Christmas 2013 #5: an exposition of Matthew 27:32-56. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, December 29, 2013.
Intro:
It stands at the center of our faith. It crystallizes the essence of the ministry of Jesus. And yet, in the two thousand year history of the church, there has never been a time when the significance, centrality and the necessity of the cross has been so controversial. D. A. Carson has suggested that two thousand years of pious Christian tradition has “domesticated” the cross. It is a common fixture with which we have become comfortable. People are no longer concerned with questions like, “How can I be reconciled to God?” No longer are we asking, “How can I escape the judgment of God?” In fact we are questioning whether there is any need to be “delivered” from anything.
Sure, we still sing about the cross. We hang on to the “language” of the cross but it has been emptied of its meaning. It is retained as a part of our cultural heritage but we have “outgrown” its old fashion notion of bloody sacrifice and appeasing a wrathful God. Such notions are repulsive in our sophisticated day. Yet I would suggest to you that the great need of our day is a return to the preaching of the cross. We must return to a solid, biblical understanding of the cross of the Lord Jesus. We must return to the cross and force ourselves to remain there and drink it all in. We must see the horror and the agony of the cross. We must hear the sounds of the cross; the angry shouts of the mob, the cutting, sarcastic attacks of the religious establishment, the agonizing taunting of our Lord’s fellow victims and the tender, compassionate words of the dying Savior. We must tremble in the darkness and be startled by the shout that ended it all. For only then will we begin to see the beauty of the cross.
“Pastor you might want to look at the calendar this is Christmas not Easter.” The two cannot be separated. One without the other is meaningless. The cross and the cradle are two sides of the same coin. Our text this morning is found in the 27th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel.
Text: Matthew 27:32-56
He entered the city to shouts of joy.
It was an atmosphere of joy and celebration.
But that was Sunday.
By Thursday night he had been betrayed by one of his own.
He had been arrested and carried away to the authorities.
By early Friday morning he had been tried, convicted and sentenced, scourged and handed over to be executed.
At 9:00 am the nails were driven into his hands and feet.
His cross hoisted into place where he hung in agony and pain for “all the world” to see.
Six hours later it was over.
His body, lifeless and limp was taken from the cross and place in a borrowed grave.
As I read the Gospel accounts, one of the things that strikes me is the way in which the Gospel writers describe the crucifixion. We are given detail about the mockery of the crowd. We are told about the soldiers gambling for his clothing. But each of the Gospel writers leave it with, “There they crucified him.” Alexander MacLaren said, “Reverent awe forbids description of Him who hung there in His long, silent agony. Would that like reticence had checked the ill-timed eloquence of preachers and teachers of later days!” An understanding of the process of crucifixion is necessary for our appreciation of what our Lord has done for us but I’m afraid that often it gets in the way of seeing the meaning of the cross.
Thesis: The cross captures the deepest dimensions of the work of Christ on behalf of his people.
I want you to look carefully at the cross this morning and see the truth of the one who died there. On the surface he was just another victim of this cruel form of capital punishment. I am regularly amazed at how it is possible to look upon Christ on the cross and see nothing – yet millions manage to do just that.
There are three things I want to point out to you this morning.
- The Cross reveals a Savior who will not save himself.
- The Cross reveals a King whose throne is an object of shame.
- The Cross reveals a Redeemer who pays an exorbitant price.
Conclusion:
Look at Him nailed to that tree.
He is there for you.
It is your sin and your rebellion that placed him there.
Such is the price the Redeemer gladly paid.
The Cross reveals the Savior who would not save himself. It reveals the King whose throne is an object of shame. It reveals a Redeemer who paid an exorbitant price.