The Cradle and the Cross: Christmas 2016 #1
This is an exposition of Mark 15:21-32. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, December 11, 2016.
Intro:
They couldn’t have known. Their minds could never conceive such horror. As Mary and Joseph cuddled their newborn bade there was no thought of dying. No thought of bloody sacrifice. There was just the unbridled joy of this new life. Their hearts were filled with pride, their minds overflowed with thoughts of triumph. Don’t forget, this child’s birth was foretold by an angelic visitor. This child was the work of God! Suddenly there was a commotion just outside. A group of shepherds burst in with tales of an angelic choir and the birth of a Savior, who is the Christ, who is the Lord. It was just too much. Mary and Joseph just could not make sense of it all. In all of their imaginings, they never thought that those tiny pink feet would one day walk the road to suffering. They never imagined those precious hands would be nail-scarred. But their precious baby boy was born to die. Our text this morning is found in Mark’s Gospel Mark 15.
Text: Mark 15:21-32
“Pastor, I think you’re confused. This is Christmas not Easter.” Oh, I may be confused but not about this. Christmas and Easter, the cradle and the cross are inseparably linked. His birth gives meaning to his dying and his dying is the purpose of his coming. We sing, “Joy to the World” because he came and he died. Thus the cross stands at the center of our faith. It crystallizes the essence of his ministry.
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?” We no longer ask, “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.
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 9:00 am Friday morning he had been tried, convicted and sentenced, scourged and handed over to be executed.
As you 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.”
Thesis: The cross captures the depth and wonder of God’s gift to us in our Savior, Christ, the Lord.
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 Redeemer with incomparable love. (15:21-24)
- The Cross reveals a King whose throne is an object of shame. (15:25-26)
- The Cross reveals a Savior who will not save himself. (15:27-32)
Conclusion:
The beauty of the Cross is seen in a Savior who will not save himself.
He suffered and died for you.
He stood in your place.
As the Good Shepherd, he willingly gave his life for his sheep.
The Cross reveals the extraordinary love of our Savior. It reveals the King whose throne is an object of shame. It reveals a Savior who would not save himself.