Good evening

As we begin tonight we come to the crucifixion.  The cross stands at the very heart of Christianity.  It has become the symbol of Christianity for the entire world.  We put crosses at the front of our churches, there crosses on top of our churches, we wear jewelry in the shape of crosses, and crosses form the cover art for many editions of the Bible.  It is the one symbol that has come to mean Christianity to the whole world.  In popular thought the shape of the cross is so closely tied with Christianity that in myth and fable it can be used as a ward against evil.  For Christians the cross not only stands at the very center of what we believe, but it also stands at the very center of history.  And yet in all this we have lost what the cross really stood for.

The definition of crucifixion in a book that I have says, “to put someone to death by fastening him or her to a cross.”  The word crucifixion comes from the Latin word “Cruci Figo”, which means, “I fasten to a cross.” The cross was the cruelest form of death and torture available to the Romans.  In our modern and western world, prisoners have rights.  And those Western societies which still allow death as a punishment, are meant to make every effort to make it as quick and painless as possible.  This makes it easy to forget that crucifixion was not just a method of killing people but that it was also a method designed to do it as painfully as possible.  The victim was left hanging naked on a cross often for days to suffer and be in agony before the body simply has no strength left and death follows.  The Roman crucifixion was a shameful, painful, and slow way of dying.  When a person was crucified they would have nails put into their hands or wrists and also into their feet.  Death of that person would usually come from suffocation. 

Each breath required much effort.  In order to get a breath the person would have to lift themselves with their arms and feet in order to fill their lungs.  Many times dehydration and starvation would factor in as well, because most people would hang on the cross for a couple of days before death would come.

Richard Bandler tells about visiting a psychiatric hospital and dealing with a man who believed that he was Jesus Christ.  He did not believe it in a spiritual sense, but literally.  Bandler walked in to the room to meet this man, and said: “Are you Jesus?” “Yes, my son,” came the reply.  Bandler said, “Wait here. I’ll be back in just a minute.”  The man was a little confused by his sudden departure, but Bandler returned in a few minutes with a measuring tape.  He asked the man to hold out his arms, and as he did Bandler measured the width of his outstretched arms and his height from head to toe.  As soon as he was done measuring, he suddenly left again.  The man claiming to be Jesus didn’t know what to think.  But it was not long until Bandler came back.  He was carrying a hammer, some large spiked nails, and two long boards.  He began pounding the nails into the boards to form a cross — exactly the right size for the man who was claiming to be Jesus.  “What are you doing?” the man asked, as his voice began to rise.  As Bandler was putting the last nail in the cross, he asked, “Are you Jesus?”  Once again the man replied, “Yes, my son.”  Bandler said, “Then you know why I’m here.”  Somehow, the man suddenly remembered who he really was. He began yelling: “I’m not Jesus! I’m not Jesus!” He was not nearly so interested in being Jesus at that point.

Now a lot of people would like to think they could be Jesus.  They are amazed at his ability to heal.  They are awestruck at his wisdom.  They are attracted by his power.  They think they would be like him, until they understand what he did and the sacrifices he made.  They would like to live his life, but they would not like to die his death.  But there is a very real sense in which he is asking all of us to do exactly that.

I would like to begin tonight by saying that Jesus invites us to share in his death.  Jesus is asking all of us to join him in his death.  It is not a literal death on a cross, or any other kind of physical death, but in a sense it is just as serious and painful.  We see this as he described his death in John 12:23-26.  Here in these verses we see Jesus in a way calling us to join Him.  Here in John 12:23-26 it says, “1”

Farmers know that a seed that does not die is no good at all.  If it just lays on the ground and never dies, it remains a seed and never becomes the plant it was intended to be.  When the right kind of seed lies in the ground and comes into contact with moisture, it looks like it is rotting, but as it dies a green shoot of life begins to protrude from it.  It is being transformed.  Death has transformed it.  It dies in order to do what it was intended for, to become something else — something greater than its former self.  Because of the death of that one seed, a plant will live which will produce a great deal of fruit, as well as many more seeds.

Inside an apple are many seeds.  When they fall to the ground and begin to rot, there are many trees that may sprout.  And off of each of these trees do you get one apple?  No you get a tree full, and when you pick one, many times a new one will come back in its place.  What about corn?  When an ear of corn falls and dies it can be replanted.  Do you get just one seed form an ear of corn?  No there are 15-20 rows each with 20-25 kernels that all turn to seed.  Then when they are planted is there just one ear of new corn per stock?  Now there are usually three.

