At The Cross

At the Cross

Luke 23:32-43

Good Morning everyone-

We are glad that you have joined us this morning and I invite you to open your bibles to John 12 and then Luke 23:32-43

We have been in a study of the final week of Jesus ministry where He goes to the cross and his resurrection celebration on Easter Sunday.

I think if we are not careful we can miss some of the lesson Jesus taught to his disciples and to us.

We started the study looking at Jesus leading prayer at the garden of Gethsemene. Jesus was there wanting his disciples to be praying while He was spending time talking to the Father. His disciples lost focus and tired physically and numerous times fell asleep while they should have been praying.

You remember – the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

Jesus continuously is looking for those that are not asleep at the wheel and desire to do kingdom work.

Last week we looked at Humble Jesus washing the disciple’s feet.

It seems like a job for anyone else but the savior but here is Jesus washing the dirty feet of his disciples to show us his humility and his focus on doing what the Heavenly Father wants done.

Remember the talk between Jesus and Peter?

John 13:6- “He came to peter, who said to him, Lord are you going to wash my feet?”

Jesus rebuke Peter- “unless I wash your feet Peter, you have no part of me.”

Jesus spoke these word to them all- “you don’t realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

Jesus was always teaching his disciples something and He teaches us today-

He taught us prayer at Gethsemene.

He taught us to be humble and not think too much of ourselves as he washed the feet of his disciples.

John 12:1-8 read from Bible slowly

He teaches us that the perfume Mary poured out and put on Jesus was not about the poor getting and the rich giving but about Jesus fulfilling his task of going to the cross.

Preparing Jesus for the cross and burial and resurrection.

Sermon title “At the Cross” We will look at the cross to see what Jesus has done for us and provided for us. It will conclude as we look at Palm

Sunday as Jesus enters Jerusalem and the empty tomb and His resurrection on Easter Morning.

The most common religious symbol in the western world is the cross.

Crosses on churches/ though not all churches preach salvation

Crosses on jewelry/worn by people that have no relationship with Jesus

Athletes blessing themselves before an event while holding a cross.

Pointing into the sky and you wonder who they are giving praise too

I want you to understand that during the time of Jesus that a cross was a symbol of shame, embarrassment, and a symbol of terror.

No Roman would wear a cross around his/her neck.

Romans used it as a very painful way to execute someone, so bad that no Roman citizen could be executed that way. It was reserved for slaves, robbers, rebels, and assassins.

To Romans to die on the cross would represent the worse way to die.

Luke 23:32-43 read from Bible slowly

What does the cross mean to you?

It was not always a sign of being a Christian. If fact, no Roman citizen ever pictured the cross as being religious.

It was not until Constantine in the 4th century adapted it as a religious sign. It was his good luck charm. He also had it put on his soldiers shield.

What does it mean to you personally?

Good luck charm?

Kissing it like a blessed symbol of God’s protection?

What it means to you will determine how you live your life.

How you picture Jesus on or off the cross influences how you live your life.

On the cross- The man Jesus who suffered and died- story unfinished.

Off the cross- The God/Man Jesus who suffered and died and was resurrected.

Two thieves, both criminals, hung on a cross aside of each other and Jesus.

One hurled insults- “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us”!

The other rebuked him- “Don’t you fear God?

(42) Then he said, “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

The eternal words of Jesus that changed his life forever- “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

According to Roman culture it may be a shameful way of dying, but to a believer what Jesus did on that cross was a symbol of life, love and forgiveness.

The God of the universe, the maker of heaven and earth, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the one that was before time died on that cross to find us and to rescue us. If that is not love, I don’t know what love is.