1. Title: Standing Around The Cross
2. Text: Matthew 27:32-50; Mark 15:20-47; *Luke 23:26-56, John 19:16-40
3. Audience: Villa Heights Christian Church, AM crowd, 4-9-06, 3rd in the series “Walk To The Cross”
4. Objectives:
-for the people to consider the different attitudes and circumstances of the people who are detailed at the scene of the crucifixion, especially the penitent thief
-for the people to identify with the thief – with the good things he was able to understand about himself and Jesus that led to his salvation
-for each person to examine him or herself in regards to the way we approach the cross on a daily basis
5. When I finish my sermon I want my audience to better seem themselves around the cross, consider why they are there, and to adjust their attitudes there to better honor the purposes of Jesus
6. Type: textual
7. Dominant Thought: people who stand around the cross of Jesus with a right heart leave changed forever
8. Outline:
Intro - This summer, many will be gathering in late July in Louisville, KY for the NACC. Through the years, the convention has undergone a lot of changes, but it has always been a place where people get together.
I remember as a kid going to the NACC with my parents a couple of times. My dad enjoyed going, but the thing he always enjoyed the most was getting to see all the people there he knew. Dad would walk along, and there would be someone he hadn’t seen for 15 years. So, we’d stop and Dad would talk, and then we’d start moving along again, and there would be someone else he hadn’t seen for 15 years. Sometimes I wondered if Dad was really there for the convention or to see a bunch of people. I have a feeling he enjoyed the people the most.
Here we’ve been on a walk to the cross, and this morning, being Palm Sunday, I want us to look not only at the cross, but to see the people there. After all, we’ve taken this walk; doesn’t it make sense to look around at who else is there? And as you look around, there ought to be an obvious question to those people: “Why are you here?” I want to ask the same question of you this morning. As you, in your heart, stand around the cross of Jesus, why are you there? My hope is that we’ll all leave with a more careful attitude about the cross.
I. Some Who Hate Him
There were some people just passing by the hillside that day. They stopped off to see the spectacle. But before they ever got there, there was a group of people who had done everything they could to get Jesus on the cross in the first place. So, as we walk to the cross, we find them there too, as if to make sure that He really is killed. There’s no question why they’re at the cross:
Matthew 27:41-43
In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. "He saved others," they said, "but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ’I am the Son of God.’"
If Jesus hadn’t meant to say such things He could have set it straight and stopped all this. But Jesus meant to say it. He was the Son of God. He was the King of Israel. He did trust in God.
A thousand years before, God inspired David to write about these people standing around the cross:
Psalm 22:7-8
All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: "He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."
OK, so there were people who hated Jesus. There just aren’t people today, around here, anyway, who would do such a thing. There aren’t people who hate Jesus like that!
Oh, really? What about those who deny His deity? What about those who deny His resurrection? What about those who deny His miracles? Just this past week there was some guy trying to explain Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee by saying He could have been on suddenly-forming ice! What about those who hate Christianity? What about those who try Jesus and decide to turn their back on Him?
The writer of Hebrews in Heb. 6 says that people who have accepted Christ, if they fall away, are to their loss crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
There are plenty of people hating the cross of Jesus today. They’d likely be in the crowd that stood there and hurled their insults at Jesus. They do exist.
When I come around the cross of Jesus, I want to be sure it’s not to add to His shame or hurt. There was plenty of that done by the people who hated Him on the day He was crucified.
There’s something to be learned from the people around the cross hating Jesus – something more than just “Don’t be that way.” Peter helps us consider what it tells us about Jesus…and ourselves:
1 Peter 2:21-25
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
As you visit the cross of Jesus, look around. Some people are there because they hate Him.
As you look again, you’ll see…
II. Some Who Are Curious
If you want to draw a crowd, have a tragedy. Seriously – a car wreck, a house fire, a shooting, someone trying to jump from a building – any time someone else is having a tragedy, it draws a crowd.
There’s a side of us that’s curious – What is like to suffer? What is it like to die? We want to understand that…from a safe distance. There’s something curious about the spectacle.
Imagine the spectacle of 3 men being tortured to death on a hillside. Would people have been there just because it’s not an everyday event? Sure.
It serves to remind me that there are going to be people hanging around the cross today just out of curiosity, good or bad. We need to help them see and understand the cross!
We just received a list of about 200 new residents to the Joplin area 3 days ago. Some of those people are curious about Jesus. How would you like to be part of helping those curious people know where they can find what they seek?
Some, who are curious, who know nothing more than that, are going to be standing around the cross, trying to figure it out.
Look again and you’ll see…
III. Some Who Have to Be There
Yep! That’s me! My parents made me be here at church! That’s why, when I’m older, I’m gonna quit! I know, I know. Me too.