This is what Christ is saying here.  Like the seed, Jesus knew that his death would lead to life for many.  It would also lead to life for himself.  Think of what would have happened if Jesus had clung to his life and not been willing to die.  There would have been no resurrection for him, or for us.  There would be no salvation from our sins, and that would mean there would be no way for us to make it to Heaven.  There would be no Savior to whom we could go to for forgiveness.  Jesus would have still been roaming the earth, instead of sitting at the right hand of the Father.  If he were still here he would have continued to heal and teach, but we would still be in our sin.

Jesus knew that his death was necessary in order to bring eternal life to those who believed in him.  Only by dying could they live.  Jesus also followed the seed idea by saying in verses 25-26, “1”

If we are to follow Christ we must join him in a death like his.  So what kind of death are we talking about?  It is a death to self.  It is dying to the life we want to live in order to live the life he wants us to live.  If we hold on to our lives, our plans, our sin, then we will die spiritually.  If we lay down our lives then we discover a life that we never knew was possible.  We must die to what we were, in order to become something else — something greater than our former self.  When that happens we can say with the apostle Paul like he did in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”   In order to live we must die to anything that we are depending on for meaning, purpose and happiness other than God.  There is no other way.  If we lose our life, we will find it. If we hold on to it, we will lose it.

With that said it leads me to the second thing I want to say tonight, and that is that Jesus invites us to share in his life as well.  Buddhism also teaches that there must be a death to self, but the death they speak of ends in nothingness.  They call it Nirvana — a state where there is no suffering, but this is only because there is no desire or sense of self.  There is nothing.  The death Jesus invites us to die results in life.  If you will turn with me to Romans 6:4.  The Bible says in Romans 6:4 “2”

Some of you may be familiar with the first law of Thermodynamics.  It says that mass or energy is never destroyed — it merely changes from one for to another form.  For example, if a piece of wood is burned, its basic elements are not destroyed.  Heat releases the gases in the wood and they are turned into energy.  Carbon, in the form of ash, is left — but the energy and mass of the wood are not gone, they have merely changed form.  When water freezes, it is not gone, it has just changes form until it melts and returns to liquid form.  When we die to ourselves, we do not cease to exist or go into the great Nothingness.  We are changed.  Transformed.  Jesus said in John 11:25-26, “3”

The third invitation Jesus gives is that Jesus invites us to share his resurrection.  The death that Jesus died led to his resurrection.  The death he asks us to die — this death to sin — also leads to resurrection.  We have gone from death to life.  It is not a negative; it is a positive thing.  It does not end in darkness; it ushers us into the light with Christ.  We have lost nothing; we have gained everything.  Jim Elliot, a missionary who was martyred in Equador, wrote in his journal: “A man is no fool to give up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”  The apostle Paul gave up everything to follow Christ.  He lost his career, and most of his friends.  But looking back, he said in Philippians 3:7-8, “4”

Paul lost all of the things that brought pleasure into his life.  Now Jesus is not the spoiler of good times.  He did not come to give us boredom and to remove all of our fun, he came to give us life.  He is the creator of joy.  We cannot achieve the Christian life by our own efforts at being good.  That will never do, and it could never work.  This is not something that we can accomplish on our own, it is a life that has to come to us from God.  It is a God thing.  It happens as his Holy Spirit enters our lives and begins his transforming work.

Its sounds wonderful, but it is also frightening.  “What is God going to do to me?” we wonder.  “Will I lose control?  Will I be strange or turn into a fanatic?  Will I know how to act if I die to my old self?  Will I survive this?”

To wrap things up this evening I have six words that I feel the crucifixion of Christ brings to us.  Each of them start with the letter “S.”

The first one is Salvation- John 3:16 says, “5”
The crucifixion of Jesus Christ shows clearly the will of God concerning mankind.  God wants to save us, not to destroy us.  God does not want anyone to perish but He wants all to have everlasting life.  The disciples once were caught in a storm while travelling in a boat with Jesus.  They feared they were going to perish.  But Jesus saved them by calming the storm, and then He rebuked the disciples for their unbelief.  The cross of Jesus Christ makes it very clear that God does not want us to perish.  Salvation is God’s will for us.

The next word is Submission- In Luke 22:42 we see this description.  Here in Luke 22:42 it says, “6”
The cross of Jesus Christ is an example of submission to the will of God.  In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed “not my will but thy will be done.”  He submitted to the will of God even though it was going to cost so much pain to Him.  The cross challenges us to submit to the will of God and not entertain unholy ambitions for ourselves.

