Fruit Cove Baptist Church

Jesus went beyond agony on the cross for us. The “man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” suffered a magnitude of pain that was off the charts as He hung suspended between earth and heaven… in this moment belonging to neither, but Creator of both. Though three hours now hanging in the Palestinian sun, the worst of His agony was about to begin; the moment when the sky would darken and His soul would be torn away from His Father. The moment which caused Him to cry out,

“Eloi, Eloi, lamasabathani… which means My God, My God why have You forsaken Me?”

In that dark moment the great pinnacle of redemption’s plan would be fulfilled… the moment when Jesus, who knew no sin… would be made sin for us… that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. An amazing plan. Amazing grace. Amazing love.

Our Triune God, Trinity incarnate, is now torn apart between His love for His own glory and holiness and His love for us. An early glimpse of this moment can be seen in the words of the prophet Hosea, who cried out with God’s voice to a disobedient nation,

How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart recoils within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender.
I will not execute my burning anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and not a man,
the Holy One in your midst,
and I will not come in wrath.
(Hosea 11:8-9)

Some have suggested that Jesus descended into Hell at this point. I don’t know that this is true. I do know that the suffering Jesus willingly bore in this period was as hellish an experience as could be endured. This One Who had always lived in relationship now stood alone as our scapegoat, as the sinbearer, as the target of God’s righteous wrath and anger against every and all sin. He became all of our sin… we received all of His righteousness. All of our sin… not just that in the past until our conversion but all of it… past, present, and future… is now forgiven. It isn’t a fair exchange

…but it’s what love did.

“My God, my God why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from the words of my groaning?” Psalm 22:1

FOR REFLECTION: If Jesus bore (paid the price for, became) all of your sin on the cross, why would you allow condemnation for sin into your life? Confess your sins to the Lord… forsake them… and walk in freedom He died to bring you!

We listen carefully as people speak their final words. Seldom do they speak nonsense if they are in their right minds as death nears. We do well to lean in and listen with special attentiveness. We do so with the final words of Jesus; words that speak life into our soul and not death… hope and not discouragement.

Jesus did not die alone. He was not the first nor the last to suffer the horror of the cross. And when He was crucified, maybe to make a point of associating Jesus with known criminals in His death or maybe just as a matter of Roman efficiency, three men were paraded to Skull Hill to have the death sentence carried out.

Hanging on either side, with Christ in the center, were two men. Some think they were associated with an insurrectionist and Jewish Zealot named Jesus Barabbas. Others believe they were slaves who had committed theft or another crime that would warrant such an end. Perhaps they had killed. Physically they had been scourged just as Jesus had, since it was the plan of the execution squad to hasten death before the Friday evening of Passover began. Always seeking political advantage, Pilate thought it best to give the Jewish leaders what they wanted.

And so the last hours of these men began together. As often men did when the nails first ripped through their flesh as it was pounded into the wood, curses and blasphemies flew at the soldiers, at the watching crowd, at the weeping families, at God. And in this instance, one of them turned to Jesus implying that since He was King of the Jews, He could order them to be taken from the cross. All of this in mocking sarcasm, of course.

But unexpectedly the voice of the man on the other side of Jesus’ cross spoke out in defense of the man in the middle. He asked, “Don’t you fear God? We are getting what we deserve but He has done nothing wrong.” Interesting, isn’t it? Even though His passion was largely wordless, the witness of an innocent life and One who suffered well was enough to bear witness to righteousness. He saw in Jesus an innocent man who would not defend Himself. He saw in Jesus a king.

And then, the question of grace. “Jesus, when you come into your kingdom, remember me?” He had nothing to commend him to be allowed access. He was a condemned criminal! He could make no promises to do better or try harder. He was moments away from his own death. He couldn’t even put on Sunday clothes. He could just look at the Lamb of God and ask… for mercy.

Mercy was exactly what he received. Jesus spoke just four halting words in the original language. “Today… with Me… paradise.” And as with any sinner who will come asking for mercy, asking for pardon, asking for grace… at the word of Jesus he got what he had asked. Entrance to the Kingdom! And a Divine escort as Jesus came home with one more trophy of grace.

A day of horror became a day of honor. A day of ending opened a new beginning. Grace showed up that day on Skull Hill for the sinner who has come to the end of himself… who will cast themselves on the mercy of God… and who will hear the same wonderful words of life.

And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. Luke 23:33

FOR REFLECTION: What does this word tell you about how deep the grace of God can reach? Do you know someone who needs to know about it?

The seven words of life that Christ uttered while suffering the cross do not all have a clear chronological sequence. We aren’t sure for several of the statements exactly where they fit in the unfolding of those six horrific hours.

I believe with a good number of others that the second thing Jesus did from the cross was to see to the ongoing care of His mother. Mary would have been in her mid-to-late forties by this time. Widowed for several years, the primary responsibility for her care would have fallen to Jesus as the eldest son. Though there were brothers and sisters they obviously were not believers in the Deity of their brother. Therefore entrusting her to their care may have been spiritually damaging. Or perhaps they did not have the means to offer care to her.

