The King Bore His Cross Well
Date: April 30, 2009 | Author: Albert Kienle
Michael Hart's book, The 100, ranks the 100 most influential people of all time. While Jesus is included He does not top the chart. Michael Hart listed Jesus as number three. Mohammed was number one because of the largeness of the Muslim faith today and the fact that Mohammed, by himself, brought that religion into existence. Sir Isaac Newton, because of his scientific successes, was number two. Jesus, however, being the only person ever to be both God and man sets Him uniquely above everyone else! (Matt. 1)
Baby Born King
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." (Matt. 2:1-2)
Jesus was born in Judea approximately 747 years after the foundation of Rome and in the time of Herod the Great, who had been granted the title "King of the Jews" by the Roman senate under Emperor Caesar Augustus.
Jesus was born King, not a Prince to be King. Two kings assuming the same title? One by birth, the other as an usurper of the title. There was bound to be trouble. And there was. Blood was spilled. From the onset the cross of death followed Jesus. And whether the stable manger was constructed of wood, symbolizing the cross, or stone, symbolizing the tomb, the future was now. Though Jesus had legal inheritance to David's dynasty, the hounds was after His blood throughout His life. They wanted blood, they tasted blood, they got blood. To uphold such a law, however, the hounds of death often employed others to do their dirty work.
The Kingdom of Man, led at this period by Herod and often inspired by the Kingdom of Night, is founded on power. The Kingdom of God, of which Jesus Christ came to establish and lead, is founded on truth. Herod reigned over a temporary kingdom; Jesus, an eternal kingdom. Herod was a king of the elite; Jesus, the king of the populace, the disengaged, the disenfranchised. His enemies accused Him of befriending publicans and sinners, even receiving such as kingdom heirs. And so He did. No wonder the crowds eagerly followed and heard Him gladly!
Of this King the Scriptures declared: "...The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." (Matt. 4:16,17)
Hail to the King!
The Prophet-King
The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!" "Hosanna in the highest!" Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written, "Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt." When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?" The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee." (John 12:12-15; Mark 11:10; Matthew 21:10,11)
This was Jesus' finest hour. God's King had come to the adoring cheers of the crowds, riding on a donkey. Donkeys were burden bearers and kingly beasts. Jesus was both King and Burden Bearer. The joyful songs were reminders of earlier times:
"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people ... The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end ... a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord ...Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." (Luke 1:68, 32-33; 2:11, 14) The tone of the two groupings of songs has a distinct connection to the Crucifixion; the Cross was ever present.
"Who is this?" The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee." Jesus is superior to the prophets of the past and present because:
- Jesus is God's full and final revelation of truth; nothing is to be added. Other prophetic revelations was incomplete, piecemeal, and progressive. Each prophet had a little bit of the truth; Jesus, as God's unique Son, understands all that is the mind of God.
- Jesus is superior in His position to everyone else. He is heir or over everything in God's creation. This is not true of Isaiah, Elijah, or any of the prophets of other religions. The prophets serve the Heir.
- Jesus is superior in His power to everything else. He can do what others cannot do. He created the worlds. Jesus is the Creator God of Genesis 1.
- His person is superior to all other prophets. Jesus radiates the brightness of God's glory in its fulness, not in measure. He represents God because He is exactly what God is in His personality.
- Jesus is superior in His ability to purge us from sin. Not only did Jesus speak for God as prophet, He came to die for sin. And that is not true of anyone else. Jesus did something for me that no other prophet, priest, or king can do for me. Upon finishing redemption's plan He sat down at the right hand of the Father.
The King on the Cross
"For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians. 1:18 ESV)
In the history and cultures of many nations there is often a common or shared rule: "Royal blood shall never fall upon the ground." That was the law but it was a law with loopholes. In the 1200s, the Mongul ruler Kublai Khan grew upset with his uncle. Not willing to shed royal blood, the Khan had the man placed in a blood-absorbent carpet and tossed about until he was dead. In 1688, the king of Siam had one of his kinsman beaten to death in an oversized mortar and pestle. The men died, but the law was upheld: no royal blood fell to the earth.
Not so Jesus. Jesus did not surround Himself with bodyguards and surveillance gear. He willingly gave Himself. He died. Royal blood fell to the ground.
For the crucifiers of Jesus Christ the cross became a laughable joke. Calvary was a comedy, a comical display, pure foolishness. They took the worst kind of human horror, cruelty, agony, and injustice and turned it into a joke. And Jesus was the butt of this perverted and extended joke. What was the joke? Listen to the sarcastic tones as different ones paraded in the joke:
- Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judeaeonum, Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews.'
- "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."
- "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."
- "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
Remember, "They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him." (Matthew. 27:28)
- Stripped of His freedom when they arrested Him.
- Stripped of His rights when He was unjustly condemned.
- Stripped of His friends when they all forsook Him.
- Stripped of His ministry to the people.
- Stripped of His clothing.
- Stripped of His life and His honour, any honour He might still possess.
- Now in charge of the Romans and stripped of everything, the Cross was still His own, Christ's only possession. (John 19:16-17)
See the setting of the stage for the comedy of Calvary, perhaps better known as the Games of Skull Hill.
- It went beyond the sneering, mocking, and hurling abuse at this crucified King of the Jews. It was cleverly staged by the Jewish and Roman leaders.
- Jesus was robed with a mock royal robe, complete with a scepter in His hand with which they then beat Him, spitting upon Christ in disdain for this fool claiming to be a King.
- They knelt in mock worship.
- Jesus was enthroned as a King above the people, His noble subjects, on a cross.
- Jesus wore a crown, not of gold, but of biting, digging thorns to add to the misery.
- For His most trusted, respected, and honourable courtiers two criminals were crucified on either side of this King.
