What About The Cross?

 
  The account of the last week of Jesus’ life is profoundly moving to those who read it.  The details of the events that take place are complex, and every moment is of great importance.  There are no insignificant actions and there are no unimportant words.  Anyone who reads the account, without a previous bias, must find it impossible to regard it as just another fictional story.  For even those who might approach it with skepticism, there is such an appealing testimony of the evidence, that it leads many to "doubt their doubts".
Consider just a few of the obvious details:
  Jesus, the friend of the friendless, was betrayed by a friend.  He had just dipped his hand in the same Passover dish with Judas before Judas immediately rose and left the group.  Judas went out, and it was dark. Very dark. Such a dark moment in history it was.
  It is doubtless that many of those whom Jesus had healed, or fed miraculously, were in the crowd that saw him crucified.
  He who had never ridiculed any man, was subject to intense ridicule by men who were themselves rough and cruel.
  He was given vinegar and gall to drink when he was thirsty - although he had offered living water to an outcast.
  Many of the same people who had hailed him as king on Sunday, were there when he was crucified within the same week.  We read that the crowd chanted, "crucify him, crucify him!"  We do not read that any in the crowd cried, "release him, release him!".   Pilate, the Roman governor, asked, "why?!  What evil has he done!?"  The crowd cried louder. The vote was not even close. There is no record of dissent.
  The one who was innocent was the one who was in the center between two known, and self-proclaimed, thieves.  They proclaimed their own guilt, while at the same time proclaiming Jesus’ innocence.  They knew the score.  Yet Jesus, being in the middle, was promoted as the worst of the three.
  One of the thieves who was guilty, and knew he was guilty, complained of his own deserved judgment.  Jesus, who was innocent, and knew he was innocent, forgave his accusers.


  Having started to consider this marvel of grace, I invite you to read for yourself the four accounts of his betrayal, sentencing, ridicule, and crucifixion in the gospels.  It is impossible to even think of writing in a blog the full account of the crucifixion and the resurrection and include the pathos in its detail.  Simply read what is written for yourselves.  I encourage you and challenge you.  Put the facts together. Consider the details.


Then we might ask ourselves some questions:
  You may ask yourself the question -- "if this is just a story, WHY would anyone make up a story like this?"
  Or further -- "If this is not true, then how did it remain a preserved account of fiction (so-called) for two millennia?" "If it were not true, and if it is simply a fable, why has it remained guarded, sacred, and unchanged?"
  Or try to answer the question in your own mind --  "If it is not true than why didn't it simply fade away as all other fiction or gossip or false advertising?"
  Ask yourself -- "Why has this account moved so many millions to weep, and to identify with Jesus, and share in it, as though we were somehow personally involved... we who live in such a distant time and place?" "How is it that this singular life in history still calls and draws people from every nation, language, color, and experience to Himself and we still respond?"  We are still drawn to this solitary life. We still walk in His steps.
  It simply IS true.  And we WERE involved.  We ARE involved.  It is the most horrific, yet the most glorious, event in history.  Heaven trembled and the sky darkened.  The earth heaved and shook in shame.  Graves opened and dead men walked.  They testified to the fact that THIS ONE, who had just died, would forever change the region of death and even the realm beyond.
  No other sinless One has ever lived.  No other sinless One has ever come with the sole purpose to live and give, to suffer and die.  It is the most powerful event in history and its effect reaches beyond the realm of time.  It reaches into the "forever of each and every one of us". 
  The cross on Calvary’s hill is the axis upon which the world turns.


  I have more questions in my mind:
  “If this account is not true, then how is it that so much effort and energy is expended on trying to prove it to be false?  Why would those who refuse to believe it, spend so much time and effort to dismiss it?  Why not just ignore it?  Why not just ignore those who are called Christians and let them (us) do their (our) thing?"  It appears to me that the antagonism against Christianity is one of the greatest testimonies to the truth of the birth, life, ministry, crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection, ascension and imminent return of Jesus Christ.  We are well beyond the time when we can ignore the antagonism of the spirit of "anti-Christ" in our present world and in our society and even in our neighborhoods today.


  If the cross of Jesus Christ was fiction or a non-event;
  If the resurrection of Jesus Christ was make-believe or wishful thinking;
  If the outpouring of the spirit of God on the day of Pentecost was an easily explained and isolated phenomenon;
  If Jesus' followers after his death were willing to also die for him, and yet the testimony they held is somehow a contrived story;
  If it is all fiction;  THEN why the contention and the continuous challenge to those who still choose to follow Jesus Christ?


  No, this is not a made up story. It is the factual account of the outpouring of grace from God to man. You and I are the reason for it all.  Those who refuse it will never be truly able to dismiss any event of the Bible as fiction or fable.


  WE . . . each and every one of us. . .believe it or not. . . will ever be forced to reconcile ourselves to the ONE who is the central character of it all.  Jesus Christ.  The Lord of Glory.  The Only Redeemer Ever.  The Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.  The perfect sacrifice.


  His life was not taken from him.  It was given by Him for our sakes.  Nothing!  no "reason", no explanation,  no wishful thinking,  can ever take away the truth of the greatest sacrifice the world will ever know.
  The cross on Calvary's mountain -- where the Only Saviour Ever gave Himself for the sin of all mankind -- will never be explained away.  Nor will it ever be possible to explain away the resurrection.  Nor will it ever be possible to pry the hope of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ from the hearts of those who have met Him in the kindness of his ministry, in the passion and fellowship of his suffering, in the glory of his resurrection, and in the joy of his salvation.


No one can remove the assurance of salvation from the soul that has tasted of this heavenly gift.