Text - LUKE 23:33 - - "And when they were come to the place
which is cajled Calvary, there they c r u c i f i e d H i m . . . ."
Subject:
C A L V A R Y
No other word in our language is packed with mor^e/meani ng and is
filled with more passion than the word, Calvary. No other physical landmark
and no other geographical location in the whole universe is more
significant than the place which is called Calvary. Geographically,
although, the exact site is not known, it is generally accepted by prominent
theologians and scholars of the Bible, that Calvary is a hill or an
elevation on the outside of the city walls of Jerusalem. But no matter
where it is on the map, the significance of Calvary is centered around a
Maji and His Miss i on . The Man was Jesus and His Mi ss i on was to give Hi s
life for t be sins of a 11 mank1nd. Without Jesus' death on the cross, Calvary
is just another piece of real estate on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
But with the crucifixion of Christ upon that hill and with His precious
blood flowing down upon that elevation, Calvary becomes Holy Ground.
There is no wonder that the hymn-writer could say, "Lead me to Calvary."
Calvary is a reminder of what Jesus did for all mankind. Calvary
refreshes our memory concerning the events which accompanied His crucifixion.
Calvary causes us to reflect upon His pain and His suffering.
m
"Lest I forget Gethesemane,
Lest I forget Thine agony,
Lest I forget Thy love for me,
Lead me to to Calvary."
Calvary presents a picture of extreme opposites: It shows human
hatred reaching its lowest ebb, yet is shows Divine love soaring to its
highest peak. On one hand, Calvary shows what happens when evil lurks in
the mind of man, but on the other hand, it shows the abundance of love in
the heart of God. Calvary allows us to see Sin at its worst, but it also
allows us to see Sin at its worst, but it also allows us to see Grace at
its best. Yes, Calvary reminds us that we are wretched sinners, but is
also reminds us that Jesus is a loving Saviour.
The word Calvary is made up of seven letters and each one of the
letters represents a word which helps to tell the story of what happened
on that sacred hill.
Calvary begins with the letter "C" and that "C" represents the cross
upon which Christ was crucified. The cross was made of two heavy pieces
of wood which were fastened to each other. The vertical piece was approximately
ten to twelve feet long and the horizontal piece was six to eight
feel long. After a criminal had been condemned to die by crucifixion, He
bad to carry his own cross to the place where he was to be crucified.
Therefore, when Christ was condemned at Pilate's Hall, the cross was
?laced upon His shoulder and He had to carry it until the weight became
JO heavy that He fell to the the ground.
The Roman soldiers picked out Simon of Cyrene to carry it the rest
•>£ the way and when they reached the place called Calvary, they nailed
Him to that cross and dropped it into a hole which had already been dug.
So, the cross is synonymous with Calvary. When you think of one, you
think of the other. Had there been no cross, we would never have heard
of Calvary. The cross is our emblem. Countries have their flags; schools
have their seals; fraternal organizations have their pins; lodges have
their rings, but we, as Christians have our Cross.
On one hand, that Old Rugged cross is a emblem of suffering and
shaae, but on the other hand, it has a wondrous attraction for me. For
you see, it was on that old Rugged Cross that the dear Lamb of God, died
to pardon and sanctify me.
So that letter "C in the word Calvary represents the Cross. You can't
separate the two words. When you think about Calvary, your mind automatically
centers around the cross.
The next letter in the word Calvary is "A" and it represents Agony.
Agony means intense suffering and excruciating pain. Agony means mental
and physical torture. Now tell me, where else has there been more pain
and more suffering than on that hill called Calvary. The very thought of
Calvary suggests agony. Imagine the agony of having nails driven through
your hands and your feet! Imagine the agony of having a sword being
thrust into your side! Imagine the agony of having to listen to the insults
of the very people whom you came to save! Imagine the agony of
being completely innocent and being flanked on both sides by two convicted
criminals! Imagine the agony of hanging there on that cross and
knowing that physically, you have the power to come down, but because of
your commitment, you really can't come down! Imagine hanging there on
that cross and looking up, and for the first time in your life, you can't
see your Father's face and you have to cry out, "My God. My God, why hast
hou forsaken He?" 0. what agony that must have been?
