It Was Not A Pretty Cross
Rev. Eric D. Smith
Matt 27:22-35
22 Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified.
23 And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.
24 When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.
25 Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.
26 Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers.
28 And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.
29 And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
30 And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.
31 And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.
32 And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.
33 And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull,
34 They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.
35 And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.
As I was praying the other night, I remember looking up at the cross that we have hanging on the wall. As I looked at the cross and reflected on the pain and suffering that Jesus had to endure on the cross, the words came flooding into my heart, "The Cross That Jesus Died On Was Not A Pretty Cross." This is what I want to preach to you about this morning. Whether it is a cross such as the one hanging up on the wall behind me, or if you would attempt to purchase a wooden cross in a Bible Book Store, most of what you would find would be pretty, hand carved, wooden cross. A craftsman or a production machine would have finished a wooden product to make it a fine quality showpiece to hang in someone’s home. Twenty-first century Christians have made the cross into a showpiece of artwork, but the cross that Jesus died on was never intended to be a showpiece, or fine art.
Fine wood work today is usually made out of a high quality wood, or a baser wood that has a veneer overlaid on it. The cross was neither. To veneer something means to face or cover (an object) with a more desirable material than the existing basic one. Veneering is to give a superficially good or pleasing appearance to something that was not as pleasant before. The construction of the cross that Jesus died on was neither of high quality, nor was it veneered to appear more expensive than it was. We cannot veneer the cross simply because we think that it was too crude when Jesus died on it.
The cross was not polished, nor smooth. The kind of crosses that we like today are eloquent and pretty, but not so with the cross that Jesus die on. It was roughly sawn and crudely cut. They did not take the time to knock off the splintering, jagged edges. With Jesus’ garments having been ripped away for the brutal beating with the whip, they then threw the purple robe on Him only to mock Him as a king. Then the purple robe was taken back off of Him, His own clothes that had been previously removed were thrown back on according to Mark 15:20, and then He was commanded to carry this crudely sawn cross on the back that had just been ripped apart by the scourging. Americans have been spoiled by a court system that prevents cruel and unusual punishment. But not so with the Roman court system of that day. Even if Jesus had never endured the scourging, a man sentenced to be crucified, would have been already bleeding by the time he carried his cross to the place of crucifixion. But why would that have bothered the Roman soldiers?
Neither was the cross polyurethaned. Our society today is fascinated with objects that are polished and shiny. Polyurethane is a thermoplastic polymer used in putting a shiny hard finishing glaze on the exterior surface of a wood product. It is used to help protect the wood and give it a luster finish.
Another product that we use to finish fine wood work today is wood stain. Someone is capable of taking a cheap pine board and doing different things to it in order to change its appearance into something that is more beautiful than just pine. They can cut it and router the edges, plane it and sand it. They can stain it and put a silky smooth coat of polyurethane on it. They can polish that out and make it something very attractive. But the cross that was constructed for Jesus was not built for beauty, it was built for torture.
Gal 3:13
13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
It was not a pretty cross, but an instrument of man’s cruelty.
Heb 12:2
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The twenty-first century is trying to make the cross a thing of beauty and of artwork, but the interesting thing is that that old rugged, ugly cross is trying to make us into something different than what we are. God looks down upon mankind much the same way as He did before the flood.
Gen 6:5-8
5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
So as we often are trying to beautify the cross, God has said that Jesus has endured that shame already. But if we could see ourselves as God sees us and realize that God is trying to take us and shape us by His craftsman’s hands. He is trying to reshape us, and smooth down our rough edges. He is trying to sand down our imperfections. He is trying to take something that is plain and not very beautiful and add the touch of the craftsman that only He can add. He is trying to shape us into something of beauty. The Craftsman of the Universe knows that unless He can change you, you will never be allowed into the showcase of Heaven.
1 Cor 6:9-11
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
What is He saying here? You can go to any construction site and go to the dumpster and find perfectly good wood that has been cut off of 2 x 4’s and plywood that is considered "scrap". What Paul is saying is that these people were nothing more than throwaway scraps of discarded humanity. Their lives would never end up as a showroom piece. But a craftsman stepped in and took the pieces of their lives and made something beautiful out of it.
