Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
4/5/98 am
Indifference To The Cross
Reading – Mark 15.16-39
It was nine o’clock in the morning and Jerusalem was coming to life in anticipation of the most important day of the year... PASSOVER. To the Jews, Passover was about two things: It was a day of remembrance and anticipation.
- Every household and every person will be remembering that it was on this day fifteen hundred years earlier that God had freed their forefathers from cruel Egyptian slavery.
- It was also a day of ANTICIPATION.. At this time in history, it was commonly believed that on a soon to come PASSOVER God would deliver all of Israel through the promised Messiah. He would, like Moses, once again free them from their bondage and reestablish the glory days of David and Solomon.
So there was both nostalgia and anticipation in the air over Jerusalem.
Go with me, if you will, to a hill just outside the city. Its located just outside the Damascus Gate, on the Damascus Road. The hill is called:
- Calvary in the Latin,
- Golgotha in Hebrew,
- They both mean place of the skull.
The site is a flat area which frequently serves as a Roman execution site. We find a small crowd already gathered.
- Three men on three crosses.
- A detachment of soldiers, a Roman crucifixion squad, overseen by a Centurion.
- Jewish officials from the Sanhedrin and the office of the High Priest.
- A few disciples of Jesus, including John, Mary and others.
- Then there were the passersby, the casual bystanders, who were making their way from Damascus to Jerusalem for Passover.
The three men on crosses have been
- Accused,
- Tried,
- Sentenced
- And crucified, Roman style.
Two are guilty, one is not. On the center cross hangs Jesus of Nazareth, the sign reads, King of the Jews.
What we want to do is to stop and contemplate the significance of the cross.
What do we see, and what does it mean?
FIRST THERE IS THE DARKNESS.
Mark says it happened at noon, and lasted until three o’clock. Look at verse 33 of our text, darkness came over the whole land and lasted until the ninth hour. It’s interesting to note that, the Mishnah tells us that the sixth hour, noon, was the exact moment which marked the official beginning of Passover. This same document says that on Passover, the Priest began offering the Passover lambs at precisely three o’clock.
- At that very moment, noon, darkness came on the whole land.
- At that very moment, three o’clock, Jesus became our Passover lamb and the darkness went away.
Science has no explanation that could account for this phenomenon. Some have suggested an eclipse of the sun, but we all know that such an eclipse lasts for only a few moments and it would neither come or go suddenly. This darkness lasted for three hours and evidently ended as suddenly as it had begun.
What caused this darkness, we don’t know, but I have some suggestions:
- God is light... Was God turning His back on what was happening on the cross?
- Was God removing His presence from the planet.
Truth is, we just don’t know the method He used to bring it about nor the reason this darkness came.
As we spiritualize this event, the darkness represents what happens because of sin in our lives.
- John tells us that God is light and in Him there is no darkness.
- The prophet Isaiah says, our sins, our iniquities, have separated you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you.
You see, sin and God cannot coexist... Where sin is God cannot be. So, when God leaves, only darkness is left. In Scripture, Hell is described as a place of utter darkness. This is what hell is, the absence of God and all His blessings. Hell is absolute and eternal darkness. Jesus knew this and cried, My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?
Here is the good news, Paul says, we have been delivered from the kingdom and power of darkness. Now, if sin separates us from God, we need to know what sins is... Right? What kind of human ugliness would cause God to withdraw from us?
Let’s go to the Scripture for our answers:
- 1 John 5.17 tells us that all unrighteousness is sin.
- David declared that all of God’s commandments are righteous.
- 1 John 3.4 says, sin is a transgression of God’s law, God’s commandments.
- James 4.17 says, sin is our knowing to do right and not doing it, to him that knows to do good and does it not, to him it is sin.
- Paul tells us that we sin, when we violate our conscience, when we think or act in a way that is contrary to our convictions. In Romans He says, that which is not of faith is sin.
- Romans 6.23 tells us the results of sin in our lives, For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The wages of sin is death, absolute and eternal darkness, eternal separation from God. Scripture informs us that we have all sinned and that there is none righteous, no not one. We must know this morning that we all stand in the darkness of that day at the cross.
SECONDLY, AT THE CROSS, WE SEE JESUS’ HUMANITY.
No, this was not a ghost, a spirit hanging on the cross, Jesus was one of us. He was human.
