The Cross

Well, this past week and a bit, I've been reading through the Gospel of Mark.

And I was amazed again at just how quickly Mark takes us from the beginning,

where it all started at Jesus' baptism, to the cross.

It's almost like you can sense the cross looming the whole way through.

In one particular moment, Peter, one of Jesus' disciples,

comes to that wonderful moment of declaring what he believes about Jesus.

Mark 8, verse 29, he says,

Mark 8:29

You are the Messiah.

How exciting!

You are God's chosen king, promised and prophesied long ago.

And how does Jesus respond to Peter?

Peter, Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things

and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law,

and that he must be killed.

And after three days, rise again.

Just when the excitement was likely flooding Peter's heart,

you are the king that we've long been waiting for.

Jesus almost seems to snuff it out with these foreboding words.

Yes, but first, the cross.

First, I must suffer, be rejected, and die.

He spoke plainly about this,

and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples,

he rebuked Peter.

Get behind me, Satan, he said.

You do not have in mind the concerns of God,

but merely human concerns.

It's as if Peter's saying,

no, no, Jesus, you mustn't say such things.

You mustn't talk like this.

Let's not talk of suffering or rejection or failure here.

But Jesus responds very strongly,

no, Peter, stop it.

You're wrong.

You do not have in mind the concerns of God,

but merely human concerns.

I got thinking about those words this week.

Peter's expressing the human concerns.

No, you're not going to die.

May it never be.

Don't even talk like this, Jesus.

You're the Messiah.

May you live and reign forever.

However, these are the human concerns.

But God has his concerns in all this.

God has his things that he wants to accomplish here.

Things that he wants to do for his people,

for you, for me.

And those things that he wants to do requires the suffering,

the rejection,

and the death of his dear son first.

The cross looms over Jesus here and now.

Jesus is the Messiah.

He is the king.

Yes.

He is the son of man who, a few verses down,

will come in his father's glory with the holy angels.

Yes.

But first, the cross.

Not long after this moment,

six days later to be exact,

we catch a glimpse of the glory that Jesus will come with at the end.

Or rather, Peter, James, and John do,

as they see Jesus transfigured on the mountain.

A beautiful, even if brief, foretaste

of who Jesus is

and what he will be when he returns.

But then again, not too long after that,

they are traveling the back roads with Jesus through Galilee

and hearing him say this

in Mark chapter 9, 31 and 32.

Mark 9 · chapter mention

The son of man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.

They will kill him.

And after three days, he will rise again.

But they did not understand what he meant

and were afraid to ask him about it.

The cross looms over Jesus here too,

holding back for now the wonder and the joy

of what they saw up on the mountain

when his face shone gloriously before them.

Well, finally, Jesus and his company

begin their journey up to Jerusalem for the last time.

Mark chapter 10, verse 32.

Mark 10:32

They were on their way up to Jerusalem

with Jesus leading the way.

And the disciples were astonished

while those who followed were afraid.

Again, he took the 12 aside

and told them what was going to happen to him.

We are going up to Jerusalem, he said,

and the son of man will be delivered over

to the chief priests and the teachers of the law.

They will condemn him to death

and will hand him over to the Gentiles

who will mock him

and spit on him,

flog him,

and kill him.

Three days later,

he will rise.

The cross looms over Jesus here as well.

Jesus knew it was coming.

He even knew the details beforehand.

He would be delivered over to the chief priests

and the teachers of the law.

They would condemn him to death

and would hand him over to the Romans,

the Gentiles.

The Roman soldiers would mock him

and spit on him,

flog him,

and kill him.

And yet Jesus marches on

to Jericho,

then to Bethphagia,

then to Bethany.

And finally,

he rides right into the city of Jerusalem

on a colt.

And at first,

all seems quite well.

The crowd with him

makes quite the noise.

Hosanna!

Blessed is he who comes

in the name of the Lord.

Blessed is the coming kingdom

of our father David,

they shout.

Hosanna!

Hosanna!

In the highest heaven!

It was quite the procession.

But it wasn't long

before the excitement

of this procession

gave way

to these somber words

of Jesus

at the Passover meal

later that week.

While they were reclining

at the table,

eating,

he said,

truly,

I tell you,

one of you

will betray me.

One who is eating

with me.

They were saddened

and one by one

they said to him,

surely you don't mean me.

It is one of the twelve,

he replied,

one who dips bread

into the bowl

with me.

The Son of Man

will go

just as it is written

about him.

But woe to that man

who betrays

the Son of Man.

it would be better

for him

if he had not been born.

While they were eating,

Jesus took bread

and when he had given

thanks,

he broke it

and gave it to them

saying,

take it.

This

is my body.

then he took

a cup

and when he had

given thanks,

he gave it to them

and they all

drank from it.

This is my

blood

of the covenant

which is poured

out for many,

he said to them.

Truly,

I tell you,

I will not

drink again

from the fruit

of the vine

until that day

when I drink it

new

in the kingdom

of God.

Here again,

here at the table

with his disciples,

the cross

looms

over Jesus.

The Son of Man

will go

just as it is

written

about him.

I will be

betrayed.

I will die,

says Jesus.

My body

will be broken.

My blood

poured out.

But there's

a reason

it must

go this way.

My death

has a great

purpose

and it's

to secure

a covenant

between God

and many.

To broker

an arrangement,

I will die.

