Nothing is worse than a feeling of hopelessness! When the doctor comes out of the operating room and says, “I’m sorry. There’s nothing more we can do.” It is a feeling of hopelessness. Sometimes, we have tried everything and nothing works – in fact, things even got worse. And this feeling of hopelessness can overwhelm us. That’s how the disciples felt on the sabbath after Jesus was crucified. They had put all their hopes on Jesus. Not just their hopes – the hope of Israel and the hope of all mankind rested in the person of Jesus. But now, all those hopes were gone. Their long-awaited Messiah was dead. Their teacher and their friend was in the tomb. All hope was lost!
That’s how all the disciples and the followers of Jesus felt after the crucifixion. We see this most clearly in Luke 24:21 where the two disciples on the Emmaus Road meet Jesus. There they express their shattered hopes to him: “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.” But the resurrection changed their hopelessness into hope again!
What makes you really happy? All of us have a variety of things that bring us real joy. But for most of us, it is the feeling that we have accomplished something that we really care about. Hebrews 12:1 tells us that we are to look to Jesus “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Crucifixion was one of the most painful and shameful deaths devised by man. It was sort of a long, terrible torture that ended in a terrible death. Yet when Jesus went to the cross, he endured all its pain and shame because of the “joy that was set before him.”
This is not to minimize the pain and suffering of the cross. Crucifixion probably originated with the Persians. Alexander the Great copied this form of execution and the Romans learned this method from him. The Romans perfected crucifixion as a punishment designed to maximize pain and suffering. It wasn’t about killing somebody — it was about killing somebody with the greatest amount of suffering and pain. Crucifixion was also considered one of the most disgraceful forms of execution, reserved only for slaves, foreigners, revolutionaries, and extremely vile criminals. The only time a Roman citizen could be crucified was for desertion from the army.
When the Romans crucified someone, they made it as painful as possible. Even before a person was crucified, they subjected him to flogging or scourging to beat and weaken the victim. Then the person carried his own cross (often the crossbar) through the streets to the place of execution. The victim was then either tied to the cross (the most common method) or nailed to it. Most of those crucified suffocated to death because the person’s weight on their stretched arms would eventually suffocate them. Most of the time, victims used their legs to hold themselves up so they could breathe some. Many crosses even included a pedestal for their feet so that they would be able to live longer and suffer longer. Most died in 3-4 days. When they needed to hurry up the death, the legs were broken so the person would suffocate more quickly. It was truly a terrible way to die.
One of the most amazing things about the cross is that Jesus could have avoided it – but he did not. In John 10:17-18, Jesus says, “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” In Matthew 26:53, Jesus even reminded his disciples “Or do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and that he would send me more than twelve legions of angels right now?” All of this tells us 3 amazing things about the cross of Jesus.
First, the cross and all its sufferings were totally voluntary. Jesus endured the cross and its sufferings. He did not have to – he chose to. He allowed himself to be captured, tortured, beaten and nailed to the cross. At any point, he could have called 12 legions of angels to rescue him. But he did not. He endured the cross because he wanted to. No one forced him to do so. In Matthew, Mark and John, Jesus reminded his disciples that, “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” He came with a purpose – to die as a ransom for many. His death was not accidental, it was not an unfortunate series of events, it was completely voluntary. He didn’t have to die for us – he chose to!
Second, the cross and all of its sufferings were completely foreseen. Jesus knew everything that would happen to him before it ever happened. He knew Peter would deny him and he even knew when he would do it and how many times. He knew that he would be handed over by the chief priests and the scribes and be put to death by the Romans. He even told his disciples that they would all desert him when this happened. He knew that Mary was anointing him for his death. And he knew that Judas would betray him. Nothing that happened in the crucifixion came as a surprise to him. He knew it all before it ever happened. He knew about the thorns and the scourging and the nails in his hands and feet. And yet – he willingly went to the cross even though he knew about everything he would have to suffer: “I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.” His suffering and death was totally voluntary and it was completely foreseen. That makes the cross amazing.
But that’s not all. Third, the cross and all of its sufferings were absolutely necessary. After the resurrection (notice Jesus said, “I lay down my life—only to take it up again”), he asked the disciples, “Wasn’t it necessary for the Messiah to experience all these sufferings and afterward to enter into his glory?” Jesus’ suffering and death was voluntary, and completely foreseen, but it was also absolutely necessary. We see this most clearly in the Garden of Gethsemane. Three times Jesus prayed, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” In verse 42, he is more specific: “if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”
What was the “cup” that Jesus was wanting to avoid drinking? Most likely, it refers to the cup of God’s wrath against sin. We see this often in the Old Testament when God tells nations that they will drink the cup of His wrath for their wickedness and their sins. As Jesus faced the cross, he knew about the sufferings and the pain, but he also knew that the cross meant something far worse for him than physical sufferings. Jesus understood that the sins of the world, our sins, would be placed upon him on the cross. And that the one “who knew no sin would become sin for us!” (2 Corinthians 5:21). He would drink the cup of God’s wrath so that we would not have to.