- Then Jesus was offered mock royal wine, showing their satirical service to the needs of their Monarch.
Such a scene was a stumbling block to the Jews, that a crucified man could be their beloved Messiah and the Creator God. And for the mighty Roman Empire: You Jews want a king? Behold your King! Graffiti in an ancient Roman guardhouse shows a crucified body with the head of a jackass and a Christian bowing to this God! Such was the foolery of the idea.
But this King wore His Cross well!
For three hours the comedy game played out. Three hours. And only three. Then God took center stage. The comedy then became a drama. The merciless insults of the crowd is contrasted with the merciful intercession of the Saviour. The sufferings of Christ extended far beyond the physical world. The crowds were ripe for the holy wrath and judgement of an angry God. Such wrathful justice fell instead upon Christ Himself as our substitution. We must always approach the Cross with the right attitude. To do less is to risk the peril of our eternal souls and welfare.
The sun shone in the sky for three hours, then instantaneously, total, pitch blackness engulfed the scene, people and all. The sun failed. They couldn't move, couldn't walk down the hill, couldn't see where to go; they were immobilized. Everything came to a complete standstill, even the Passover sacrifices at the temple When God showed up at Calvary He came in darkness, in judgement form; supernatural darkness is often associated with The Presence in final judgement form. (Genesis 15; Exodus 10, 19; Joel 1, Amos 5, 8) Divine wrath is being poured out in its final form. Eternal fury is being unleashed upon the Lamb of God for sin in our place. Total darkness. Total silence. Total wrath. Total atonement. Total redemption. In these three hours Jesus suffers the eternal hell for sinful mankind. Three hours of the wrath of God focused upon Jesus Christ. Infinite wrath absorbed by an infinite Person.
As the blackness lifts it would be between 3-5 pm when the Passover animals were to be slaughtered. The priestly services were attempting to refocus when God punctuated the work of Calvary with the tearing of the thick temple veil from top to bottom. The veil shielded a holy God from an unholy people. Jesus by the Cross officially activated access back to God for sinful humanity. The Cross is atonement. The Curtain is access. The New Covenant was ratified and activated in His blood. At that moment the priestly laws, services, and sacrifices became obsolete by the New. At the same moment a tsunami type earthquake occurs, splitting rocks open bringing the city again to a halt., displaying His anger against sin upon His Son. (Psalm 18:7; 68:8, Rev. 16:18 ) The earthquake too shook graves alive, bringing saints out into the city in full view after the resurrection of Christ. This was God's final salute to the work of salvation by His Son on the Cross. He came to Calvary in darkness but also in light, access to Himself and life after death.
Yes, this King wore His Cross well!
This Cross became His crowning Glory! At that Day when rewards are given I ask for the Cross as mine. I am because of the Cross. Because of the Cross I am. It is only fitting I then return it to my King who bore it so well for me as my crown of thankfulness and worship before His wounded feet.
The King Behind The Rock
And they said among themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?" For it was extremely large. (Mark 16:3-4)
Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?" And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it. (Revelation 5:2-3)
Two questions. Questions of pertinent value. Who?
The motherly company of women arrived shortly after sunrise at the tomb of Jesus to properly anoint His body. They knew the entrance was blocked with a large rock. They also knew that behind that rock laid the source of all their hopes, now dead and dashed. Their feelings were echoed by the others: "... Jesus of Nazareth," ... they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who ..."(Luke 24:19,21) There's the 'who' again. Their dilemma went deeper than the boulder, it was their King behind the rock. It was their hopes and dreams, their past, present, and future, their fears, worries, and anxieties. It was their everything; everything that made sense, everything that gave life reason, rhyme, and purpose. Not the fluff but the 'stuff' of life. The Forever kind of life. With the death of Jesus they weren't expecting a resurrection; with His death, they were crying, There goes my reason for living. Life was shrouded in death, uncertainty, mystery, and the unknown.
For mothers and everyone else, what stands between you and Christ, between you and life? Have you experienced a death of some kind? What lies buried out of sight but refuses to go away? What unhappy memories do you still revisit? Who are you looking to to remove your shroud from off your shoulders? Who is your 'Who' in putting the pieces together? The women weren't expecting a supernatural visitation in answer to their question. Are you?
Answers to the unanswerable doesn't come easy, but it helps to start with questions. Life questions. Who is big enough and strong enough to answer the future? There is the prophetic scroll to be answered but there's also the personal scroll of your life that needs answering. Who is worthy enough to possess and manage the prophetic and personal 'seals' of the unknown. There is no one. Except One. The risen King behind the rock! Because He's been there! He alone answers death, hell, and the grave. He alone removes the shroud that enfolds all peoples, that covers all nations. (Isaiah. 25:7-8)
"Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals."Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll ... (Revelation. 5:5-7)
Jesus Christ is the Mighty Conqueror and the Slain Lamb. He is the center of the universe. His Power and Blood avails and prevails over all! He's proven true, superior, and sufficient. And it all and always reverts back to the Cross.
The blood of Christ will ever be the key to life and salvation, even at the end of the age. The Book of Revelation offers these snapshots: Christ the sacrificial Lamb whose blood purchased people for God. Those who had faced the 'accuser of the brethren' overcame 'by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony'. Countless multitudes standing spotless before God have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. The hymn declares, 'There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.' Has your sins been washed away? Nothing exists in Heaven without the scars of Jesus. The slain Lamb of God - Jesus Christ - is the very Light of Heaven.
O! For a thousand tongues to sing the praises of my Saviour-King? No. Just one, Lord, just one good one!
Jesus Christ is the big Question of life and He is the only Answer to life! Settle that Q&A for your own life - today!
Source:
http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/Grace_to_You/archives.asp?bcd=4/8/2009