- You could beat Him, and He could feel the pain.
- You could push a crown of thorns into His brow, and He would bleed.
- You could spit in His face, and it would make Him sick at His stomach.
- You could mock and make fun of Him, and His feelings would be hurt.
- You could load Him up with a heavy cross, and He would stumble under the load.
- You could drive nails in His hands and feet, and He would moan.
- You could forsake Him, and He would cry out, why?!
- You could crucify Him on and cross, and He would die... And He did,
and He did!
Jesus was human, He was God in the flesh, God with skin on.
Listen to these scriptures which affirm His incarnation.
- And the Word became flesh and lived among us.
- God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.
- When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His son, born of woman, born under the law.
- Philippians two says, He was in the likeness of men.
- The Hebrews’ writer says, He was made a little lower than the angels and was tempted and suffered in all things as we are.
- In His trial, Pilate said, behold the man.
Jesus’ humanity can be seen in the fact that he wept at the tomb of His friend Lazarus. He lamented over the fate of Jerusalem, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered you under my wings like a hen does her chicks, but you would not. He experienced fear and anxiety... It was with sweat He prayed for release in Gethsemane. One of the first false doctrines in the church was the Gnostic belief, that Jesus was not human, that he was spirit only... They contended that Jesus never really died The human Jesus suffered, bled and died to take away our sins... Praise God for His humanity.
With these thoughts in mind, we understand that because he was human, Jesus is dying on this cross.
- He hasn’t had any sleep for over thirty hours.
- He was arrested and dragged through several mock trials.
- He has been scourged, beaten within an inch of His life.
- Men have slapped and beat on Him.
- They have spit in His face.
- The soldiers made a crown of thorns and pushed it into the flesh of His head and face.
- He was made to carry His cross from downtown to Calvary.
- He has been nailed, hands and feet, to this cross.
- He hangs there until He suffocates from not being able to take in another breath.
In crucifixion, chest muscles would become paralyzed and the only way to breath was to push on the nails in the feet and pull yourself up by the nails in your hands, just long enough to get one more breath. When you no longer have strength enough to accomplish this task, you suffocate. That’s why death is hastened by breaking the legs, they could no longer get their breath.
Do you feel the pain of Jesus this morning?... Do we? Well, we should, because where He died, we should have died. What He suffered, we should have suffered. No wonder Isaiah said, He has borne our grief, carried our sorrow. For us He was smitten and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement we should have suffered because of our sins, was given to Him. By His bruises, His stripes, His scourging, by His suffering we are healed. Church, something is wrong, seriously wrong in my life and yours if we do not feel His pain.
NUMBER FOUR IS NOT SOMETHING WE SEE, BUT SOMETHING WE HEAR, JESUS SAID, IT IS FINISHED.
Jesus makes seven statements from the cross, one of the last was, it is finished. Mark does not record this statement, just that He gave a loud cry. It was John who says, His last words were, it is finished. The Greek is TETELESTAI. Jesus was not saying He was finished. But IT is finished. TETELESTAI is in the third person, it is finished. What was finished?
- The scheme of redemption,
- The plan of salvation,
- The mystery in the mind of God through the ages.
- What God had planned for the salvation of all mankind.
Jesus is saying, My work on earth is done... The price has been paid for sin.
TETELESTAI in classical Greek meant PAID IN FULL. It was the word written across bills of lading. It was stamped on notes when the debt had been paid. TETELESTAI... TETELESTAI... Pain in full! No wonder Paul declared, we are saved by grace through faith.
THEN FINALLY, WE SEE HIS BLOOD SHED FOR OUR SINS.
When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, he said, this is My blood of the New Testament, the New Covenant. Christianity is a blood religion... Praise God for that. For you see, if we remove His blood from the cross then we have no sacrifice for sin. The Hebrews’ writer tells us, without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. Without the shedding of blood, we have nothing to look forward to except the absolute and eternal darkness of Hell... Eternal separation from God, both in this life and in the life to come.
Note with me quickly now, what His blood does for us.
FIRST, IT JUSTIFIES AND SAVES US.
Justification is just–as–if–it–never–happened! Romans 5.9 says, being justified by his blood, we shall be saved from God’s wrath through Jesus.