To see to it

that the promises

of God

are kept

to many.

To you.

To me.

My blood

will be poured

out.

Even here

at the table,

Jesus reminds

them,

as he did

time and time

again,

I will rise

again.

But I wonder

if they heard it

that night.

there will

come a day

when I drink

this cup

with you

again

in the

kingdom of

God.

But first,

the cross.

And just as

Jesus had told

them these four

times,

so it went.

He was

betrayed.

He was

delivered over

to the chief

priests

and the teachers

of the law

by Judas,

one of the

twelve.

He was

condemned to

death by

the chief

priests and

the teachers

of the law,

handed over

to the

Gentiles,

the Romans,

and was

mocked by

the soldiers,

spit on,

flogged,

and finally

crucified,

executed as

though he

were a

criminal.

But you

know,

without

Jesus'

suffering

and death,

we'd all

be lost.

We'd have

no hope.

There would

be no

new covenant.

There would

be no

better

arrangement

with God

to be had.

No

forgiveness.

We would

all get

just what

we deserve

from God,

each of

us,

for our

sins.

We could

have no

Messiah

and no

king,

without

first

having

a

cross.

There

came a

moment

before

Jesus

was

handed

over

in the

garden

when he

was

praying

and

pouring

out

his

heart

to

the

father.

In

the

garden,

Mark

tells

us

that

he

fell

to

the

ground

and

prayed

that

if

it

was

possible

the

hour

might

pass

from

him.

Abba,

father,

everything

is

possible

for

you.

Take

this

cup

from

me.

Yet

not

what

I

will,

but

what

you

will.

The

suffering

and the

agony

of

Jesus

on

the

cross

was

horrible

and

Jesus

knew

it

would

be.

But

unlike

Peter,

he

had

in

his

mind

and

in

his

heart

the

concerns

of

God

and

not

just

the

concerns

of

men.

He

prayed,

not

my

will,

but

what

you

will

be

done.

He

bent

his

will

to

the

fathers.

He

submitted

his

wants

and

desires

to

the

fathers

and

he

chose

to

do

what

was

needed,

what

was

required

for

our

salvation,

for

the

salvation

of

his

friends,

the

disciples,

and

for

all

who

would

repent

and

believe

in

him.

And

then

he

went

through

with

it.

He

suffered

and

died.

Do

you

know

that

God

has

you

in

his

concerns?

Do

you

know

that

Jesus

has

you

in

his

heart?

That

both

father

and

son

love

you

like

nobody

in

this

world

ever

could.

Week

after week

as I

read my

Bible,

I see

again

just how

far

short

I fall

of God's

holy and

perfect

standard.

I

see my

own

sins

glaring

but

the

cross

of our

Savior

Jesus

does

for me

what I

can't

do

for

myself.

It

gives me

forgiveness,

hope,

the

guarantee

of all

that God

has

promised

for his

people.

Eternal

life

and

citizenship

in this

glorious

kingdom of

God

that will

soon

break

forth

upon

our

world.

This is

what we

remember

when we

come to

the

Lord's

table

and

pass

out

the

bread

and

the

cup.

We

remember

the

love

of

our

Lord.

We

remember

the

mercy

of

God.

We

remember

the

cross

that

came

before

the

crown

and

saved

us

forever.

if you

believe

this

with

all

your

heart

this

table

is

for

you.

And

in

these

next

moments

as we

pass

out

the

elements

and

partake

I

invite

you

to

partake

with

us

if

this

is

your

faith.

If

it's

not

if

you're

not

sure

I

would

ask

that

you

would

abstain.

we'll

wait

until

everyone

has

been

served

and

once

we

all

have

been

served

we'll

partake

together

in

unison.

Take

the

next

few

minutes

to

pray

quietly

and

to

reflect

on

what

the

Lord

Jesus

has

done

for

us.

O

O

O

O

O

O

O

O

O

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for going to the cross for us, for suffering what you did for us, for our sins to be forgiven.

We are so grateful and we love you.

We do this in remembrance of you.

Amen.

Amen.

I'll invite you to remain seated for this next song.

Amen.

And now I am happy all the day.

When I surveyed the wondrous cross, on which the Prince of glory died.

My riches, I count, I count, but loss.

My riches gain, I count, but loss.

I count, but loss, and poor contempt on all my pride.

And poor contempt on all my pride.

flow, and poor, and poor, and poor, and poor.

Did there's such love and sorrow mean.

me

poor thorns

composed

so rich

a crown

the cross

but we all know

that's not the end of the story is it

Mark 8 31

and after three days

rise again

Mark 9 31

and after three days he will rise

Mark 10 34

three days later

the son of man will rise

said Jesus

and to Peter and his disciples

Mark 14 28

but after I have risen

I will go ahead of you into Galilee

even before

Jesus went to the cross he knew it wouldn't

be over there

his body which was broken

for us was laid in the tomb

but three days later

he did rise

the tomb was empty

you are looking for

Jesus the Nazarene who was crucified

said the angel to the women

at the tomb

early Sunday morning

he is risen

he is not here

see the place where they laid him

but go

tell his disciples

and Peter

he is going ahead of you

into Galilee

there you will see him

just as he told you

this is not a fateful tragedy

that we mark with

bread and cup

but a glorious

victory

so I invite you to stand

and we'll continue

singing praise

to our risen Lord

ha