THE WOUNDS OF LOVE (JOHN 19:17)
Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). (John 19:17)
The parents of a ten-year old public school boy who was failing fifth grade math decided to enroll their son in a private Catholic school after exhausting all methods. The youngster stormed home the first day of school, walked right past them, charged straight to his room and locked the door. Two hours later, he emerged for a quick meal, announced that he was studying and poured through the books until bedtime.
This pattern continued until the end of the first quarter. After school, the boy walked home with his report card, dropped the envelope on the family dinner table and went straight to his room. His parents cautiously opened the letter, saw a bright red “A” under the subject “MATH,” and rushed excitedly into their son’s room!
“Was it the nuns?” the father asked. The boy only shook his head and said, “No.” “Was it the one-on-one tutoring? Peer-mentoring?” asked the mother. Again, the boy shrugged, “No.” “The textbooks? The teacher? The curriculum?” asked the father. “No, no, no,” the son replied, and finally spoke up: “From the very first day of school, I knew that these folks were serious about math. When I walked into the lobby and saw a guy nailed to the PLUS sign, I knew they meant business!”
Calvin Miller said, “One cannot even begin to understand the life of Christ without understanding His death.”
Jesus, the original cross-bearer, was a model of humility and obedience in the face of death (Phil 2:8-9). He endured the cross, scorning its shame, enduring such opposition from sinful men, so that we will not grow weary and lose heart (Heb 12:2-3).
John 19:17 has been a thorn for skeptics who argue that the Bible contradicted itself. The synoptic gospels -– Matthew, Mark, and Luke – record that Simon the Cyrene carried Jesus’ cross, but John asserts that Jesus Himself was the cross-bearer. The complication can be easily solved. The traditional theory was that Jesus carried the cross to the country, and Simon took over from there to Golgotha. A student from my Sunday school class cleverly suggested that Simon might have held the lower end of the long cross that the Lord was carrying!
What kind of suffering did Jesus endure? What did He accomplish on the cross? Why did a blameless man submit himself to such a horrible death?
The Cross is a Long and Lonely Endurance of Shame
The “cross” is essentially and enduringly associated with Jesus Christ. It is the cross of Jesus (John 19:25), the cross of Christ (1 Cor 1:17, Gal 6:12, Phil 3:18) and the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Gal 6:14).
A pastor shared his experience of witnessing to a Jewish man. When the minister attempted to share about the death of Jesus on a cross, the man rebuffed him with these words: “Why do I want to believe in someone who is cursed by hanging on a tree?”
The suffering at the cross was a long and lonely endurance of shame for our Savior. Cicero, the great Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar and writer who lived from 106 BC to 43 BC, had a strong opinion about the crucifixion: “It was the most cruel and shameful of all punishments. Let it never come near the body of a Roman citizen.”
Jesus, as a Jew, suffered the worst humiliation possible. He carried on our behalf the stigma and the sentence of a curse. The Mosaic law said, “Anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse” (Deut 21:23). It was not just the ridicule, the laughter and the torment He endured, but the curse of the law, suffering religious, ceremonial and social exclusion and discrimination.
All through his three short years of public ministry, from the moment Jesus preached about the sin of man, the need for repentance and the forgiveness of God, he was prepared himself for a life of infamy, rejection and anguish. The cross was an offense (Gal 5:11); it meant persecution (Gal 5:11, 6:12), shame and opposition (Heb 12:2-3). John, in a terse, uneasy and overlooked verse, recorded Jesus’ failed attempt to carry the cross by himself. No wonder Matthew (27:32-34), Mark (15:21-23) and Luke (23:26-32) presented the longer version, featuring a healthier, fitter and stronger Simon the Cyrene as assistant.
Jesus endured the spectacle from the Jerusalem to Golgotha, commonly known as the place of the skull. The nearest city, Bethany, was less than two miles from Jerusalem (John 11:18). Since Jesus carried the cross from Jerusalem to its boundaries, where he met Simon the Cyrene coming in from the country (Mark 15:21, Luke 23:26), a safe estimate of the lonely march would be about a mile. It was the longest mile, the bleakest day and the harshest experience of our Lord. His disciples had abandoned him, his mother was grieving him and his enemies, the skeptics and religious leaders were taunting and ridiculing him.
A harmony of the four gospel accounts reveals that four principle groups of tormentors gleefully added injury to his wounds. First, the bystanders struck him with their fists (Mk 14:65); next, the guards took him and beat him (Mk 14:65); later, Pilate had him flogged (Mt 27:26, Mk 15:15) and finally the soldiers struck his head again and again with a staff (Mt 27:30, Mk 15:19).
Consequently Jesus swayed, stalled, shivered, swooned, sweated, staggered, struggled and stumbled on the way to his death; often he paused, exhaled and kneeled, at the same time shuffling his feet, dragging both feet and cutting his feet. No wonder he was called the Man of Sorrows (Isa 53:3).
