A CUP OF COLD WATER

                                     AT THE CROSS OF JESUS CHRIST

As we approach Good Friday, let us pause for a moment and direct our attention, for these few minutes, to the cross of Jesus Christ and what it meant to those who witnessed the first Good Friday, over 2,000 years ago, and what it means to us today. Many people witnessed Jesus carrying His cross to be crucified that day.

There were the Passers-by on their journey from location to another and happened to come across a crucifixion taking place. They may or may not have known it was Jesus. In those times, death by crucifixion was reserved for slaves, foreigners, traitors and the most despicable of criminals. To some, Jesus could have been any of these, so they watched as they passed by. To others, He was the one who made grand promises that He would destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. So they hurled insults at him, telling him to save himself from the cross (Mark 15: 29-30).

There were the Jewish leaders who saw the cross as a just punishment for Jesus whom they accused of blasphemy, equating himself with God and for His teachings and practices that were contrary to their laws. So, as far as they were concerned, He was getting what He deserved. But the cross was also a thing of irritation for them, because the Romans put a sign over it which read: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (John 19:19).

There were the disciples for whom the cross represented dashed dreams. They thought Jesus was going to free them from Roman rule by having His own kingdom and they would become His cabinet ministers. The mother of James and John had already come to ask Jesus that both her sons will sit next to Him in His kingdom! (Matthew 20:20-21). But there was Jesus being crucified and seemingly unable to help Himself.  Despite the fact that Jesus had told them that all this would happen to Him, they were grieved, confused and perhaps disappointed and let down by Jesus to the extent that Peter denied him (John 18:15-27) and the Bible infers that others went back to their previous professions e.g. Peter went back to being a fisherman and the others followed him (John 21:3). In other words they tried to shake it all out of their heads as if it had all been a bad dream!

There were the Roman Soldiers for whom the cross was just another crucifixion they had to carry out. By nailing Jesus to the cross they were merely carrying out orders from their Superiors, doing their job. The difference is that this time they had a high profile “criminal” and wanted to make sure things were done properly and that they finished the job satisfactorily. The best team would have been drafted in for the crucifixion. In fact, they were so good at their job that that the Holy Bible records in Isaiah 52:14 that “Jesus’s appearance was disfigured beyond that of any human being and His form marred beyond human likeness”. Imagine that!

There were the Bystanders/crowds among whom were His acquaintances, women, family members and Galileans. Some of them would have seen His miracles, whilst others would have heard about them. They came, perhaps expectant to see Him perform a miracle. They would have been among the people that were at the triumphal entry when they waved palm branches as they ushered Him into Jerusalem as their ‘king’. For them the cross was a symbol of unbelievable cruelty. They witnessed the cruelty of the Roman soldiers towards Jesus and they witnessed the signs and wonders following Jesus’s death and they were perplexed and did not know what to make of it all and they left in misery. (Luke 23:48)

There were the two thieves crucified with Jesus, one on His left and the other on His right. For them the cross was a place of opportunity; for one thief it was an opportunity for instant freedom, after all Jesus should be able to do a miracle and save him from a sure death.  For the other, it was an opportunity for salvation.  The latter had his request granted, but the former lost his opportunity. 

There was the Centurion for whom the cross was a place where he came to the realisation that Jesus is truly the Son of God, and he was saved (Luke 23:44-47). 

There was Mary, mother of Jesus, who saw the cross as a symbol of intense grief, immense sadness, excruciating pain and uncontrollable weeping. A place, perhaps, of regret about her “failure” as a mother etc. But it was also a place of fulfilled prophecy. In Luke 2:35 the Holy Bible says: “And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;  (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed”.

There was Jesus to whom the cross was a place of voluntary endurance, a place where he felt rejection and a place of fulfilment of Scripture. Above all, the cross was a place of accomplishment, fulfillment and completeness.  He said “It is finished”, and this indicates that a completed action has consequences which remain into the present. Matthew 27:50-51 states that “Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent.”

And finally there was God, Who Himself was on the cross reconciling mankind to Himself (2 Corinthians 5:19). For God, the cross was a place of finality, a satisfaction that the perfect sacrifice had been offered for the remission of the sins of the whole world. That Jesus had paid the price in full and opened the way for Him to once again indwell the spirits of those who accept the work of salvation through Jesus Christ.

We have briefly looked at what the cross meant to stakeholders on that first Good Friday. The logical question to now ask is what does the cross of Jesus mean to you and me today, in the 21 Century?

To some it is a nice piece of jewelry which they wear without acknowledging Jesus’ sacrifice. To others it is a form of identification that I belong to Jesus. To the natural man, it is an offense in the sense that because Jesus fully paid the price for our sins, there is nothing left for us to do to “earn” our salvation. There is no credit for us to take for ours or other people’s salvation, no basis for human pride in performance. We are simply to receive by faith what Jesus has already done for us.

However to the follower of Jesus, the cross is our salvation. Jesus died on the cross to reconcile us to God. And just as Jesus carried His cross so He demands that we take up our cross daily and follow Him, if we are to be His disciples (Matthew 16:24). The cross should be central to our lives and our lives should revolve around it. In my next blog we will look at what it means to take up our cross daily and follow Jesus.

I wish all my esteemed readers a Happy Easter!