Barabbas Had The Best View Of The Cross That Day

"Barabbas had a wonderful angle on the cross; he could point to the middle cross and say, "There would I have been, if He had not been put in my place"."

~ The Cross He Bore (p.87)

There Is A Wonder In The Mockery Crown

If we are to receive the crown of life, Christ must receive the crown of thorns. He cannot be our Saviour any other way. That is what Krummacher means when he comments that...

In the crown of his deity alone, Christ could only say to a dying thief, 'Be thou accursed'; but in the crown of thorns he can say, 'This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.'

In the crown of his deity alone, he can only say to a Magdalene or a publican, 'Depart from me'; but in the crown of thorns he can say, 'Go in peace, your sins are forgiven you.'

It is in the diadem of thorns that he stoops low in humiliation and shame and sorrow to seek and to save sinners. It is only by the sharp thorn of his suffering that the poisonous thorn of our sin is drawn. In other words, apart from the cross God cannot forgive sin."

~ The Cross He Bore (p.66)

The Crown Of Many Mockeries

"That crown symbolized what sinful man thinks of Christ. He was not to be taken seriously. He was only fit for a stage-play! They made him a carnival king and placed on him the stamp of derision. With this mock robe, reed sceptre and crown of thorns, he was made to look like a theatrical figure.

Luther says that Christ was 'numbered with the transgressors, crucified as a rebel, killed by His own people in supreme disgrace, and as the most abandoned of men'. Ah yes! 'supreme disgrace', the shameful crown of thorns woven by the hands of men and placed on the Saviour's brow--man's estimate of Christ!"

~ The Cross He Bore (p.65)

They Were All Substitutionary

"William Symington rightly affirms,

'In every case He suffered for us, never for Himself'; and he adds, 'Not one throb of pain did He feel, not one pang of sorrow did He experience, not one sigh of anguish did He leave, not one tear of grief did He shed for Himself. If not one of His sufferings was personal, it follows that they were all substitutionary...During the whole period of his [earthly] life the Saviour 'was a-slaying'."

~ The Cross He Bore (p.61)

There Was A 'Greater' Hand Present

"Just as Caiaphas spoke more profoundly than he realized when he said that it was better that one should die than that they all should perish, so Christ's tormentors must have struck a chord in the Saviour's mind as they chanted, 'Who is it that struck you?'

Many hands were raised against him, both human and demonic, but Christ knew that there was one hand above all others that smote him. And as he bore our sins that hand did not spare him. 'It was the will of the Lord to bruise him; he has put him to grief...' (Isaiah 53.10)."

~ The Cross He Bore (p.58)

A Proclamation So Majestic...BUT MISSED!

"I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God." Jesus said to him, You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you shall see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN."

Then the high priest tore his robes, saying, "He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy" ~ Matthew 26.63-65

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"Never had the members of the Sanhedrin heard a proclamation so majestic as that which fell on their ears when Christ declared his Messiahship and warned of his second advent.

But unbelief and prejudice blinded them to the truth."

~ The Cross He Bore (p.45)

Predestination Keeps Perfect Time

Commenting on God's sovereign schedule in the hour of the arrest, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus, Klaas Schilder says,

"He allowed neither the forces above nor the forces below to tamper with the clock of history. He directed the battles of Caesars, the conflicts of kings, the migration of peoples, the world wars, the courses of stars and sun and moon, the change of epochs, and the complex movements of all things in the world in such a way that this hour would come and had to come."

Frederick Leahy adds...

"Yet as he prayed in the very shadow of the cross, Christ saw his death as the means to true glory, and he saw his own glory closely connected with that of his Father. Indeed they merged into one."

~ The Cross He Bore (p.25 & 28)

Day 13 -- The Cross He Bore

Well today we end The Cross He Bore with the imagery of outer darkness. Leahy takes us once again to the cross where at this time the sun begins to loose it's brightness behind the dreadful clouds of the Father's wrath being poured out on His Son. It's at this time that the Redeemer is experiencing my hell and your hell if you've been redeemed by Him. So why the darkness of the clouds? Why the removing of the outer light?

"it mercifully concealed Christ when he experienced his darkest moment on the cross. No human eye must see him then. This darkness coincided with Christ's descent into hell. Now he felt the unmitigated wrath of a holy God against sin. That darkness was a symbol of God's wrath. Hendriksen says that God's wrath was 'burning itself out in the heart of Jesus', adding, 'Hell came to Calvary that day, and the Saviour descended into it and bore its horrors in our stead.' In that hour of blackness He had nothing, nothing but the guilt of sin of all those for whom He died."