The Cross is a Lawless and Loathsome Exit to Death
Roy Hession compares Jesus’ treatment to that of a worm’s fate. He said, “The snake rears itself up and hisses and strikes back – a true picture of self. But a worm offers no resistance, it allows you to do what you like with it, kick it or squash it under your heel – a picture of true brokenness. Jesus was willing to become just that for us – a worm and not man.” (The Book of Jesus, ed. Calvin Miller p. 221).
Today’s criminals, prisoners and suspects have human rights, lawyers provided and due process. They are presumed innocent until proven guilty, are given the benefit of doubt and are released for false imprisonment. Some inmates can enjoy TV behind bars, some can study for a degree, others can write a tell-all autobiography or make lucrative movie deals and a few have been known to have posed for and profited from clothing companies.
The cross has none of the benefits. It was a lawless and loathsome conspiracy. The trial was unjust, the court was unqualified and the appeal was unheeded. It was a sham - a mob atmosphere, a kangaroo court and a foregone conclusion. Pilate’s four no’s in his three speeches weakly but ineffectively exonerated Jesus. To the chief priests and the crowd, Pilate stated unequivocally the first time, “I find no basis for a charge against this man” (Luke 23:4). Greek has “no” first before the rest of the statement - “No I find fault in this man.” Then with the rulers present, Pilate announced Herod’s verdict, twice using “no” or “nothing” in his second speech: “I have examined him in your presence and have found ‘no’ basis for your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done ‘nothing’ to deserve death” (Lk 23: 14-15). Pialte’s fourth “no” was in his third finding: “For the third time he spoke to them: ‘Why? What crime has this man committed?’ I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty” (Lk 23:22).
Jesus Christ was not an errant criminal, a dangerous man or a political revolutionary to be treated as such. He was a carpenter’s son who loved, healed, and forgave, but he was crucified with sinners, lawbreakers and enemies of the state. He was the pure and holy Son of God, the spotless Lamb of God, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Sadly, in the end Pilate acted as the judge, the jury, and the law to convict Jesus.
Jesus did not deserve death, yet he carried the heavy, long and wobbly cross vicariously. Isaiah 53:7 says, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” He was hurt by the spikes, splinters and scourging, but He bit his lips, numbed his pain and endured the shame of a common criminal.
So the cross is a symbol of death and life, senseless to those who perish, but salvation to those who believe (Rom 1:16, 1 Cor 1:18).
The Cross is a Loving and Legitimate Extension of Forgiveness
Hudson Taylor, the great 19th century missionary to China, suffered many setbacks in China, experienced great doubts and was often persuaded by friends to leave China. He was sick much of his life, he lost his wife and third child to cholera there, but he reiterated the 30 years he was there: “I never made a sacrifice.”
When the missionary first arrived in China, he needed $25 to study Chinese and $75 for a Chinese dictionary, money he could not afford. He only had the gospel of Luke in Chinese, but he patiently compared brief verses with their equivalent in English to compile a dictionary, beginning from the 600 Chinese characters he discovered in Luke.
Taylor wrote home and comforted his worried mother: “Think, mother, of 12 million souls, yes, 12 million in China every year, passing without God, and without hope into eternity. Would you not give up all for Jesus Christ who died for you?” (Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret, 31).
Jesus’ death was not an accident; he was not a victim but a sacrifice - to save and forgive (1 Cor 1:18) and to reconcile man to God (Eph 2:16, Col 1:20). He said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). Note the same word for Judas’ “betrayal” (Matt 26:25 Luke 22:48) also argues for the flip side that He was “delivered” over to death for our sins ((Rom 4:25), that God “gave up” his own Son for us (Rom 8:32), the Son of God loved me and “gave” himself for us (Gal 2:20-21, Eph 5:25).
Further, Jesus himself dipped a piece of bread in the dish and handed it to Judas (Jn 13:26). Jesus needed no prodding to carry his own cross. And in the end, Jesus, on his own accord, bowed his head and gave up his spirit (Mt 27:50, Jn 19:30). He said, “I lay down my life-only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again” (John 10:17-18).
Jesus Christ carried the sins of the world when he carried the cross. He has forgiven the weight of our offense, disarmed all powers and authorities (Col 2:15) and nailed it to the cross there.
Conclusion: Martin Luther said, “If one thorn pierced Christ, you deserve a hundred thousand.” Are you tired of the load of your of your sin? Have you laid your burdens down to the One who has carried the sins and sorrows of the world upon His shoulders? He will save you (Ps. 20:6), sustain you (Ps 18:35) and steer you in the right direction (Ps 139:10). Jesus Christ is able to sympathize with your weaknesses (Heb 4:15-16), will help you when you when you are tempted (Heb 2:18-3:1). Just cling to Him, hold tight, sit back and rest in Him. Won’t you come, hurry and run to the cross?
Victor Yap
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