My parents made me brush my teeth. That’s why I don’t now! My parents forced me to shower when I didn’t want to. That’s why I don’t shower…ever! My parents made me be polite in public. Now, I’m not! That will teach them to make me do stuff!
Look at the scene and you’ll see there are some people at the cross because they have to be there.
1. Simon of Cyrene
Simon is a man from N. Africa. Most likely he’s a Jewish convert who has come to the area for the feast. He’s just coming into town from the country. He didn’t plan on being a part of the cross scene. But Jesus started out carrying the patibulum (cross beam) of the cross, and now has apparently grown too slow or too tired to continue. So, they grab Simon and force him to carry it for Jesus. We’re not told anything else about Simon – only that his sons are Alexander and Rufus. Isn’t it interesting that Mark would mention them, as if his readers would know who Alexander and Rufus are? I wonder if that whole day and scene he was forced into not only took Simon by surprise but ultimately led to his acceptance of Jesus.
2. Soldiers
More is said about the soldiers here than anyone else. Before Jesus was led out to die, it was the whole Roman Praetorium Guard who mocked Him, beat Him, and pressed a crown of thorns onto His Head. Then, there were 4 in charge of crucifying Jesus. It was their job. They had to be around the cross, along with at least 1 centurion.
The gospels don’t describe much of the crucifixion. They nailed Jesus to the cross. They raised it up. They put the placard above His head with His charges. They mocked Him. They offered Him spiked wine – maybe to alleviate pain; maybe as a sick joke. They divided up His clothes among themselves, and when it came to part 5, they cast lots for the last part. (David had written about that in Ps 22 also) Why It’s what you do when you’re a Roman soldier. Pretty lame excuse for crucifying Jesus, Huh?
Think about the way we excuse some of the things we do –
• “Hey, I’m a salesman. You just do that to get a sale.” It’s what salesman do. Really? Sounds to me like it’s time to stop being a salesman then!
• “Hey, all the guys in the locker room do that!” Really? Sounds to me like it’s time to stop hanging around with the guys in the locker room then.
• Try this one out: “Hey, we were just following orders. We were soldiers, and we were told to process the Jews into the death camps! We just did it because we were told to.”
Do you really want to go there? That kind of thinking could enable those who perpetrated the Holocaust, and it could enable 4 Roman soldiers to torture the Son of God to death!
There was at least one solder who was standing around the cross who was changed that day. Mark mentions only one. Maybe it affected him the most. Matthew speaks of all of them:
Matthew 27:54
When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely he was the Son of God!"
I wonder what affect it had been having on these guys to nail the hand of Jesus to the cross as He asked for your forgiveness. I wonder, as a soldier who had heard the curses and threats and screams dozens of times before, what it was like to raise the cross of Jesus and hear no threats, no curses, no anger. Matthew says when they “saw the earthquake and all that had happened” it finally got to them. These men, at the very least, understood that the man they had killed wasn’t ordinary.
Some people today want to stand around the cross of Jesus and normalize Him, deny His character, deny that it has anything to do with them personally. That’s easier to do without actually being there. The hardened soldiers who witnessed it couldn’t do such a thing.
3. Robbers
About 600 years before that day, Isaiah had written:
Isaiah 53:12b …he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
By the way, if Jesus had planned this whole thing out as some elaborate cover-up for a faked death, how did He arrange that there would be 2 thieves crucified at His side? Part of the shame of Jesus’ cross was crosses #1 and 3.
It’s hard to imagine what goes through the mind of a criminal being tortured to certain death. Mt and Mk both record that both robbers were insulting Jesus. They were joining in with the taunting of the others who hated Him. Then, suddenly, one changes. Luke records it:
Luke 23:39-42
One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don’t you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
As far as we’re told, the only person on that hill to speak any words of defense for Jesus was this thief. He’s also the only person to receive a direct promise of heaven. What makes him different? What changed him? The answer is: What he came to believe about Jesus. We have only 39 words that he spoke, in the NIV. But look at them again, and see what we can know about his beliefs:
1. He knew he was going to die
Anyone who took up a cross died on that cross. There was no turning back. This thief knew he was going to die without the chance of a pardon.
By the way – so are you. Unless Jesus comes first, death is a certainty for you – just as certain as it was for that thief. You just don’t have the day laid out for you as clearly as he did. Do you realize this? Do you share the understanding of the thief on the cross?
2. He knew that his own punishment was just – “we are getting what our deeds deserve”
It’s not a common characteristic of our times – that guilty people should accept their punishment and say, “I’m just getting what I have coming to me.” Instead, there’s usually a long list of the other people who are at fault.
Ill - King Frederick II of Prussia, was visiting a prison in Berlin. All the inmates were trying to prove how they had been imprisoned wrongly. All except one. While all the rest were protesting, claiming their innocence, this one sat quietly in a corner. He sat in silence until the king approached him. He asked why he was there. "Armed robbery, Your Honor." The king asked, "Were you guilty?" "Yes, Sir," he answered. "I entirely deserve my punishment." Then the king gave an order to the guard: "Release this guilty man. I don’t want him corrupting all these innocent people."