And so, Jesus turned to His mother, the one who never doubted who He was, and said “Woman (a polite reference to an older female) behold your son.” And to His disciple and friend John, “Son, behold your mother.” That is a tremendous responsibility to entrust to family – much less a person who was not related. While history records that this was not unheard of, it was an extraordinary thing to ask. And that Jesus asked it in the midst of His greatest suffering speaks volumes about how we should care for others even when we are in pain.

Though we don’t hear much about Mary after Pentecost, we know something must have happened to her. Last week while visiting Selcuk, Turkey, we spent a day exploring the ancient ruins of Ephesus. On the way there we stopped by an area believed to be the house where Mary was moved by John to protect her in the early days of persecution in Jerusalem.

John’s home church was Ephesus. The quiet, isolated little house located near the top of the mountain just outside Ephesus where Mary lived out her days provided sanctuary and safety. But it also provided ease of access for John to go and check in on her and provide for her.

John did what Jesus asked… no matter the cost. And no greater compliment could be given any follower of Christ than that.

“Mother behold your Son. Son behold your mother. And John took her to his home from that hour.” John 19:26-27

FOR REFLECTION: Could Christ count on you to do the hard assignments for Him? What is the most difficult assignment He has asked of you?

Final words are important. The last words that people speak are normally not trivial. We usually do not hear meaningless words when a person is breathing their last.

Even more so if the person dying is doing so under stress. Often if an individual is in great pain they are anesthetized and often die without speaking.

But when Jesus died after enduring twelve hours of torment, torture, deprivation and harassment He died with His mind clear, refusing the offer of a pain numbing mixture of vinegar and sour wine. We believe He did so that He might absorb into His sinless flesh every drop of the Father’s wrath.

And when Jesus was crucified; hands and nails pierced by spikes, His head bleeding from the wounds of a crown of thorns, His cross now lifted up and dropped into place with a sickening and jarring thud, He spoke His first word:

“Father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.”

I wonder if it might help us here, in making our journey toward Easter more meaningful, to re-frame the person who injured us… slandered us… grieved us… as a person who may not have known what they were doing.

Now not all. Some are well aware of what they did. But there are those who didn’t… and still don’t. And yet we hold them just as accountable as the ones who did.

Someone has said, “To know all is to forgive all.” And let’s turn this around. Sometimes WE don’t know what we’ve done either. And we need forgiveness just like those who do know.

End of my point: Jesus forgave everyone: the ones who conspired and trumped up false charges, those who agreed to bear false witness, the soldier who followed orders to crucify a man, to the commander who oversaw it, the clerk who wrote Jesus’ title to be nailed over Him, to Pilate who dictated the words.

All were offered forgiveness in the crucified King at the cross.

And so may you find it too.

“And they crucified Him.” Mark 15:24

FOR REFLECTION: Knowing what Jesus did for you at the cross, who is there that you need to forgive?

As I sit writing this column today, I am on an international flight bound for Paris. The sounds of multiple languages surround me and I remember that God does not love just Americans. He loves the guy sitting in front of you who fought his seat all night long while you tried to sleep. He loves the kind flight attendants who don’t speak English. He loves the French and the Indian and the Pakistani man and He loves them enough to die for them.

I thought about that as my fellow passenger in front of me slammed into his seat for the tenth time, obviously trying to lay back in my lap. He loves that person. Right now I can’t even manage to like him.

But such is the greatness of our God who loves a world that we may not know about or too often forget. The love of God and the glory of the cross are not limited to our narrow views and ideas, our cultural expression or our heart language.

It is much, much greater

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son….” John 3:16

FOR REFLECTION: Who in your life do you not like but need to learn to love? What will you have to look past to love them?

There is, according to many theologians, no more important word in the vocabulary of salvation than the word “reconciliation.” It’s an interesting concept, but as one famous author put it, “I’ve never quarreled with God.” In other words, “I don’t need to be reconciled to someone I have never had open conflict with.”

And yet the reality is every person finds themselves estranged from God. A restoration of relationship needs to be accomplished. A new beginning needs to be found. And it cannot start with us.

It can only start with God!

Most of us are deeply moved by stories of families being mended, couples finding common ground, wayward children coming home. We are moved when neighbors in conflict shake hands, or when children fighting on the playground embrace and run laughing into more adventures together.

We get, I think, at the core of our being that reconciliation is an important concept. Maybe the most important one of all. If we see nothing else in the suffering of Christ, we must see that, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting people’s sins against them.” (2 Corinthians 5:18) What a power concept! God, the offended, came to us in the person of Jesus Christ for the purpose of reconciling us to Himself! Even for the one who didn’t know that he and God had been “quarreling,” God came and gave Himself a reconciling sacrifice.

No greater love has ever been displayed. No greater opportunity has ever been offered… that we, through the blood shed at the cross of Jesus, can find peace with God… and know it forever! We have received a great and gracious gift.

And now, we are to live it out: “He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:19) We are now to be “reconciled reconcilers.” We have a ministry, a message to proclaim.

But first, we have to live it!

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here. All of this is from God who reconciled us through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.” 2 Cor 5:15-16

FOR REFLECTION: God, please help me to share the message of reconciliation with _______________.

