CROSS-EXAMINATION (part one)
A few weeks ago I did a play on words sermon titled Cross-Contamination. Today, I'll be doing the same thing with the term, cross-examination. We know this term from a trial. The first attorney asks a witness questions and then the other one is allowed to ask questions. The second attorney is cross-examining the witness. I'll be using the term from a Christian perspective; examining things through a spiritual lens.
When we go to the doctor, he or she may do an examination. Depending on how thorough it is, an exam may take a while due to the doctor's attention to detail. They don't want to miss anything. To examine means to inspect, study, investigate. When you examine you don't just make a passing glance; you take your time; you look with precision.
Doctors examine patients, detectives examine a crime scene, but what about when it comes to spiritual examinations? Looking at things on a surface level won't give us all the information we need to make a valid assessment. We need to go deeper. We may find some things that don't look too pretty but they will need to be dealt with if we're going to live the right way.
It's time to do a cross-examination.
1) Examining the cross.
We start our cross-examination by examining the cross. Specifically we need to examine crucifixion and the commitment Jesus made for us.
Phil. 2:5-8, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!"
Paul explains that our attitude as Christians needs to be like Jesus' was; humble and obedient to the max. Jesus let go of his glorious state in heaven with the Father and became a human and therefore, a servant. In heaven Jesus didn't serve; he is served. But becoming a human meant he would now be humbly obedient to the Father and subject to living out his life as a sacrifice for others.
In heaven, Jesus is the authority figure. But on earth, he took orders from the Father-to the point of being obedient to the mission of death for the sins of mankind. Not only death-but death by crucifixion.
Paul ends the passage with an emphatic declaration-'even death on a cross!'. Why the strong emphasis? Crucifixion was the most humiliating, degrading and torturous form of execution. It would've been more honorable for Jesus to be put to death by stoning-the Jewish method. Instead, he died at the hands of the Gentiles under the most inhumane way possible.
Crucifixion was usually intended to provide a death that was particularly slow, painful, hence the term excruciating, literally "out of crucifying", gruesome and humiliating, using whatever means were most expedient for that goal. These methods were used to dissuade people from committing the crimes punishable by it.
Crucifixion was often done to terrorize onlookers into submission. Victims were left on display after death as warnings. While a crucifixion was an execution, it was also a humiliation by making the condemned as vulnerable as possible.
Although artists have depicted the figure on a cross with a loin cloth, writings by Seneca the Younger suggest that victims were crucified completely nude. When the criminal had to urinate or defecate, they had to do so in the open, in view of everyone, resulting in discomfort and the attraction of insects.
Despite its frequent use by the Romans, the horrors of crucifixion did not escape mention by some of their eminent orators. Cicero for example, in a speech that appears to have been an early bid for its abolishment, described crucifixion as "a most cruel and disgusting punishment", and suggested that, "the very mention of the cross should be far removed not only from a Roman citizen’s body, but from his mind, his eyes, his ears."
Although such a picture is not easy on our mind's eye, it's necessary if we're going to have a good understanding of what Jesus went through for us. When we put together the contrast of what Jesus had in heaven that he willingly laid aside, verses what he endured here on earth, culminating in his horrific torture and crucifixion, we can gain perspective as to how great his level of love is for us. To do what he did so we could be saved should bring us all to our knees; realizing how unworthy we are to receive such a sacrifice.
Heb. 12:1-3, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
Jesus didn't allow the shame of crucifixion to deter him from being willing to endure it. To scorn its shame meant that Jesus' hatred for the shamefulness of it fueled him to go through it so that we could be released from the shame of our sin.
The joy set before him was to fulfill his mission and conquer death and give mankind the offer of eternal life. This joy overrode the suffering he would need to endure to accomplish that.
So the writer of Hebrews tells us to consider what Jesus went through so that we would not grow weary from our painful trials and persevere like Jesus did. When we examine the cross, we gain a better appreciation for what Jesus did for us and we gain motivation to press on; knowing the severity of what Jesus endured for our benefit.
2) Examining our decision.
When we understand what Jesus did for us, we are then faced with the decision of what to do with this information. When we realize Jesus died for our sins and we discover we need to put our faith in him to escape eternal damnation we are faced with contemplating that big decision-am I ready to become born again?
Most people when they come to the point of believing that they are a sinner in need of God's grace and that faith in Christ is the only way they can receive it, they are more than ready to be saved so they can go to heaven and not hell. However, that's only part of it. Faith, repentance and baptism is where it starts; we then need to live out our lives in obedience to him. Yes, we will have the power of the Holy Spirit enabling us to do this but we still need to understand the commitment we're making.
If you're looking to buy a house or car or some big-ticket item, you don't just go with what looks nice, you go further; you gather information about it. You want to understand what you're getting into before you sign on the dotted line. Likewise, when it comes to salvation and turning your life over to Jesus, you should want to understand what you're getting into before you "sign on the dotted line". That's the point Jesus was getting at in
Luke 14:25-35, "Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ “
Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.
In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
If we evaluate what Jesus is saying to these folks from a modern evangelistic perspective, we would say that he's doing it all wrong. "You're not going to draw them in, you're going to scare them away." If Jesus proposed this method in his Evangelism 101 class, his professor would give him a failing grade. Next to the 'F' the paper would say, 'too intense; would never work'.
The method used too often nowadays is that we just need to convince people that they're a sinner in need of salvation. But that's only part of it. Here in Luke 14, Jesus is going over the bigger part. Making a decision to be saved is one thing; making a decision to devote the rest of my life to following Jesus is something else.