No exaggeration here....this chapter caught me off guard. I know I read it a year ago, but this chapter slipped my memory. I mean, other than this book, I can't tell you the last time I heard a sermon or even a study for that matter dealing with the darkness of this moment. The details that Leahy brings forth in this chapter cut to the heart.

"A great deal has been revealed: substitution, conflict with the evil one, reconciliation and more--God's holiness, justice and love. But how much of any of these can the human mind grasp? Is not Calvary a place veiled in darkness, even as God himself dwells in thick darkness, a place so holy and so awful that the wisest thing to do is to remove one's shoes and bow in penitent, grateful silence?"

WOW! AMAZING!

I hope you all encountered the gospel over the last 13 days for the first time all over again. I hope that you will meditate on the Redeemer's sufferings. I hope that you will share with others about His sufferings for sinners. My great hope is that you love Jesus more now then you did 13 days ago and your affections for Him have increased greatly.

Thank you for taking this journey with me. I hope it is one that you will remember for ever, but that you will take once again next year at this time....passion week!

"He is the true light and those who follow him 'will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." ~ 1 Peter 2.9 & John 8.12

Day 10 -- The Cross He Bore

Due to sermon prep, I'm a day behind in my reading, but today I will catch up.

Today's reading takes us down the via dolorosa where Christ carries the weight of the cross on his back, down this street all the way through the gates to the outside of the city and onto the hill of Golgatha. It is at this place where He will be nailed to the cross and suffer the wrath of God for the sin of His people. Its shame and reproach He will bare.

"To be thus hanged on a tree was considered the greatest possible disgrace and the most shameful end for any man, being publicly proclaimed to be under God's curse."

He was driven outside the city, in the same manner as the Old Testament scapegoat was driven outside of the camp. Not only as a sacrifice, but also as a reminder of the removal of sin.

"So Christ in his own person and work actually offered himself as a sacrifice for the sins of his people, sins that the Father had laid on him, thereby removing them for ever out of sight, but the cost was incalculable, the burden crushing and the curse as bitter as hell."

So He was cast out onto unholy ground. He was cast out into the place that was considered to be the filth and scum of the earth. But it's here on this unholy ground that Christ would actually sanctify and consecrate His people. It's here on this unholy ground that He would make the holiest of all offerings. It is here where the greatest sacrifice was offered to God for the greatest of sinners--you and me!

"So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp, and bear the reproach for him."
~ Hebrews 13.12-13

Day 7 -- The Cross He Bore

Today's chapter is pretty straight forward. Of all the chapters so far, the events in chapter seven were the most familiar to me. Nevertheless, the significance behind this event in chapter seven, of sentencing Christ to death, definitely heightens the emotions even more toward Christ.

"Then the high priest tore his robes, and said, 'He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment?' They answered, 'He deserves death.' ~ Matthew 26.65-66

"The Jews saw the Nazarene as an arrogant impostor, robbing God of his glory by claiming divine prerogatives and even going so far as to claim equality with God. They simply saw him as a self-confessed fraud and a dangerous upstart."

So naturally, to these 'law abiding leaders', He "deserves" death.

In John 18.14 Caiaphas proclaims to the people something absolutely remarkable....

"Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people."

Fearing the response of the Romans, because of the popular following of Christ, Caiaphas made this statement without knowing that there was an incredible truth to its claim. The truth is, one Man must die on behalf of the people. But this is no prophet of God. This remarkable statement made by a despicable human being, actually spoke truth of the very act that was soon to take place.

"Ultimately two voices have spoken in that courtroom, the voice of God and the voice of Satan: both said, 'One for all.' But there is fundamental disagreement between them. God speaks in terms of redemptive substitution, substitutionary atonement; Caiaphas, who is Satan's tool as much as Judas, speaks in terms of elimination. God would have his Son die for his people so that they might live; Caiaphas would have Christ die in order to be rid of him..."

"Thus predestination and human responsibility meet as Christ is condemned."

