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Tag: cross

  • The Crossroad at the Cross

    The Crossroad at the Cross

    Every Easter we’re faced with the ultimate question about God and our relationship with Him. Nothing in life matters more. When we stand before the cross, we stand at a crossroads—what will we do with Jesus of Nazareth? That decision leads either to everlasting life with God, or eternal separation. According to the Bible, there are no other destinations. Easter’s central message is captured in Jesus’ words: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

    That’s why it’s vital to understand what happened when Jesus died, and what it means for us. If Jesus has never really mattered to you, I pray this Easter will be different. I pray you’ll see the glory of God in the face of Jesus and respond like the centurion who watched Him die: “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

    Mark’s account of Jesus’ death:

    33 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son[i] of God!” (Mark 15:33-39)

    The Darkness.

    There’s no natural explanation for the eerie darkness from noon to 3pm. Matthew, Mark, and Luke record it. So do three extra-biblical historians: Thallus, Phlegon, and Africanus. Thallus suggested a solar eclipse, but that’s astronomically impossible—eclipses don’t happen during Passover, which occurs at a full moon, nor do they last three hours.

    In Scripture, daytime darkness signals God’s judgment on sin (Deut 28; Amos 8). It began during the first Passover in Egypt: the ninth plague brought three days of darkness, described as a “darkness to be felt” (Ex 10:21–22). To be spared the final plague—the death of the firstborn—each family had to sacrifice a spotless lamb and mark their doorposts with its blood. That lamb was the substitute. The Hebrew people understood that to be spared death and set free from slavery, an innocent life had to die in their place.

    The three days of darkness pointed to God’s judgment on His enemies but also to God’s mercy on His covenant people. The question at the crossroad: Would it be the death of the firstborn, or the death of the lamb?

    The Crossroad at the Cross.

    Two thousand years later, on the first Good Friday, God turned off the lights for three hours from noon until 3pm. He turned His face away from His sinless Son and poured out the full cup of His judgment, so that sinners could be free. The only way to be saved is to repent and trust in Christ, who bore our sins in His own body.

    I wonder when the disciples realized what was happening. At the Passover meal, Jesus had identified Himself as the once-for-all Lamb who would pay sin’s death penalty: “Take; this is my body… This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” (Mark 14:22–25)

    Jesus wasn’t speaking in metaphor—He was revealing His mission. He would die to bear the sins of all who trust in Him. His blood redeems, atones, and cleanses. Isaac Watts’ 1707 hymn captures the scene:

    “Well might the sun in darkness hide,
    And shut its glories in,
    When God, the mighty maker, died,
    For his own creature’s sin.”

    The Cries at the Cross.

    We dare not miss Jesus’ spiritual anguish as He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” His body was pierced and tortured. His mind endured mockery, contempt, insults and taunts. Emotionally, He’d been betrayed, denied, abandoned by his closest friends. He refused wine mixed with myrrh—no relief (Mark 15:23). He hung for six hours, naked, humiliated.

    Every detail was foretold centuries before, even that His hands and feet would be pierced, and His clothes would be divided (Psalm 22:8, 16-18; Zechariah 13:7, 11:12-13; Isaiah 53:4-12; 50:6; 52:14; Psalm 69:9; 19-20; Psalm 69:21). Even the reason for Christ’s death was recorded by Isaiah: “He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12).

    His cry of abandonment fulfilled Psalm 22:1. For the first time in eternity, Jesus did not say “Abba,” but “My God.” In that moment, He experienced a separation from the Father He had never known. This was the “cup” He dreaded in Gethsemane (Mark 14:36)—the full weight of sin and judgment against sin was poured out on Jesus.

    The physical pain paled compared to this spiritual alienation. As Jesus embodied our sin, God turned His face away. This is what it means to be a sinner before a holy God—uncovered, exposed. Only the blood of the Lamb can cover us. Imagine the horror of our sin—it took the death of God’s beloved Son to remedy it.