The first thing Jesus wants us to examine is whether or not we're ready to put him first in our life. Jesus uses the word 'hate' but it's not meant to be taken literally. Otherwise that goes against the command to honor our father and mother. When we look at the parallel passage in Matt. 10, we see Jesus saying, 'anyone who loves their mother or father more than me is not worthy of me'.
Our love and devotion to Jesus needs to greatly supersede our love and devotion to those closest to us. Otherwise, when we're faced with the choice of doing God's will over our own, if Jesus doesn't come first then we will say 'no' to Jesus and 'yes' to ourselves or someone else. That's why we wouldn't be worthy of being his disciple.
It gets back to our examination of the cross. Did my mother or father die on the cross for my sins? No. Could they have? No, no one could've. Only Jesus could because he was the perfect sacrifice. Therefore, Jesus deserves to come first.
Then Jesus tells us that if we're not willing to carry our cross and follow him we can't be his disciple. Again, same principle. What does the cross symbolize? Death; that's what it was used for.
If we played a word association game and I said cross, you would probably say Jesus. But, obviously Jesus is using the word cross before he was crucified so his audience would associate it with what it was used for-death.
Just like if I say electric chair, you're going to think about the one thing it's used for-death. What did Jesus want us to put to death? Our self-will for the sake of doing his will.
When Jesus encountered the rich man he identified the one thing that stood in his way of truly following Jesus. That's why Jesus told him to sell his possessions and give to the poor; and then come and follow him. He went away sad because he wasn't willing to do that; his wealth was too important. His wealth would've gotten in the way of his devotion to Jesus.
In examining the decision to become born-again and devote our lives to Jesus, we need to determine if there's anything we're unwilling to give up.
Then Jesus gives two illustrations to consider. The first one is about a guy deciding whether or not to build a tower. Jesus is making the point that it was wise for him to first sit down and consider whether or not he thinks he's got what it takes to complete the job.
If he goes into it thinking, 'let's just get started and see how it goes' and he winds up getting half-way done and not being able to go any further, he'll be ridiculed for his lack of wise planning.
Likewise, Jesus would want someone to sit down and examine whether or not they felt they were ready to devote themselves to following him for the rest of their lives. Now, obviously we can't predict the future so we can't know what's going to happen in our lives, but we still need to consider the possibilities.
When I'm faced with having to choose Jesus over what I'd like to do instead who's going to win out? We can't predict what we will do when those moments come, but we need to honestly evaluate whether or not we feel we would choose Jesus.
What if Jesus asked me to change jobs because the one I'm currently in doesn't honor him? What if he wanted me to become a missionary? What if he wanted me to break-up with my long-time girlfriend because our relationship wasn't honorable to him? Whatever it is, do we believe we're ready to live for Jesus?
That doesn't mean we'll be perfect at it. It will be difficult at times, especially when it comes to making touch choices. We know the power of the Holy Spirit will enable us to choose correctly, but it still won't be easy. Being a Christian is a blessing beyond compare but it does involve making sacrifices in order to please our Lord and Master Jesus.
In the next illustration, Jesus talks about a king going off to war against another king. The king needed to determine if he was able to go to war or did he need to surrender; he needed to make a decision. Jesus wants us to realize that we should not put off making a decision So, don't be hasty in becoming a Christian; take time to examine and consider it first, but don't put it off either.
We might say, 'I'm not ready for this so I'll go live it up and party and get it all out of my system and then some day down the road when I've sowed my wild oats, then I'll revisit this whole Christian thing'. Though I would admire your honesty in saying you're not ready, I wouldn't admire your delusion to think you've got all the time in the world to make your decision. Since no one can predict the future, it's presumptuous to think your life is secure enough to be able to come to God when you're good and ready.
Then Jesus says that if you don't give up everything you have you can't be his disciple. This is extreme language as well. If every Christian gave everything he had away when he got saved he would be destitute and dependent on outsiders for their needs, which isn't right. It's not right for me to take from you when I already had what I needed but gave it away.
This is better understood to mean that we need to be willing to do this. In Acts 4 when the church was getting started it says the believers shared everything they had. It says from time to time people who had lands or houses sold them and brought the money to the Apostles to distribute as needed.
The believers understood that their lives were to be about generosity and spiritual treasures. If Jesus wants us to donate money to charity, if he wants us to give something to someone in need, if he wants us to give some of our time to help people, will we be willing to make these sacrifices for the kingdom? If something was getting in our way of our devotion to him would we be willing to give it up?
Jesus ends with a sobering statement. What does he mean by talking about salt losing its saltiness? In Matt. 5:13 Jesus called us the salt of the earth. Interestingly, after that he said the same thing he said here in Luke about salt losing its saltiness.
If we are to look at what Jesus said from a spiritual perspective, it fits in context with what he's been talking about. It goes along with the tower analogy. If we come to Christ and somewhere along the way start to lose our allegiance to Jesus and start getting caught-up in the world again, we run the risk of not persevering and finishing our tower.
2 Pet. 2:20, "If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning."
This is salt losing its saltiness. If we don't finish the race, we can't get the prize. We are worse off at the end because we knew Christ and then turned our back on him, rather than those who never knew him to begin with. If we lose our saltiness, we will be thrown out.
What Jesus says in the Luke 14 passage is a lot to take in. Jesus doesn't mince words here; he's not giving us a bunch of warm fuzzies. What he is doing is giving it to us straight. It's like Jesus is saying, "If you're going to become a follower of mine, then you need to know some things before you make your decision. If you have ears to hear, if you have the willingness to listen, you will take what I'm saying seriously."
Examining what's involved in following Jesus will help us determine if we're ready to make this big commitment. It's time to do a cross-examination.