7fhoever it was that came up with the idea of putting a person to
death by crucifixion, aust-have been the most sadistic-minded person in
'the whole world. Imagine the agony! Imagine the agony! Each passing moment
brought more severe pain. There were no sedatives, no t r anqui 1 i zer s
and no pain pills. The only thi.-j He could hope for was that death would
hurry up and take Him out o; His misery. You talk about agony; Jesus
could write the book on pain - you talk about agony; Jesus had to hang
there in that awkward position from nine in the morning until three in
the afternoon. For six long hours, a Man who had spent all of His life
d:ing good, suffered the most agonizing pain known to man.
So the "A" in Calvary, represents Agony.
Well, I'm sure you know that the "L" in Calvary represents Love.
Yes, the story of Calvary is a story of love. You Just can't think about
Calvary without thinking about love. "For God so 1 oved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son... ." "Greater love hath no man than this,
that a Man lay down His life for His friends."
0 yes, Calvary is a love story. We didn't deserve to be loved, but
Jesus loved us anyhow. We did not merit His love, but Jesus loved us in
Spite Of OUr SinfulnesS. ^Ve'were not loveable or e_at ur-es ; we were infected
witfc sin and broken out with iniquity, but despite our deplorable condition,
Jesus loved us just the same.
So t h e . story of Calvary is a s t o r y of love. It was not those nails
which held Jesus on that cross; it was love. It was not His i n a b i l i t y to
come down which kept Him h a n g i n g t h e r e ; it was love. It was not a sense
of obligation which caused Jesus to die for me; it was love.
"I was s i n k i n g deep in sin,
Far f r om the peaceful shore.
Very deeply stained w i t h i n ,
Sinking to rise no more.
But the Master of the sea,
Heard my d e s p a i r i n g cry.
From the waters l i f t e d me,
Now safe am I .
Love l i f t e d me.
Love lifted me.
When nothing else could help,
Love lifted me."
Yes, the letter "L" in Calvary stands for Love.
Then, next comes the "V", and that "V" represents Victory. Yes,
Calvary is a place where a great victory was won. Ah, I realize that to
some of those who stood around the cross, this hill called Calvary signified
a great defeat for a man whom they had falsely accused of being an
imposter and a blasphemer. Ah, when they saw Christ hanging there on
that cross, they said, we have finally defeated this Man who has been
such a painful thorn in our flesh. Ah, when the religious leaders who had
brought Jesus to trial...When the chief priest, the elders, the scribes,
the pharisees, the saducees and all the others who had joined their
forces to do away with Jesus; Yes, when they saw Him hanging there on
that cross, no doubt, they congratulated each other and gave each other
high 5's. They said, "We have finally defeated public enemy number one.
But little did they realize that what they considered to be a. defeat
was a great victory. Yes, Calvary was the site of a great victory.
Every drop of blood which ran down from His blessed side went into a precious
fountain. And don't you know that by the time He died, that fountain
was filled with blood, which had been drawn from Immanuel's veins.
And ever since that blessed day, sinners have been plunging beneath that
flood and they have been losing their guilty stain. That's a victory!
That'sI a vict ory!
When those four Roman soldiers picked up that cross and dropped it
into that hole in the ground and left Jesus suspended between Heaven &.
Earth, they were fulfilling the plan of salvation, for Jesus had said,
"And I, if I be lifted up from the Earth, I will draw all men unto Me."
So, the very moment they lifted Jesus up, Jesus began to draw sinners
into the kingdom. I'll tell you, that was a victory.
And then, when Jesus cried out and said, "It is finished," those
were not the words of a defeated prophet; those were the words of a t r i -
umphant Saviour. That's a victory...It is finished...! have completed My
task. Ah, think about the many great men of history who started great
movements, but -who never got to finish them. Moses went to the mountain,
but he never made it to the Promised 1 and . . .Beethoven left an Unfinished
Symphony... Abraham Lincoln did not complete his plan of Reconstruction...
(X»-
Franklin D. Roosevelt didn't
not complete the New Frontier
the mountain, but never could
"It is finished." But Jesus,
finish the New Deal...John F. Kennedy did
..Martin Luther King said, "I've been to
he to the mountain, but never could he say,
Just before He died said. "It is finished."
