The Cross: Destination or Destiny?
Easter is upon us again within a few weeks. I know that the sermons preached will be centered on the Cross and Resurrection. I think that Easter is bigger than Christmas as far as significance to the Gospel. Now I realize that if Christmas doesn’t happen, the Easter will never be.
I would like to talk about the Cross. The Calvary Cross that bore the body of Jesus the Son of God. The Cross was necessary because Jesus the Lamb of God would be sacrificed for the forgiveness and remission of sins. In the Old Testament the sins of mankind were covered over, but in the New Testament the sins of mankind were dealt with and removed as far as east from the west and remembered no more.
When Jesus entered into the city with the praise as singing of the crowds. But it didn’t last long with the religious leaders turning their ire against Jesus. After the mock trials and the hypocritical actions of the Jews, Jesus is scourged and sentenced to be crucified on the cross. Jesus was made to carry His cross down what is the Via Delarosa. There is the point where Simon of Cyrene is made carry Jesus’ cross. At some point Jesus was able to look and see Mount Calvary or known as Golgotha the place of the skull. When Jesus sees Calvary, He must have been relieved. Jesus came to seek and to save the Lost. His mission was to be the Savior, the Lamb that would be the ultimate vicarious sacrifice for man’s sin. Here is the amazing point I’d like to make, the same Mount that Jesus died on was the same Mount that Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22 episode occurred, it was then called Mount Moriah. Except this time there wasn’t a ram caught in the thicket.
As Jesus looked and saw the Place of the Skull, I think that there was relief. Jesus was meant to go to the Cross, that is a destination, but it was not a destiny. Jesus ultimate destiny was to be seated at the right hand of the Father, on the Throne of David.
When Jesus gets to Calvary, Jesus knew that He had to endure the Cross. Savior came first then King of Kings and Lord of Lords as the exalted Lamb of God.
I know this may sound a bit farfetched but thinking about “Good Friday” and all the sorrow and pain attached to it, I think we miss the Jesus’ perspective. Hebrews 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. As absurd as that sounds, Jesus seeing the Cross before Him rejoiced that He accomplished what the Father had sent Him to do.
The Gospel would be written because Jesus “gave His life so that mankind could be saved. The Cross was always the plan, even before the foundation of the world. The Son would be sent and the Son would be able to say “It is Finished!” What joy there is in the Cross for Jesus, but for us also. For the Cross is the atonement for our sins! We are cleansed and forgiven because the Cross and the spilled blood of Jesus is effective for removing the enmity and restoring fellowship with the Father. Praise God for the Son who bore our sins and made us to be join heirs with Him through Faith!
preachbetweenthelines 