Remember Barabbas? When Pilate tried to release Jesus, the Jewish crowd cried... No, give us Barabbas! Barabbas was scheduled to and should have hung on the center cross that day. Church, just as sure as Jesus took Barabbas’ place, He also took our place. Where He dies guiltless, sinless, we should die... Guilty, as a sinner unclean.
HIS BLOOD REDEEMS US.
Redemption literally means to buy back. Jesus paid our debt with His blood. We have been purchased, bought with a price... His blood for our sins. Peter says, you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, such as silver and gold, but with the blood of Christ, as a lamb, (A Passover Lamb), without spot nor blemish.
HIS BLOOD SANCTIFIES AND MAKES US CLEAN.
Paul writes to the Ephesians telling them of Jesus’ love for the church, Husband, love your wives as Christ loved the church, and gave Himself for it. That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. 1 John 1.7 tells us His blood continually cleanses us, if we walk in the light as He is in the light, you have fellowship with one another and the blood of Christ continues to cleanse us from all our sins. How long will the blood of Jesus continue to cleanse us?... Just as long as we walk in the light.
THE BLOOD OF JESUS FORGIVES US.
Ephesians 1.7 says, In Him we have redemption through His blood... (Listen now), we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.
THE BLOOD OF JESUS PURGES OUR CONSCIENCE.
I don’t know what an atheist does with his guilt. I know what I do with mine; let the blood of Christ purge it. How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, to purge our conscience from dead works and to serve a living God. There is no earthly reason for us as a Christian to live with guilt... THERE IS NOT! Jesus died on the cross so we wouldn’t have to... So don’t! Forgiveness, justification is just-as-if-it-never-happened. Let it go... God has forgiven... Accept His grace.
ONE MORE, WE MUST KNOW THIS MORNING THAT HIS BLOOD WAS SHED FOR ALL.
This is the blood of the New Testament which is shed for many, for the remission of sins. The Hebrews’ writer says, He died, offered His blood, ONCE FOR ALL.
Well, Passover was a day of remembrance and anticipation.
- A day when everyone remembered deliverance from Egyptian bondage.
- A day of expectation, anticipating the day Messiah would come set up His kingdom.
Sure enough, at the cross, Jesus became our spiritual PASSOVER.
- He came and died to deliver us from the bondage of sin.
- His death made it possible for us to become a kingdom of priest... A kingdom that cannot be shaken that will last for ever in heaven.
This morning, as we partake of the Lord’s Supper, let us do two things:
1. Let us look back, remembering the cross and His suffering body broken for us. Let us REMEMBER what His blood, shed on the cross, has and continues to do for us.
2. Then let us look forward in ANTICIPATION to that time when He comes again to usher us into our eternal reward, our eternal kingdom home in heaven.
We ask those who have been appointed to serve the Lord’s Supper to come and do so now.
(Communion)
G. A. Studdert-Kennedy, the poet chaplain of World War I, penned some unforgettable, sobering words, and labeled them INDIFFERENCE. I want to read what he wrote and change only one word, and that change will be obvious to you.
“When Jesus came to Golgotha,
They hanged Him on a tree.
They drove great nails through hand and feet,
And made a Calvary.
“They crowned Him with a crown of thorns,
Red were his wounds and deep.
For those were crude and cruel days,
And human flesh was cheap.
“When Jesus came to Bella Vista,
We simply passed Him by.
We never hurt a hair of Him,
We only let Him die.
“For men and women had grown more tender,
And we would not give Him pain.
We only just passed down the street,
And left Him in the rain.
“Still Jesus cried, forgive them,
They know not what they do.
And still it rained the winter rain
And drenched Him through and through.
“The crowds went home in Bella Vista
And left the church without a soul to see,
And Jesus crouched against the church house wall
And cried Give Me Calvary.”
INDIFFERENCE!
- Ho hum, another Sunday, another sermon.
- I wonder when he is going to quit preaching.
- By the way, where do you want to have lunch?
INDIFFERENCE!... INDIFFERENCE!... Indifference to the cross and what happened there.
Don’t be indifferent this morning, come to the cross in faith, repentance and New Testament baptism, immersion in water for the forgiveness of your sins.
For many of us, isn’t it time we stopped being INDIFFERENT and gave Jesus the place in our lives He deserves, because of what He did at the cross?
Will you come to the cross of Jesus?
