foreseen to accomplish salvation for His people. Had Satan known what Jesus would accomplish through the cross, he never would have pushed Jesus to the cross, 2 Cor. 2:8.
Today, I would like to declare the message of the cross. It is not a weak message; it is not a foolish message. It is a message filled with the awesome power and wisdom of Almighty God. Let the message of the cross speak to your heart today. If you are saved rejoice in what God accomplished at the cross. If you are not saved, you really need to hear this message today. Let’s take these verses we have read together and examine The Message Of The Cross.
Reading of God’s Word
Reading of God’s Word
Will you all please stand in honor of God’s Word as we read Mark 15:20-39
20 After they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple robe and put his clothes on him. They led him out to crucify him.
21 They forced a man coming in from the country, who was passing by, to carry Jesus’s cross. He was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus.
22 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of the Skull).
23 They tried to give him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.
24 Then they crucified him and divided his clothes, casting lots for them to decide what each would get.
25 Now it was nine in the morning when they crucified him.
26 The inscription of the charge written against him was: The King of the Jews.
27 They crucified two criminals with him, one on his right and one on his left.
29 Those who passed by were yelling insults at him, shaking their heads, and saying, “Ha! The one who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,
30 save yourself by coming down from the cross!”
31 In the same way, the chief priests with the scribes were mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others, but he cannot save himself!
32 Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe.” Even those who were crucified with him taunted him.
33 When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.
34 And at three Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lemá sabachtháni?” which is translated, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
35 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “See, he’s calling for Elijah.”
36 Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, fixed it on a stick, offered him a drink, and said, “Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down.”
37 Jesus let out a loud cry and breathed his last.
38 Then the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
39 When the centurion, who was standing opposite him, saw the way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
Let’s Pray
Message
Message
Let’s get started…
First, it’s both a message of Pain and Tragedy
The message of the cross is a message of pain, suffering and death. Three times we are told in these verses that Jesus was “crucified”, v. 20, 24–25.
20 After they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple robe and put his clothes on him. They led him out to crucify him.
24 Then they crucified him and divided his clothes, casting lots for them to decide what each would get.
25 Now it was nine in the morning when they crucified him.
This word means “to nail one to a stake”. The death Jesus died was a horrible, painful death. We get the English word “Excruciating” from two Latin words: “ex” which means “out of” and “cruciare”, which means “the cross”. A death on the cross was so painful that it came to be associated with any pain that caused extreme suffering. I have heard several kinds of pain described as being “excruciating”. Childbirth, a kidney stone, biting your tongue, certain kinds of surgeries, etc., have been described in that fashion. But, if you will take the worst pain you have ever experienced and multiply it 10,000 times, you might come close to experiencing the pain Jesus endured on the cross.
Add to this the suffering Jesus endured before He was nailed to the cross to die.
1. He had been arrested, tried, convicted and beaten by the Temple guards.
2. He had been taken to Pilate where He was abused by Pilate’s soldiers: Scourged—Beaten—Spit upon—Crowned with thorns
3. He was sentenced to die and suffered as He carried His cross along the Via Dolorosa, (The Way of Suffering—650 yards long. The Patibulum, or cross bar—110 pounds)
Why would He endure this kind of death? There is only one answer: His love for His lost sheep, Rom. 5:8
8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
It's a message of Pain…and of Tragedy
As Jesus hung on that cross, giving His life for the lost, His enemies circled Him like a flock of hungry vultures. They hated Him so much that they even made fun of Him and taunted Him as He died.
Look at the language the Bible uses: v. 20, 31,
20 After they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple robe and put his clothes on him. They led him out to crucify him.
31 In the same way, the chief priests with the scribes were mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others, but he cannot save himself!
“mocked; mocking”—“to play with; carries the idea of making fun of a person with a desire to harm”. V. 29,
29 Those who passed by were yelling insults at him, shaking their heads, and saying, “Ha! The one who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,
They were “shaking their heads” at Him. They taunted Him, telling Him to come down from the cross if He was really Who He claimed to be.
The religious leaders were guilty of mocking their Messiah as He died on the cross.
Friends, The cross was never “Plan B”. Jesus entered this world for the purpose of going to the cross. The Jews could have received Him, but they rejected Him instead. They confirmed their rejection by the words and by their deeds
What a tragedy!
Also, The true character of the human heart is revealed by the actions of the lost people at Calvary. Their actions remind us that man is hopeless apart from God’s intervention, Eph. 2:1–4.
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins
2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient.
3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us,
Friends, listen closely, your reaction to the cross reveals the condition of your heart!
I repeat, your reaction to the cross reveals the condition of your heart!
However, the message is not all that dark and lost…the Cross has a stronger message to share.
It begins with a message of Transfer.
After man had done his best to ridicule and belittle the Lord Jesus, God turned the lights out on the cross. It is as if God was saying, “You have mocked Him enough!” But, during those hours of darkness, Jesus suffered the worst of His torments. For, it was during those dark hours that your sins and mine were transferred to Him, 2 Cor. 5:21.
21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Because He paid our debt, those who place their trust in Him for salvation are delivered from the debt of sin. They are delivered from the threat of Hell. They are set free from the penalties stacked against them.