    Mark doesn’t give us the words Jesus cried as He breathed his last (Mark 15:37), but John records Jesus’ final cry: “It is finished!” (John 19:30). Luke adds: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46). His mission was complete. These cries take us to the very heart of Easter, as Jesus died in full control of his faculties to open the gates of heaven to every sinner who turns to him in repentance and faith. The temple curtain was torn from top to bottom.

    The Torn Curtain.

    This act of God demonstrated that Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient. The eighty-foot-high curtain, separating the Holy of Holies, symbolized the barrier between God and man. Now, access to God was open to all. God vandalised His own Temple and tore the curtain—ending the old sacrificial system with its repeated animal sacrifices on the Day of Atonement to gain forgiveness for the people.

    Jesus was both the great High Priest and the final sacrifice. “By a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:18)

    The crossroads.

    The cross is a crossroads for each one of us. About ten years ago, our teenage son came to such a moment at a Christian camp. As he heard the re-telling of the crucifixion story, God stirred his heart to genuine sorrow over his sin, and he embraced the mercy and love of Christ. Seeing how lost, guilty and helpless he was to pay for his own sin, he put his faith in Jesus. His life changed direction. He later asked to be confirmed at his Anglican school.

    But as the confirmation classes rolled by, he noticed Jesus was hardly mentioned. When a classmate asked the chaplain a sincere question, “Sir, how can I make sure that I will go to heaven to be with God when I die”, the chaplain replied, “Whatever you choose to believe in, just believe in it with all your heart.” After a few moment of silence, my son asked, “But sir, if that’s true and there is another way to God, why would God send His own Son to die such a terrible death on the cross?”

    Why did Jesus have to die? Unless I see that I am a great sinner and Jesus is the only Saviour, the cross makes no sense. Easter makes no sense unless I see the darkness of our sin alongside God’s immense love and mercy for sinners like us. May we see the King of Glory, crowned with thorns and arms outstretched. May we respond to His invitation.

    This is the crossroads we face if we truly consider the innocent young man who died on a Roman cross in 33AD. Like the Roman centurion, who recognized the unique Son of God dying a criminal’s death, we must answer: “Who is this man, and why did He die?”

    Prayer (Hebrews 10:19–25)

    Lord, thank you that through faith in Jesus, we can have full assurance of eternal life. The blood shed on Calvary washes away our sins and gives us new life.
    We come to you not because we’re good, but through the “new and living way that [Jesus] opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh.”
    Thank you, Jesus, our great high priest, for cleansing our hearts and removing our guilt. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope, for you who promised are faithful.
    Amen.

     

  • “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

    “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

    [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_text]By Rosie Moore.

    One of the worst aspects of the COVID-19 outbreak in Bergamo, Italy, is that thousands of its victims died alone, without the comfort of loved ones at their bedside. Regardless of culture or religion, the world has been forced to discard ancient rituals to say goodbye to the dying, to honour the dead and comfort the bereaved, for fear of spreading the virus further. But on this Easter Friday, Christians can know that we will never experience the horrific separation that Christ suffered as he gasped for breath on the cross. As our substitute, Jesus was weighed down, not only by his own broken body, but by the burden of sin he never committed. Christ became a curse for us (Gal 3:13) and emptied the cup of God’s wrath. Enveloped by darkness from noon until 3pm on the Friday of Passover, Jesus owned King David’s cry in Psalm 22:

     ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” (Matt 27:45-46; Ps 22:1a).

    “Why are you so far from saving me,
    so far from my cries of anguish?
    2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
    by night, but I find no rest (Ps 22:1-2).

    Jesus’s cry of true abandonment gave voice to an immense spiritual grief. It eclipsed all other griefs, as the perfect Son bore the wrath of His beloved Father against every loathsome sin committed in the world. For the first time in all eternity, the righteous Judge of all the earth turned his face away from his beloved Son. He shut the door in Jesus’s face, to open the door to forgiven sinners.