Are you able, like the thief on the cross, to admit your own guilt? The Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God? Can you agree to that about yourself?
3. Jesus was without guilt – “this man has done nothing wrong”
Maybe he had heard about Jesus. Maybe the messed up trial of Jesus was so obvious even to him. Maybe he was assuming what he said because of what He saw in Jesus’ character just that day. For whatever reason, this thief stated one of the most important theological facts of the incarnation of God into the world: Jesus had done nothing wrong.
If you don’t believe that to be true, then Jesus’ death does you no good. I could offer to die for you, but my death couldn’t pay for your sins. It would just pay for my own. I already owe that debt myself. Jesus didn’t.
4. Jesus was King – “remember me when you come into your kingdom”
When he said this, we see the thief’s belief stepping beyond simple appearances. He was accepting the words of Jesus – words about His Kingdom – claims of authority and power. Those are hard for a casual observer to accept as the so-called “King” hangs dying on a cross. But here’s a man who understood.
Paul talks about the “good confession” that Jesus made before Pontius Pilate.
Mark 15:2
"Are you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate. "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.
In case you’ve ever wondered, that’s the good confession – to agree with Jesus that He is indeed the King of a Kingdom beyond this world. And that’s what the thief confessed when He spoke to Jesus of His Kingdom.
5. He needed Jesus’ mercy – “remember me”
This thief didn’t turn to anyone else. This was a God matter. He said to the other thief, “Don’t you fear God?” The crowd couldn’t help him. The soldiers wouldn’t help him. There was no one else.
So, let me ask you - you who have sinned and who have fractured your relationship with God – who is there to help you? Who will be your advocate? Who will plead your case? Who will bail you out? Who will make you presentable before God? When you finally come to the realization of your situation, who are you going to turn to? What are you going to say? How about these words: “Jesus, remember me.”
Take a person who’s in a really bad situation in life – really bad – ready-to-die bad. Have him hang around the cross with Jesus. Have him reach these same convictions. What happens?
Luke 23:43
Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
Do you believe it?
Ill – I had never met Bill. The Highland County Hospital called me because he had requested a minister come to visit with him. Bill had apparently spent most of his life as an alcoholic, abusive, selfish, and terrible to everyone around him. Now, he was dying of lung cancer, and none of his family would even come to see him in the hospital. He couldn’t speak much at all as I talked to him. He knew he was going to die. He had questions about Jesus; questions about what he needed to do to be in a right relationship with God. I shared the story with Him about Jesus and how He had given His life, for all of us. He came to believe that Jesus was guiltless; that Jesus was King, and that he needed Jesus’ mercy. Bill said he wanted to be baptized into Jesus. He wanted His promise. So the hospital staff wheeled him, in his bed, with all that was hooked up to him, up to the water tank in the physical therapy room. There, he was lowered below the water and raised up a new person in Christ.
Take the worst person you can find. Have him spend some time around the cross. Let him look into the heart of King Jesus as He gives His life for him. Let him see the innocent bearing the punishment for our guilt. Let him ask the Savior to remember him. “Today, you will be with Me in Paradise.”
IV. Some Who Love Him
The gospels show us some others standing around the cross – not because they want to see Jesus dead; not because they have to be there; but because they love Him. Pay attention here.
People who love Jesus can be found standing around the cross.
Among them are Mary His mother and her sister, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, Salome, and the Apostle John.
Many of these women had come with Jesus from Galilee to attend to the needs of He and His disciples. Now, they can’t help Him. None try. Later, they’ll want to take care of His dead body. They can’t do a thing for Him while He’s on the cross. But they’re they are, standing around the cross. Why?
If for no other reason, He sees them, and they are seen with Him. They’re not afraid or ashamed to be associated with Him.
Matthew 10:32-33
Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
Today, and every week, a certain number of people gather at the cross. Jesus isn’t there any more, but they still gather. They don’t help Him by gathering. They still recall His death to people. They still aren’t afraid or ashamed to be associated with Him. They remember Him together. Are you one of those people? People who love Jesus can be found standing around the cross.
IV. You (Conclusion)
In different ways, people through the years have acknowledged that they are just as much a part of the mob around the cross as anyone else. Rembrandt painted himself there as the cross is being raised. Mel Gibson had his own hands star in his movie “The Passion of the Christ,” holding the hammer and nail that nailed Jesus to the cross.
Isaiah 53:4-6
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Who’s standing around the cross? You and me! The question to answer this morning is Why? Why are you standing around the cross? What do you find there? How does it change you today?
You don’t stand around the cross and leave unchanged.
