The Persistent March to the Cross (In March)
Special: Had it Not been (Michael English version)
March fourth was just a few days ago! MARCH FOURTH! Like a very commanding day to march forth!
Easter is coming soon. It’s just about a month away now. To me Easter (not the pagan holiday but the Christian one - ie Resurrection Sunday) is even better than Christmas because it represents Jesus’ victory over sin and death and our great salvation. Christmas is just the beginning of the March to the Cross whereas Easter is the Finishing work by His death on the Cross and the Resurrection of Jesus. Easter is the culmination, the pinnacle of Christ’s work on Earth and the reason He came. Christmas is, of course, great too but it’s merely His birth announcement, and bird, and of course, our Hope having come to Earth. But to me, that’s little compared to what Easter means. So to me Easter is greater than Christmas because Easter is the Climax, whereas Christmas is merely the start of the persistent march to that Climax and reason for His coming.
Why did Jesus leave the throne of heaven?
Why did Jesus choose to be born on this Earth?
Why did Jesus live a sinless life?
Why did Jesus head to Jerusalem?
Why did Jesus ride in on a Donkey on Palm Sunday?
Why did Jesus spend time teaching the Jews?
Why did Jesus allow Himself to be betrayed?
Why did Jesus allow Himself to be captured and arrested?
Why did Jesus allow Himself to take 40 lashes with a cat-o-nine tails?
Why did Jesus willingly go to the Cross?
For you and me.
His march to the cross is truly fantastic, amazing, wonderful, tremendous… just all of the exclamations and adjectives and more!
To think that at any time, He could have said nope, not gonna do it!
Of course, because of His great love for us, He would never do that and would always choose to save us! That in itself is amazing that He would do that for unworthy people such as us!
At any time, He could have called 10K angels, they would have taken Him down from the cross, and we would be doomed and we would have deserved it! But no, He went all the way for us!!!
He was persistent on saving us and persistent on going all the way for us without wavering! Absolutely Amazing!
It’s amazing that a lot of the verses for Christmas are actually verses for Easter (Death, Burial, and Resurrection) such as Isaiah 53, He was wounded for our transgressions and wounded for our iniquity but Christmas and Easter are forever tied together in his persistent march to the cross.
Luke 18:31-34
Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time
31 Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32 He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; 33 they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”
34 The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.
So obviously, Jesus knew His purpose for coming to Earth, and going to the Cross. It was clear as a bell to Him! He tried to share this with the twelve and even tho they had been with Him, knew he was Lord (Peter exclaimed it!), knew He was God (Thomas exclaimed it!), they just didn’t get it what His grand plan and purpose was - to go to the Cross for us! He was a man on a mission! The greatest mission ever! EVAR!!!
Matthew 20:18–19
17 And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them,
18 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,
19 And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.
Yet again we see Jesus pulling the twelve aside and telling them ahead of time, hey guys, pay attention, this is the game plan! To us it seems odd that they didn’t get it even tho Jesus told them several times ahead of time! I wonder if we too would have understood?
John 3:14–15
14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
I love this verse from John 3: That verse shows how it all ties together with the old testament that the messiah would have to face death for us for us to have eternal life. This was foretold ages ago! (also Isa 53 - suffering servant) Yet even the religious leaders didn’t even get it!
Matthew 26:1-56
The Plot Against Jesus
26 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
Here again, Jesus foretold to His disciples the plan and apparently they still didn’t get it! Would you have understood it? Hopefully, you understand it today! (hindsight is 20/20!)
3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 5 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”
Imagine, that the religious leaders wanted to kill him! Jesus told us that our righteousness has to be better than the scribes and pharisees! How can it be if they were the best of the best and deemed the most righteous of the Jews? Well, because salvation is not based on works, it’s based on faith in Jesus and they totally missed that fact by a mile! Not only that but they treated the law as just something you can find loopholes and workaround to get around any law to do what you wanted, basically nullifying it!
Jesus Anointed at Bethany
6 While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, 7 a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.
8 When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9 “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”
10 Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. 12 When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13 Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
Basically, I think this is Mary Magdalene and as an extravagant act of worship she (probably unknowingly) prepared Jesus for his death. In that time, they would try to cover the stench of death with strong perfumes.
Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus
14 Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests 15 and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. 16 From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
Imagine, Jesus, who sees all (remember the story in John 1 of Jesus seeing Nathaniel under a fig tree so he believed and Jesus telling him you will see even greater things) knows what Judas Iscariot and the chief priests were conspiring to do. Have you ever figured out someone was conspiring against you or betraying you? How did that make you feel? Don’t you know that broke His heart? Jesus was a man of sorrows, acquainted with Grief! They say no good deed goes unpunished! Here Jesus was set to do the greatest good deed and yet the whole world and even the evil spiritual world is against Him and trying to stop Him! But Jesus marches on even when figuratively being stabbed in the back by one of His closest!
The Last Supper
17 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”
18 He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’” 19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
20 When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21 And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”
22 They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”
23 Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
25 Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”
Jesus answered, “You have said so.”
Have you ever had to call someone out? I really hate confrontation! It’s super hard to do! It hurts everyone involved. Imagine how hurt Jesus must have been, and how it must have stung as Judas ran out. You have to wonder if Judas was hurt or did he have no remorse. Later, I think Judas had remorse as he threw down the 30 pieces of silver but it was too late, he had already betrayed Jesus!
26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Of course the Lord’s supper also was telling His disciples what was going to happen but yet they still even yet didn’t get it. Did they even understand how so much was pivoting on the next night and day? How stressful facing all of this must have been for Jesus, yet he marched on thru it with purpose!
Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial
31 Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:
“‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’[c]
32 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
33 Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”
34 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”
35 But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.
The stress of another friend about to fall away also must have weighed heavily on Jesus. Imagine Jesus calls him out before He even does it. Jesus sees all and also sees the future! That’s really amazing when you think about it! A mere man could not do such a thing!
Gethsemane
36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
The Garden of Gethsemane is another step on Jesus’s path to the cross. He was basically waiting for Jesus to come and betray him with a kiss and to be arrested. Here we see it’s basically Jesus asking God if there were any other way and finding there was no other way, He had to go through all of this for us if we were to be saved. Imagine, the astronomical odds of that there was only one way to be saved and it had to be by Jesus’ choice to save us. Yet people still think they can save themselves by filthy selfish works even when faced with this astronomical odds realisation that there was only one way out of the infinite other ways to save us. Folks there is only one way to be saved, and only one name under heaven given by which we can be saved: Jesus. Notice that here Jesus willingly chooses to go thru all of this to save us. He took this cup of anguish and death willingly to save little old unworthy us. And still His marching journey has a long way to go!
Jesus Arrested
47 While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” 49 Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.
50 Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.”
Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. 51 With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.
52 “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. 53 Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”
55 In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. 56 But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.
And there we have it. Jesus is betrayed, taken into custody, and His closest friends scatter. Jesus even stops Peter (or anyone) from preventing it because it must be done to save us! Wow the persistence that Jesus had and the march to the cross just to save us. There were so many places He could have turned back, but he faced so many of these steps and each one was such a hard step. But he did it for unworthy us. Let that sink in! It’ll make you cry if you really let it sink in. Imagine Paul said he was the chiefest of sinners, but I think he’s wrong, I am. It always amazes me when I meet someone who thinks that they have it all together and are not a sinner at all. Oh the arrogance! You just have to ask their spouse, right? Lol! Or poke their belly since so many of us are gluttons and gluttony is a sin, right? Nevermind, none of us can tame the tongue the Bible says, although hopefully we try our best!
And we know Jesus went through many more trials before actually making it to the cross and He faced everyone without wavering!:
Jesus goes through several Jewish trials overnight and early morning.
Annas (former high priest) Trial
Caiaphas Trial
Sanhedrin Trial
Charged with Blasphemy & Claiming to be the Messiah (He was the messiah)
Peter denied Jesus three times.
He went through Roman trials:
Pontius Pilate
Herod Antipas
Pilate again
The crowd demanded Barabbas be released instead of Jesus.
He faced the scourging, and eventually the cross, and even died for us!
He did all of that for you and me! And of course he rose again, because He is God!
If you are not saved, I beg of you to let go of your sin, and turn to Jesus in salvation! Call on Him and He will save you. The Bible guarantees you will not be disappointed!
Romans 5:5-8
5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
I hope during this time as Easter is just around the corner and it is marches in here next month we will be solemnly mindful of our wonderful Savior and what he faced for us especially during the passion week just to save us and He did it unwaveringly! SO UNWAVERINGLY! (that’s a tongue twister and hard to say). Praise the Lord that He’s such a wonderful Savior! Put your hands in His hands! He’s a wonderful Savior!