    Let’s go back to the Psalm that Jesus meditated on as he hung on the cross. Read Psalm 22 through on your own, then keep the text in front of you as we massage its truth into our hearts:

    Despised by the people

    “But I am a worm and not a man,
    scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
    7 All who see me mock me;
    they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
    8 “He trusts in the Lord,” they say,
    “let the Lord rescue him.
    Let him deliver him,
    since he delights in him…”

    The Psalmist clearly had his own enemies and personal torment. But David was also a prophet, inspired by the Holy Spirit to describe an infinitely more profound anguish to be suffered by one of his descendants (1 Peter 1:10-11).

    Jesus knew more than any man what it is to be abandoned and despised. Judas betrayed him and his friends deserted him. Even Peter denied him. Then there were the three nighttime trials and the brutal flogging. The Chief Priests didn’t care that Judas had betrayed innocent blood (Matt 27:4). Nor did Pilate and Herod care that Jesus was guiltless (Matt 27:18; 24; 26; Luke 23:4; 14; 15). Everyone knew Christ was innocent and that the trials were a complete mockery of justice. Yet, they continued to bay for blood while Pilate washed his hands.

    How accurate and ironic is the taunt of Ps 22:8: “He trusts in the Lord, let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him”. It was an echo of the insults hurled at Jesus by the soldiers who crucified him (Matt 27:27-31; 39-40); the Jewish leaders who rejected Him as Messiah (Matt 27:41-42) and the robbers who were crucified with him (Matt 27:44).

    The irony was lost on those too blinded by the Enemy to see that their insults were prophetic declarations that Jesus was indeed the promised Saviour-King he claimed to be.

    Surrounded by enemies

    “Many bulls surround me;
    strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
    13 Roaring lions that tear their prey
    open their mouths wide against me

    16 For dogs encompass me;
    a company of evildoers encircles me” (Ps 22:6-8; 12-13; 16).

    David’s lament and prayer for deliverance from his enemies hinted at a far more sinister and supernatural predator that has stalked God’s image-bearers since Eden. Until Eve’s seed would finally crush Satan’s head (Gen 3:15).

    As Eve’s promised descendant, Jesus was at the centre of this cosmic war. Enemies hunted him like savage animals, even when he was a baby (Matt 2:16). Even while he prayed and fasted in the desert (Matt 4:1). Even after he healed the sick, cast out demons and announced a message of hope (Matt 12:14; 24; Luke 4:29). Behind human agents, Satan plotted to destroy Jesus throughout his short life (John 8:44). Even in his dying hours, Satan continued to tempt Jesus to leave the cross and save himself (Luke 23:35-37). Yet, Christ loved us enough to stay— to save sinners instead of himself. He even prayed for his executioners (Luke 23:34).

    Poured out like water

    “I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint.
    My heart has turned to wax;
    it has melted within me.
    15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
    and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
    you lay me in the dust of death.

    16 Dogs surround me,
    a pack of villains encircles me;
    they pierce my hands and my feet.
    17 All my bones are on display;
    people stare and gloat over me.
    18 They divide my clothes among them
    and cast lots for my garment” (Ps 22:14-18).

    Here’s why I trust the Bible is truly God’s word. There is nothing in David’s life that could align with this peculiar omnibus of torture. Psalm 22 is not an expression of psychological suffering or physical sickness, but a detailed account of execution by crucifixion. Yet, crucifixion was only invented by the Persians in 300BC and used by the Romans a thousand years after David.

    Think of Christ’s nail-pierced hands and feet. Intense dehydration from his all-night ordeal, the labored march to Calvary and six hours of hanging in the sun. Gloating onlookers staring and spitting as he hung naked, at eye level. Bones jerked out of joint as he became too weak to support himself and as the cross fell to the ground. His clothes divided by gambling soldiers. It’s all in Psalm 22:14-18.

    David’s lonely lament describes in vivid detail the darkness and despair of that first Easter Friday, as Christ pleads for God’s presence and rescue (Ps 22:19-20; Heb 5:7). There is nothing stoic or detached about our Saviour as he carried out his mission to become sin for us. Being “poured out like water” runs much deeper than physical agony. It points to the spiritual desolation Christ experienced when God withdrew his familiar presence. His Father turned his face away, because He could not look upon sin. And his Son was riddled with sin on the cross. Our sin.