But notice carefully what he says – “if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” If there is any other way for people to be saved, let this cup of Your wrath pass away from me.” If there is any other way …. But there was not any other way for God’s wrath against us to be satisfied. Jesus had to drink the cup – for us – so that we might be set free from the wrath of God that was rightly ours. The cross was totally voluntary, it was completely foreseen, and it was absolutely necessary.
So why did Jesus endure the cross and its suffering? Hebrews 12:2 tells us that he did it “for the joy that was set before him.” What was that joy? It was the joy of seeing many sons and daughters being brought out of sin into relationship with the Father that he endured those sufferings (Hebrews 2:10). The joy of the cross was the salvation of everyone who would believe on Him.
One of my favorite songs tells it all when I think about the cross:
He paid a debt he did not owe
I owed a debt I could not pay
I needed someone to wash my sins away;
And now I sing a brand new song, “Amazing Grace”
Christ Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay.
That’s why we speak about “Good Friday.” Because, “for the joy that was set before him,” he “endured the cross, despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” That’s why we can call the day he died on that terrible cross “Good Friday.” That’s why we can speak about the joy of the cross.
Teaching Ministry …
Last month, I taught Theology 1 online at Kyiv Theological Seminary. We had a great class with lots of good and practical questions. In their first essay, they had to write about what they thought was the most important theological issue facing Ukraine today. Most of the papers were about how to answer questions about the goodness of God in the time of war when friends and family members were dying in the war. While we were able to look at some biblical answers, it was clear that this was no simple theological issue for them. The second most frequent theme in papers was the question of whether a Christian could serve in the army and defend his country. Traditionally, Baptists in Ukraine have been pacifists and believers could not serve in the army. One student even wrote about being excommunicated from his church for joining the army. But he felt that biblically and practically he was doing the right thing even if his church disapproved. The class was really good but, as you can see, the questions they had were really very personal and practical. Please pray for these students as they live out their faith in very difficult times!
Christianity, unlike most religions, is a reasonable faith. This means that what Christians believe stands the test of reason. If it does not, then it must be questioned. However, we often misunderstand what is meant by reason and faith and, especially, how we should use reason in theology and in life. In fact, more often than not, Christians see a conflict between reason and faith. But a biblical faith should be a reasonable faith.
Any discussion of faith and reason has to begin with the question: “What is faith?” Answering that question requires reason. But is the use of reason in theology acceptable for biblical Christians? Well, let’s begin by going to the Bible for a definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1. There the writer of Hebrews tells us: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Let’s examine this passage and see why real biblical faith includes reason.
At the start of every New Year, people make all kinds of resolutions. They resolve to start dieting and stop smoking. Others resolve to start new habits or change bad behaviors. This can be a good thing as every one of us has habits that need to be changed for the better. The problem is that most resolutions start with good intentions but still fail. In fact, research reveals that only 9% of Americans that make resolutions complete them. In fact, research goes on to show that 23% of people quit their resolution by the end of the first week, and 43% quit by the end of January. Those are not good results!
Every year people ask me what my New Year’s resolutions are, and I always reply that I never make any New Year’s resolutions. Now there is nothing wrong with making resolutions. In fact, many great believers made lists of resolutions that guided their lives. Jonathan Edwards is one just example of a believer who lived by his list of resolutions. His list of resolutions is one of the more popular lists and it provides a good example (or even a checklist to use for yourself) as to how to resolve to live a life that pleases God.
God’s timing is always amazing. One friend always used to say, “God is seldom early, but He is never late.” God’s timing is not just amazing; it is perfect. When I was a child, Christmas could never come fast enough. In fact, after Thanksgiving, it seemed like the days leading up to Christmas passed slower than any other days in the year. People even had an expression for when things were delayed during the year – they would say, “it’s as slow as Christmas.”
We all knew Christmas would come on December 25th but, it still seemed like forever. But imagine if you never had a specific date to look forward to. That’s the way the Jewish people felt for many generations. Every year at the end of the Passover meal, they would proclaim, “Maybe next year in Jerusalem” as a hope that the Messiah might come the following year. But God’s timing for the arrival of Messiah on that first Christmas morning was perfect – “in the fulness of time….”
Let’s look at this verse in Galatians 4 and what it means for us this Christmas. Galatians 4:4-5 says: “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”
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