"this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death." ~ Acts 2.23

Day 6 -- The Cross He Bore

Caiaphas is getting more and more ticked off with Jesus. First he tried to muster up some big time liars to accuse Christ of things that were untrue. Now he's confronting Him, by just accusing Christ himself. Now that there is no one to bring accusations against Christ, Caiaphas is beginning to look more and more like the fool he is, so with his last straw, Caiaphas resorts to holding Christ under an oath (do you see anything wrong with that????) and says,

"And the high priest said to Him, 'I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God." ~ Matthew 26.63

And NOW Jesus breaks His silence and says,

"You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you shall see The Son Of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." ~ Matthew 26.64

"He saw beyond the cross and the resurrection to his glorious return as judge and he saw his enthronement at God's right hand. Never had the members of the Sanhedrin heard a proclamation so majestic as that which fell on their ears when Christ declared his Messiahship and warned of his second advent. But unbelief and prejudice blinded them to the truth."

Day 5 -- The Cross He Bore

Day five discusses the silence of the lamb. The silence of the one who faced a religious court that was 'hell bent' on seeing Christ be put to death. The questions and the interrogations came, but the Redeemer remained silent. No defense or reason to the claims that were being falsely made against Him.

"What took place in the Sanhedrin that day was more a plot than a trial. The overwhelming majority of those present had but one aim, the death of Christ. To achieve this they trampled on justice and morality."

So why did the Redeemer remain silent when accusations came flying in from almost everywhere? I mean surely He could have just said the accusations were false or explain what He meant by some of His teachings on His death and resurrection.

"God does not unfold his mysteries to the wicked. The meaning will become apparent in due course. He will not cast his pearls before swine, rather he will leave it to his judges to execute their high office before God. In this he did justice to them and at the same time condemned them."

So we gaze upon the Redeemer standing before a corrupted court seeking to destroy the very One who created them. Seeking to put to death the One that voluntarily gave of Himself to be bound, captured and now put through a trial that is short of anything that is remotely just. So He stands in silence.

"Because of his sublime and sovereign silence, he has earned the right to speak eternally. His silence was an act of mighty obedience to his Father's will. Calvin says, 'He is now our advocate before God, always having His mouth open.'"

"My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;" ~ 1 John 2.1

Day 4 -- The Cross He Bore

The scene is slowly changing. We have just spent precious time examining the intimate details of the submission of Christ, to His Father and His 'cup' of wrath, in Gethsemane. Now we are entering into the moment where Luke in His gospel says, "This is your hour and the power of darkness" (Luke 22.53). It is at this moment, a predetermined hour, that the enemy is given freedom and access to the Redeemer.

"Christ met his captors at the entrance of the garden. How easily he could have escaped arrest! But in the spirit of voluntary self-surrender he met his enemies."

Every single event, episode and detail throughout redemption history has brought us to this place, to this time and for this purpose--the gospel!

"The hour of Christ's arrest, trial and crucifixion was determined in the counsels of the Godhead from all eternity. Clearly, Christ saw his captivity in terms of God's sovereign schedule."

"But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled." ~ Matthew 26.56

As Christ said, "the hour has come and now remains" we are seeing Christ being arrested, bound and taken into captivity from the very ones that He Himself may one day "set free" not from a civil prison, but from the prison of darkness and brought into His Kingdom of righteousness.

"Yet as he prayed in the very shadow of the cross, Christ saw his death as the means to true glory, and he saw his own glory closely connected with that of his Father. Indeed they merged into one. The garden was empty again, this lonely garden that time-wise is situated mid-way between Eden and a greater garden than Eden that is so beautifully described in Revelation 22, and where flows forever 'the river of the water of life'."

Day 3 -- The Cross He Bore

I'm reminded in today's reading that I need to be thankful that God gave us His Word, the Bible! It is here where we can go to understand what He has revealed of Himself and all the events of redemption history. And now we continue to look at redemption history by peaking in and observing this moment of Christ's submission to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane.

"Without the inspired record of the Redeemer's agony in Gethsemane, we would have a much less vivid impression of the peculiar intensity of his griefs and the crushing weight of the load that he bore. Gethsemane is not a place for hurried theological tourism: it is where the believer must linger, watch and pray."

"He made himself of no reputation" is what Philippians 2.7 teaches us. But just because we have a bright moment into the humanity of Christ, it does not mean that Christ laid aside His deity even for one second and we must remain steadfast in our defense that Christ did not give up His divine attributes, but merely subjected Himself in position "taking the form of a servant." We must boldly reject the heresy that has pervaded history, saying that Christ emptied Himself of His deity. B.B. Warfield says,

"No Christian heart will be satisfied with a Christ in whom there was no Godhead at all while He was on earth, and in whom there may be no manhood at all now that He has gone to heaven. There is no half-way house between the doctrine that Christ is both God and man."