    Stand in awe of him!

    But suddenly, without warning, the song of desolation turns to joy halfway through verse 21. Good Friday is not just a cry of separation and agony. It is ultimately a song of rescue and praise!

    “You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!

    22 I will tell of your name to my brothers;
    in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
    23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
    and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
    24 For he has not despised or abhorred
    the affliction of the afflicted,
    and he has not hidden his face from him,
    but has heard, when he cried to him.

    25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
    before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.
    26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek the Lord will praise him—
    may your hearts live forever!

    27 All the ends of the earth
    will remember and turn to the Lord,
    and all the families of the nations
    will bow down before him,
    28 for dominion belongs to the Lord
    and he rules over the nations.

    29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
    all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
    those who cannot keep themselves alive.
    30 Posterity will serve him;
    future generations will be told about the Lord.
    31 They will proclaim his righteousness,
    declaring to a people yet unborn:
    He has done it!”

    David describes the party a Jewish person would throw when God answered his prayer of deliverance (Ps 22:19-21). It’s the kind of bash we hope to have for our son who turned 21 yesterday while in lockdown!

    The guests at this lavish celebration sing songs of praise to God, whose face is no longer hidden from the forsaken one (Ps 22:24). It’s like a royal gala, with guests from many nations and families who join together to worship the King and serve him in posterity. It’s a sumptuous banquet, bursting with life, food and satisfaction (Ps 22:22; 25-26). Best of all, this never-ending feast is the hope of a ‘people yet unborn,’ who proclaim Christ’s righteousness! That’s us, the Church of Christ— and our children and future generations who come to love Christ as their own!

    He has done it!

    But why do we get to be guests at this party of all parties? The reason is that “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” was not the final word. After three hours of darkness, Jesus drew his final breath and cried his last words of victory,

    “It is finished!”

    God did not need three days to fully atone for sin. The price for sin was paid and the fellowship with God was restored. Everything needed for the salvation of sinners and of this sin-cursed creation, was completed on the cross. That’s why the Psalmist’s final cry is,

    “He has done it!” (Ps 22:31)

    It’s a victory song that comes into even sharper focus when Christ rises from the tomb on Sunday morning, ascends into heaven 40 days later, and reigns as King forever (Acts 2:31).

    Let’s not be slow to believe!

    I told you at the start what distresses me most about this COVID-19 pandemic. But the best story I’ve heard was that of a 93- year old man who recovered from the virus in an Italian hospital. When asked to pay for the ventilator, the old man started crying. He told the doctors, “I cry because I’ve been breathing God’s air for 93 years but I never paid for it. Do you know how much I owe God? I didn’t thank him for that before.”

    God has indeed given us life and lungs, and Coronavirus has made us all too aware of this free and fragile gift (Acts 17:28). But God has also given us the free gift of His Son, who gave up his own breath, so that those who believe in him will live forever (John 19:30; John 3:16-18). If you are a Christian, you have the promise of God’s presence forever.

    “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him” (1 Thess 5:9-10).

    No matter how alone you may sometimes feel, actively press yourself against Jesus, who is not afraid to call you his brother or sister (Heb 2:12). Good Friday confirms that there is nothing in life or death that can separate you from God’s love in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:38; 39; 34; 39). But it is also a sober reminder that the worst separation is not the kind the world has seen in recent weeks. Far worse is the ultimate separation, when Christ gathers the nations before his throne and finally closes the door of his grace (Matt 25:10-13; 31; 32; 34; 41; Acts 17:31). It is this ultimate separation that only Christ can bridge. Let us not be slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken and the gospels have confirmed! “Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” (Luke 24:25-26; Luke 24:44).

    As you remember the meaning of Good Friday, listen to this Song by Andrew Peterson. He reminds us that on the Sabbath after Jesus died, God rested from his salvation work. That’s why sinners can rest from ours too. “It is finished! He has done it!”

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