The cross of Christ and the tomb of Christ work together. Both were occupied for just a short time. Both have become powerful images of the Christian life. Both are essential for our salvation. Both seemed to spell the doom of Jesus and the Christian movement. And both have now become images of victory and hope!

The resurrection of Jesus is the promise that God can put the broken pieces of our lives back together. We sometimes find ourselves shattered by the events that seem to come against us one after another. It seems on some levels that all we know is crucifixion! And then God intervenes and does something dramatic, something miraculous… something never done before.

Resurrection. There is no gospel without it. If Jesus went to the cross and to His death, even because He loves us, the best He would be is a martyr. He is just one more among thousands of Jews who were crucified by Rome.

But the resurrection comes to bring something amazing and powerful. In the resurrection of Jesus there is proof that God is not going to let things fall apart. By definition, death is the “falling apart” of something living. We are constantly “falling apart” as we inch our way toward death. Returning to the dust is the ultimate “falling apart” of the human life.

Jesus did not “fall apart” in the grave however. In Christ, the Law of Entropy was reversed. Things in His life are not moving toward chaos and decay but towards order. The One “by whom all things hold together” (Colossians 1) did not fall victim to death’s deterioration.

And because He lived, we can live as well. Because He did not “fall apart” in the grave, our lives do not have to “fall apart” either. Our deteriorating marriage can be redeemed. Our deteriorating body can be restored. Our deteriorating situation can be rebuilt.

The resurrection of Jesus was not the greatest miracle ever performed by God according to pastor Mel Lawrenz. Lawrenz meant it is not the greatest miracle in the sense that it was the most difficult or necessarily the most amazing. It is the greatest miracle because it represents the greatest TRUTH… that God has deliberately, purposefully and powerfully stepped into our “falling apart” lives to proclaim that our lives need not fall to pieces… even in the face of our greatest enemy… death.

The cross and the tomb must stand together…

… lest we fall apart.

“(Christ) is before all things, and in Him all things hold together….” Colossians 1:17

FOR REFLECTION: How has God moved in your life to turn around your “falling apart” situation?

The death of Christ is the foundation of our hope. It is the cornerstone that causes unbelievers to stumble and provides believers in Christ with a firm standing. The Apostle Paul calls the preaching of the cross “foolishness” to the ones who are perishing but, “to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.”

Funny that God would take the most despicable instrument known throughout history… an instrument of torture, designed to produce not only maximum human pain but also maximum shame… to accomplish His greatest act of love. While we do not “love the cross” in the sense that Jesus suffered and died there, it is the pinnacle of obedience of the Son to the Father. It is the zenith of wondrous love. It is the place where sinners find refuge and forgiveness, beneath it’s shadow.

God turns the “worthless” things, things the world despises, into that which is most worthwhile at the cross. The cross is indispensable for salvation to be accomplished. It is essential for the sinner to find hope. It is crucial as the centerpiece of our relationship with God. We cannot relate to Him without it.

Without the cross, there can be no reconciliation between God and man.

Without the cross, there can be no justification from God to man.

Without the cross, there can be no satisfaction of sin’s debt that we owe.

Without the cross, Christianity has no meaning… it has no teeth… it has no reason for being.

But in the cross of Christ, there is peace between God and man. There is justification by faith, as Christ’s righteousness is given to us. There is a satisfaction of sin’s debt as the wrath of God can subside. There is a reality to Christianity that goes beyond any other religious system. None can compare. No other can compete. No other can suffice.

“In the cross of Christ I glory, towering o’er the wrecks of time…” the hymn writer has said. And it is in the cross alone that we can glory. It is the power of God for salvation to those who believe.

And it is alone our hope.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ….” Romans 6:11

FOR REFLECTION: How does the cross make a difference in your life today?

Some of the earliest believers struggled with unjust suffering. For many the injustices they experienced were at the hand of their masters since much of the New Testament church was made up of slaves. They had bosses who could be cruel, capricious, and even vicious in their treatment. Slaves had no rights as human beings and were considered on the same social level as farm animals.

Some came to the faith expecting a message of freedom to rally around: a call to throw off the yoke of oppression and slavery. A call to assert their rights as human beings. A call to revolt against injustice. If that was the case, they went away disappointed.

In 1 Peter 2, we read that the position of early Christians was to suffer quietly when injustice came and to stop looking for a reward when their suffering was deserved. What does that say to us today?

Many live in circumstances where suffering is a frequent guest. Maybe you are feeling mistreated by an unfair boss. Maybe your manager at work treats you differently because you are a Christian and you are ostracized or passed over for promotion. Perhaps your platoon sergeant curses you or insults you because of your faith.

It is relevant today for us to hear again these ancient words that tell us, like Christ, to suffer silently; to not expect that we will be treated better than He; to not expect that walking with Jesus won’t cost us something. It always has and yet, “He had left us an example that we should follow in His steps.”

An old hymn asks the question, ” Should I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease?” Following Jesus is not always easy.

But it is always worth it.

“But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.”  1 Peter 2:20

FOR REFLECTION: Examine your attitude. Do you endure when you are mistreated for doing good? Is your attitude like that of Jesus who suffered for you?