So we see in His humanity the restraint of Christ. His submission to His Father--the covenant of Grace. As we see the agony in the garden of Christ looking to this 'cup' of wrath from the Father and the Father's deafening silence. The climax of the gospel and the covenant of grace is what we should be thinking of, as well, in this moment in the garden.

"The real truth is that while He came to preach the Gospel, His chief object in coming was that there might be a Gospel to preach."

Day 2 -- The Cross He Bore

Wow! There is so much in this second chapter that I want to discuss. Chapter 2 directly deals with Christ's submission to the Father and His 'cup'. What is it about this 'cup' that causes Christ to be brought to this moment of anguish and intensity? What is about this 'cup' from the Father that causes us to be drawn in to see His humanity?

"The cup placed in Christ's hands by the Father induced a heaviness and dread he had not previously known and His sinless humanity shrank back from the horror of that cup. In the Old Testament the term 'cup' frequently refers to God's punishment of sin."

Here Leahy begins to slowly move us into the realm of the humanity of Christ. It's at this point that I'm confronted with my own weak understanding of His humanity. I fight the fight of faith to believe that 'He is' and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him, but neglect meditating on the biblical expressions of His humanity. I admit that I don't want to see my Redeemer suffering in that moment of agony. He's begging and pleading with the Father to let that cup pass. "Is the cross the 'only' way?"

"How clearly the true humanity of Christ is seen in Gethsemane, more so than in much of our standard dogmatics! For evangelicals are so concerned to defend the deity of Christ, and rightly so, that often they hardly know how to handle his humanity!"

What should amaze us is that in all that Christ endured in Gethsemane He never once wavered in His obedience to His Father. His great desire was to please the Father by fulfilling His will. And this is where we clearly see the prayerful submission to the Father and His cup of wrath to come.

"we see him enduring our hell so that we might be set free to enter his heaven. And so at unspeakable cost he drank 'the cup' to the very last drop. Now he gives to his people the cup of salvation."

Two cups....a cup of death, for a cup of salvation. One day there will be a 'heavenly toast', and we will raise our cup of salvation, provided by sovereign grace!

Day 1 -- The Cross He Bore

As I began to read for day 1, I quickly remembered why I purposed in my heart to read this book every year. As I read, I can't help but be drawn into the imagery of the moment, that I actually feel for a second, that I'm there watching everything unfold. Amazing!

I have highlighted some statements that made an impression on my soul:

"All the wisdom of believers', wrote Calvin, is comprehended in the cross of Christ."

"As the cross is central in God's eternal decrees, and in the actual redemption of his people, so it should be central in the thinking and experience of the individual Christian."

"The Gospels....Their purpose is theological, to convey to mankind what God has done in Christ for the salvation of sinners."

"'My soul, he said, is very sorrowful even to death.' This is no ordinary distress. His acquaintance with grief was unparalleled."

"...the death of Christ is different from every other death. He died as the Surety for his people and as their Substitute. Not only must he experience physical death, but also he must taste eternal death--damnation--separation from God!"

"Christ's death is not to be compared with any other....he anticipated the approaching wrath of a holy God."

Leahy goes on to end chapter one with 9 fast moving questions that draw you in even further anticipating the answer to the questions of why did Jesus go from 'a holy peace' feasting with the disciples to 'an awful anguish' suddenly gripping the soul of the Redeemer. What was in that cup? It smelled the stench of hell.

Leahy finishes the chapter with a line that will be forever remembered when we think back on this book and even more significantly the garden of Gethsemane....

"Lord, forgive us for the times we have read about Gethsemane with dry eyes."

The Cross He Bore

Starting today our church is reading through The Cross He Bore by Frederick Leahy. I first became aware of this book about a year ago and purposed to read it every year right before Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. It is an incredible read and its aim is to challenge everyone to meditate on the sufferings of our Redeemer. Edward Donnelly writes in the foreword:

this book has three virtues: it provides solid instruction; gives full play to a disciplined and sanctified imagination; and it recalls the neglected art of meditation. He says further that "in rereading these chapters, I found myself more than once compelled by emotion to stop--and then to worship.

I'm praying that all our people at New Life Church will also be compelled to stop and worship our Redeemer as we journey together one chapter a day for 13 days!