Ah, that's a statement of Victory, and every time I
I Just have to think about that great victory.
think about Calvary,
Now, we have another "A"
Jesus have to die on Calvary?
to shed His precious blood? I
for my sins, for you sins and
' stands for Atonement. Why did
have to suffer? Why did He have
why; His blood was an atonement
all mankind. You see, Jesus had
and that "A1
Why did He
11 tell you
the s1ns of
no sin; we were the ones who were estranged from God; we were being held
as hostages by Old Satan and the only thing which could gain our release
was the blood of Jesus. So Calvary is the place where our reconciliation
was accomplished; it is the place where our release was signed. Yes, it
was on Calvary that the blood of Jesus atoned for our sins.
Well, I think you know that the "R" stands for Resurrection. You see,
for the cross to have any meaning, there must be a Crown. There is an Inseparable
relationship between the Old Rugged Cross and The Empty Tomb.
You see, the story of Calvary is a compound story; you can't talk about a
crucified Saint, without mentioning the risen Savior. ..If you're going to
talk about despair, you've got to mention hope. . .You see, Just as there
is a dark side of Calvary, there is also a bright side of Calvary, there
Somebody said that for every crucifi-
.For every day of defeat, there will be
midnight, there's gonna be a golden day
there's gonna be a bright tomorrow...
is also a bright side of Calvary.
sion there will be a Resurrection.
i day of victory...For every dark
3reak...For every dark yesterday,
~or every dark
Sunday morning.
and dismal Friday evening, there's going to be a bright
And you
jlace . . .When
Resurrect i on
Resurrect i on
know what happened
the S~U-N came up,
took place. That
took place.
on Sunday morning. A Resurrection took
the capital S-O-N got up. I said that a
s what that "R" in Calvary stands for; A
Yes, the
'Up from the grave he arose,
With a mighty triumph o'er His foes.
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever with His saints to reign.
He arose, He arose,
Hallelujah, Christ arose."
'R" stands for Resurrection.
Finally, there is the letter "Y" what does the "Y1 in Calvary stand
or? Does it mean Yesterday, before Calvary, we were all lost, but now
fter Calvary, we're saved? It could mean that, but that's not what I'm
coking for. Does it mean that Jesus said My Yoke is easy and if You will
ield to Me, one day you can go way over Yonder to be with the Lord? Ah,
t could mean that, but that's not what I'm looking for.
I'll tell you what the "Y" stands for. It's a l i t t l e three lettered
ord, Y-E-S, Yes. The whole story of Calvary is Jesus saying "Yes" to
he ultimate needs of mankind, and to the w i l l at His Heavenly Father.
s were wretched sinners and we needed a Savior to rescue us from the
lames of a burning Hell. When God called upon His Son to come down to
Calvary and save us from our sins, Jesus responded by saying, "Yes, I'll
go."
Somebody said that the conversation went like this: As the Father
and the Son were sitting upon the portals of Glory watching men and
women wallowing in filth and committing every imaginable sin, the Father
turned to the Son and said, "I need You to go down to Earth and save mankind
from sin. If I prepare You a body, will You go down?" Jesus
answered and said, "Yes, Father, I'll go." .,
The Father went on to say, "Are You willing to be born in a stable;
be lain In a manger and suffer all the indignities of a mortal man? Are
You willing to be rejected, despised and abused?" The Son responded,
"Yes, Father, I'll do it."
The Father said, "I've picked out a hill called Calvary, and it Is on
that location that I want You to make the greatest sacrifice that anyone
has been called upon to make. It will require suffering; it will be painful;
it will mean dying upon an old Rugged Cross. What's Your answer?" I
hear Jesus say, "My answer is Yes...I'm willing to suffer - Yes...I'll
bear the toil...Yes, I'll endure the pain...Yes... I'll give My life...My
answer is Yes."
Ah, there is a Calvary in all of our lives; it is that time when we
are called upon to deny self; to take up our cross and obey the will of
God. It might call for suffering and it might call for pain, but when
the challenge comes, we ought to be able to answer and say, Yes, Lord,
Yes . "
"I'll say yes, Lord, yes,
To Your will and to Your way.
I'll say yes, Lord, yes,
I will trust .You and obey.
When Your Spirit speaks to me,
With my whole heart I'll agree.
And my answer will be yes, Lord, yes."
