The Paradox of the Cross
I. Introduction
Today, we will begin a series of messages concerning a topic that is absolutely critical to our faith. It is a topic that is sometimes a source of confusion and disbelief as well as comfort and inspiration. To some this topic is no big deal while there are others who go too far in the opposite direction. They can easily neglect other tenets of faith because of the elevated importance they give to this topic. Surprisingly, it is popular—in a relative sort of way—with non-believers as well as believers.
Actually, what we will be dealing with is more a symbol than a topic. This symbol is present here this morning and there is perhaps an 80% chance that in one form or another you will see it somewhere else today. However, because its appearance is so commonplace, it is easily overlooked as anything important, let alone sacred.
This symbol has taken many forms over the years. And in different ages, there have been those who have used it to give unjust credence to their immoral and illegal actions. It was a symbol of misguided zeal in the dark ages. A sign of perverse arrogance since the 1930s and ‘40s and a blasphemous symbol of racial injustice in the history of our own country.
Our topic for the next few weeks will be THE CROSS!
II. Transition
By a show of hands, is there anyone this morning who is wearing a piece of jewelry with a cross on it? Look around when you are out and about. You may be surprised at the number of different places you will see a cross. Certainly on churches and other religious items, but also around the necks of those who have no relationship with Christ. You will see it in homes and even businesses of the saved and unsaved alike. You will see it hanging from rear-view mirrors. In fact, you will see it so much that you may conclude it is viewed more like a good luck charm than the sacred symbol that it is.
Obviously, the cross is a symbol of the death of Jesus. The act that made it possible for our sins to be forgiven and for us to have a restored relationship with God. There are many ideas connected to the cross in Scripture. That’s what we will look at over the next few weeks. Today, we will consider THE PARADOX OF THE CROSS.
III. Text—Matthew 16:24-26
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”
IV. Prayer
V. The Paradox of the Cross
A. Definition of Paradox—a seemingly contradictory statement that expresses a possible truth
B. Examples of paradox
1. Love hurts
2. Money is worthless
3. Less is more
4. You have to spend money to make money
5. A paradox is sometimes closely related to an oxymoron
a. a word, statement or phrase that is seemingly contradictory
b. Examples
(1) Almost exactly
(2) Authentic replica
(3) Clean fill dirt
(4) Cold sweat
(5) Freezer burn
(6) Friendly fire
(7) Hard water
(8) Jumbo shrimp
(9) Liquid gas
(10) Near miss
(11) Pretty ugly
(12) Same difference
6. REMINDER: A paradox is a seemingly contradictory statement that expresses a possible truth. With that in mind, let’s look at…
C. The Meaning of the cross in Jesus’ time
1. The cross was an instrument of public torture and death reserved for the worst offenders of the law.
2. Before being bound to the cross with ropes, nails or both, the offender would undergo preparatory punishment—often a beating that could cause death on its own.
3. The Romans would then have the individual carry their own cross to the place of execution.
4. After the cross was raised in its public position, death rarely took place within 36 hours. That means an individual was left to suffer..
a. Mockery
b. The elements
c. Pests
d. Fatigue
e. Exhaustion
f. Suffocation
5. If death did not take place soon enough, the legs would be broken so as to prevent the criminal from pushing up to get a breath.
6. D.G Burke writes in THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPEDIA, “Conventional and widespread use of the cross as a common Christian symbol makes it difficult for contemporary readers to sense the harsh reality that underlies this [act. However]…any audience in the Greek-speaking world would have known immediately that…Christ had suffered an especially agonizing and humiliating death.”
7. Billy Graham helps us understand what Jesus faced: “When Jesus said, "if you are going to follow me, you have to take up a cross," it was the same as saying, "Come and bring your electric chair with you. Take up the gas chamber and follow me." He did not have a beautiful gold cross in mind—the cross on a church steeple or on the front of your Bible. Jesus had in mind a place of execution.”
D. The meaning of the cross in our time
1. "At the very heart of the Christian gospel is a cross—the symbol of suffering and sacrifice, of hurt and pain and humiliation and rejection.”
2. Jesus presented his disciples and us with a great paradox.
a. If you want to live, you must die.
b. If you want to save your life, you must lose it.
3. In Jesus’ paradox, the cross is not an instrument of torture. However, that is exactly how many people see it.
a. If you believe in that whole Christianity nonsense, you must be emotionally weak and intellectually deficient.
b. How do you ever have fun with all of those rules?
c. Christianity keeps people in their place so they can’t think for themselves. Questions aren’t allowed.
d. In defense of those who would see the symbol of the cross as a tortuous thing, I must admit that there are many Christians who have done a lot to perpetuate that notion. They have done so…
(1) By being hypocritical
(2) By being judgmental and uncaring
(3) By being closed-minded and callous
(4) By being bitter and contentious.
4. In Jesus’ paradox, the cross is an instrument of death
a. If you really want to know what living is all about you have to die.
(1) This runs in direct opposition to the message of our culture. If you want to know what living is all about…live by your own rules.
(2) What does it mean that I have to die?
i. It does NOT mean physical death. Jesus is speaking in spiritual terms.
ii. Jesus gives us a clue when he says we must deny ourselves. This involves…
Saying no to our selfish egos
Giving up selfish ambition
Being prepared to suffer for Christ
The Apostle Paul wrote, “I die daily!”
iii. Remember the savagery of the cross? That is a depiction of the death of self. It is a difficult thing but not impossible.
Thomas a Kempis wrote in THE IMITATION OF CHRIST, “Jesus has many lovers of his kingdom, but few bearers of his cross.”
People want the benefits without paying the price
This morning we sang “When the battle’s over we shall wear a crown”. Let me tell you that there is no crown without there first being a cross.
• Don’t be mistaken. Your cross is NOT some difficulty that you will live with until you die.
• Your cross is not a mere inconvenience on the road of life.
• Your cross is the brutal death of what Paul calls the old man—that is the old nature. The part of us that is not interested in following the rules of God or anyone else.
• The old man does not die easily, but die he must.
• The ways of sin and selfishness must be rooted out of our lives.
Bruce Marchiano, and actor who portrayed Jesus in a video series titled Matthew, said “I believe every Christian should hang on a cross for at least thirty seconds. Their lives will never be the same.”
• The cross changes you forever.
• Did you hear me? The cross changes you. Nothing else. No one else. The message of the cross of Jesus Christ is the most radical agent for change the world has ever seen.
Paul wrote, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone the new has come.”
THE GOAL OF THIS DEATH IS THAT…
b. If you want to save your life in the end, you must lose it now. (Otherwise, in saving it now, you will lose it in the end).
(1) We need to have a view of the big picture. Life does not primarily revolve around the here and now—it’s the whole thing that counts.
(2) There are consequences to all of your actions.
i. Keep the end in sight.
ii. In teaching young people about abstinence, I would always ask them to remember the phrase, “Pleasure lasts a moment. A memory lasts a lifetime.”
VI. Transition
A paradox: a seemingly contradictory statement that expresses a possible truth. I love the words seemingly and possible in that definition. The reason is that they leave the ball in the court of the one confronted with the paradox. To find out the truth of dying to live one must try it for him/herself. It will not do to take anyone else’s word for it. If you want to find out if you really can save your life by losing it, you are the only one who can do it.
VII. Conclusion
Jesus gave us the paradox of the cross—that by dying we will truly live and that by losing our lives now, we will save them in the end. Now the ball is on our court, what will we do with it?
VIII. Transition: The time to respond is now.
IX. Response
There are those of us who need to die to issues of self and sin. This is your chance to come to the only place where such things are possible.