The third word would be Sovereignty- John 19:10-11 hit in on this point.  Here in John 19:10-11 it says, “7”
The cross of Jesus Christ shows the sovereignty of God in our lives.  Jesus told Pilate “you have no power over me except what is given from above.”  He knew that nothing would happen in his life unless God allows it because His life was totally submitted to God.  Jesus did not consider his destiny to be in the hands of men.  He was aware of all the evil intentions of the Chief Priests, the Sadducees, the Pharisees and many others.  But He knew that God was in control.  No man can decide his destiny against the will of God.  The cross of Jesus Christ shows that God is in control of our lives.

Next we see the idea of Sacrifice- Matthew 20:28 says, “8”
The cross of Jesus Christ shows the sacrificial and selfless attitude of Christ.  All of His suffering was for the benefit of others not for his own selfish interest.  People can suffer and sacrifice when it is going to benefit them.  But Jesus sacrificed his life for the salvation of mankind.  The cross challenges us to give up our selfishness and be willing to sacrifice our welfare for the benefit of others.

The fifth idea is Suffering- In Luke 22:44 it says, “9”
The cross of Jesus Christ involved suffering.  He suffered spiritually, emotionally, and physically.  He suffered spiritually when He lost his holiness and became sin for us.  If a clean man is made dirty by pouring all filth and garbage over him surely he would suffer.  Jesus became spiritually filthy when all the sins of mankind was placed upon him.  Jesus suffered emotionally.  His agony in the garden of Gethsemane made Him sweat tears of blood.  He suffered physically when whipped and crucified with nails with a crown of thorns pressed into his skull.  No one has suffered as much as the Lord Jesus Christ. The cross challenges us not to magnify our own sufferings but to remember the sufferings of Jesus.
The last word that the cross brings is the word Silence- This can be found in I Peter 2:22-23.  Here it says, “10”
The cross of Jesus Christ is an example of silence in suffering.  Jesus bore his suffering silently.  He did not argue and grumble and murmur but instead He committed all things to God.  Even before Pilate He was silent.  The cross challenges us to be silent in suffering.  How often do we shout and rage and speak bitter words against God and people when we are suffer.  But what Jesus sets as an example for us to follow in to be silent.

In an article in Our Daily Bread, Bruce Goodrich was being initiated into the cadet corps at Texas A & M University.  One night, Bruce was forced to run until he dropped -- but this time he never got up.  Bruce Goodrich died before he even entered college.
A short time after the tragedy, Bruce’s father wrote this letter to the administration, the faculty, the student body, and to the corps of cadets.  "I would like to take this opportunity to express the appreciation of my family for the great outpouring of concern and sympathy from Texas A & M University and the college community over the loss of our son Bruce.  We were deeply touched by the tribute paid to him in the battalion.  We were particularly pleased to note that his Christian witness did not go unnoticed during his brief time on campus."

Mr. Goodrich went on: "I hope it will be some comfort to know that we harbor no ill will in the matter.  We know our God makes no mistakes.  Bruce had an appointment with his Lord and is now secure in his celestial home.  When the question is asked, “Why did this happen?” perhaps one answer will be, “So that many will consider where they will spend eternity."

Some may ask, why Christ died on the cross.  Perhaps the answer could be, “So that many could have the chance to spend eternity with Him and God in Heaven.”

In closing, Max Lucado, in his book Six Hours One Friday, tells the story of a missionary in Brazil who discovered a tribe of Indians in a remote part of the jungle near a large river.  The tribe needed medical attention.  A contagious disease was quickly killing the population and they were desperately in need of medication.  Many of them needed to be hospitalized.  There were many people dying every day.  There was a hospital not very far away, but in order to get there you had to cross the river.  The people of the tribe would not cross it, because they believed that evil spirits lived in the river.  They were certain that to enter the water would mean certain death — or worse.  The missionary explained that he had crossed the river and nothing evil happened to him, but they were not convinced.  The missionary took them to the bank and placed his hand in the water.  Still they wouldn’t go in.  He decided to walk into the water up to his waist; he even splashed water on his face.  But it made no difference.  They were still afraid to enter the river.  Finally, he dove into the river and swam beneath the surface of the water until he emerged on the other side. Once there, he smiled and raised a triumphant hand into the air.  He had entered the river and lived.  It was then that the people of the tribe broke into a cheer and followed him across.

What will it take for you to dive in?  He tells us that the only thing you will lose is your sickness, and the only thing you will gain is wholeness and life.  The good news is that someone has gone before you to the other side.  He has lifted his hands in victory.  He assures you that you will not only survive, but you will have life better than you have ever known it before.  He has said in John 14:19, “Because I live you also will live.”  He has crossed to the other side and is standing with his hands lifted in victory.  The question is, will you follow Him? 

Let’s pray.