In fact, they get something better than that! Our sins were transferred to Him at the cross; when we surrender our life to Him, His righteousness is transferred to us!
Don’t miss the message of the cross! If you are lost today, you are under the wrath of God, and you are headed to Hell, eternal separation from God.
But, you can be saved if you will come to Jesus by faith, Rom. 10:13.
13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Surrender your life to Him today. Place your entire trust in Him. He will take your sins away and give you His righteousness in return!
It is a message of Transfer.
And it closes with a message of Celebration and Testimony
These verses record the death of the Lord Jesus. After six hours on the cross, He gave up His Spirit when He knew that the price for sin had been paid and God was eternally satisfied.
Let me share a quote from John Stott, from the Cross of Christ
“It is essential to keep together these two complementary ways of looking at the cross. On the human level, Judas gave him up to the priests, who gave him up to Pilate, who gave him up to the soldiers, who crucified him. But on the divine level, the Father gave him up, and he gave himself up, to die for us. As we face the cross, then, we can say to ourselves both ‘I did it, my sins sent him there’ and ‘he did it, his love took him there’.”
Also understand, The words of Jesus from the cross were not the words of a “victim” but the shouts of a “victor”! He did not say “I am finished”! He said, “It is finished!” When Jesus died on the cross, His death signaled the defeat of three terrible enemies of lost humanity.
1. His death signaled the defeat of Satan
2. His death signaled the defeat of Sin
3. His death signaled the defeat of Separation
The death of Jesus was not the tragedy it appeared to be on the surface. The death of Jesus was our moment of ultimate celebration. In His death, He conquered all the enemies that were destroying those trapped in their sins!
Friends, there truly is “Victory In Jesus”!
It is a Good Friday.
Friends, in closing, we need to understand that the cross of Jesus was about far more than death, suffering and blood.
The cross of Jesus was a place of testimony. It was here that God made His greatest declaration of love for the lost, Rom. 5:8
8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Christ’s greatest work was accomplished at the cross.
When He died on the cross, Jesus was making a difference for every lost one who would look to Him by faith.
It wasn’t just one man; but it was “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”, Rom. 10:13.
He could have saved Himself, but He stayed on the cross to save sinners!
His death was not in vain! The very day Jesus died we know that a lost thief repented, trusted and was saved. That same day a hardened, pagan, Roman military officer was convicted and converted as he gazed at the scene before him, Mark 15:39.
39 When the centurion, who was standing opposite him, saw the way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
Today, the cross of Jesus Christ still proclaims the love of God for the lost.
Even more so today, the testimony of the cross has become muted by the noise of this world and its focus on entitlement.
However, for those who will hear the testimony of the cross and will heed its message, will find that there is power in its message.
There is a powerful message in the Cross. Hope was Crucified today…However, that released a powerful message that continues today.
The cross is not a trinket to be worn without thought. It is not an amulet to be used to ease our superstitions. It is not an idol to be worshiped. It is a symbol of God’s love for us. Therefore, let us glory in His cross, and praise the Lord for what He did for us, for it is the doorway into life for all who know Jesus as Savior, Gal. 6:14.
14 But as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world has been crucified to me through the cross, and I to the world.
What is the cross of Jesus to you? It is merely a piece of jewelry? Is it just a religious symbol? Is it a talisman you hang over your bed to keep the devil away? Is it pure foolishness?
Or, is the cross the “power of God unto salvation”? If you will heed the message of the cross, you will find that salvation is still available. You will find that God can still save souls; change eternal destinies and transform sinners into saints of God.
Today would be a good day for you to heed The Message Of The Cross!
If today, you have heard and understood the Gospel, and you have surrendered your life to Christ, then we want to know that so we can celebrate with you and help you as you start on this new spiritual life. When we dismiss, just stay in your seats as people leave, and we will come find you so that we can get some more information, pray with you, and set up a time to talk more about Jesus. If you’re online, send me an email to me joe@ehbc.org.
If you are already a follower of Jesus, and this afternoon you believe that Eastern Hills is a place where you can be a part of a church family, so that you can grow in your faith and serve alongside your brothers and sisters in Christ, and you would like to join with this church in formal membership, same thing: stay in your seats. If you’re online and in the Albuquerque area, please let me know by email if this is you as well.
As Donna comes up, we are going to have a time of reflection, and during this time, take a moment to pray on the message of the cross. Renew your trust in Him this morning as you ask the question, “What is the Cross of Jesus to You?”
Let’s Pray
Let’s Pray
Closing
Closing
Friends, let’s continue celebrating this Easter Weekend together. Tomorrow morning is our EHBC KIDS Easter Egg Hunt beginning at 9:00 AM.
Easter Sunday, our sunrise service will be held at 7:30 am here in the courtyard. Please feel free to bring a blanket for the grass in the courtyard if you would like. We will have seating set out for those as well. We’ll worship together and then we’ll have breakfast available afterwards. And then, we will have our Easter morning Family Worship service at our normal time of 10:30 am here in the Sanctuary. Plan to be here either online or in person to worship the Lord together this Easter season.
Instructions
Instructions
Benediction
And Jesus spoke these words
17 This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again.
18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”