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Jesus and the Jesus Creed: At the cross with Jesus
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Luke 23:26, 44-47 New International Version
The Crucifixion
26 As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.
Jesus’ Death
44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.”
Jesus and the Jesus Creed: At the cross with Jesus
How would you portray the crucifixion of Christ if you were a movie maker? When Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ came out in 2004, I had a conversation about the stark and graphic way the violence of Christ’s death was portrayed. Someone told me about a movie they had seen a number of years ago. Instead of showing the nails piercing the wrists of Jesus, the camera panned away and you were left to simply hear the pounding of the hammer. That person thought this more subtle approach was more effective in communicating the harsh reality that was crucifixion.How would you show it; or would you not show it? Whatever your answer, if you are trying to give an honest portrayal in this movie of yours, you need to find a way to communicate the absolute horror and outrage of this death. Crucifixion was meant to give clear evidence of the ability of Rome to wipe out any threat to its power. It was reserved then for enemies and non-citizens. Is it any wonder that Jews interpreted Deuteronomy 21:23 as referring to crucifixion?—anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse. Hanging there, naked and bloody, for all the world to see, what else could this be but a sign of being abandoned by God?
Yet, we adorn our churches with large crosses. We include the cross design in the church logo. Crosses are carved out of wood and chiseled from stone and crafted by a jeweler into beautiful pieces of silver and gold, and no one gives it a second thought. If you came into my office and saw this cross sitting on the curio stand, you would think nothing of it. If I told you it was a handmade gift from one of the homebound members of the church you would think me fortunate to be the recipient of such thoughtfulness.
But, if the next week you came into my office and saw a tiny guillotine you would think it at very least odd. And if that same day my wife was wearing a silver representation of an electric chair, you would begin to think we had both gone a little squirelly. Clandestine meetings would be convened all over the building as soon as worship ended. “What are we going to do? The pressure’s obviously gotten to him.”
An instrument of death becomes the symbol of a faith that promises life eternal. What is going on?
We cannot escape the cross because the cross is for every person. As the led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus.
As you likely know from sermons previously heard, the uprights of the cross were left in place on that hill outside of Jerusalem. The Romans left this reminder of how they dealt with thieves and rebels out in the open for everyone to see. The cross beam was carried from wherever the trial had taken place to Golgotha. It was carried by the condemned person.
The gospel records differ slightly on what happened. John says that Jesus carried the beam. Luke, along with Matthew and Mark, tells us a man named Simon was pulled out of the crowd and pressed into duty. Likely what happened was a combination—Jesus was given the beam, but was in such a weakened state after being beaten that he fell to the ground under its weight. Simon of Cyrene was then pulled from the crowd to help him.
I believe this tells us two things. The first is that for the Christian the cross is a part of every day. One commentator suggests that it would not have been hard to find a Simon to be the cross-carrier. Simon was one of the most common names in use in the ancient world at this time. In other words, Luke is telling us that it was an everyday Joe who became the one to bear the burden for Jesus.
The second thing going on here is we are given an image of what the Christian life is to be. When Luke tells the story of Peter’s declaration that Jesus was the Messiah of God, in the response of Jesus he says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23, ESV, emphasis added). The cross in the life of Jesus was a one time event, but the whole life of Jesus was cross-shaped. Our lives are to be cross-shaped also. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor and theologian who died as a prisoner in Nazi Germany said, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.”
Those of you who know me know that I am concerned about the life of this congregation and about our growth as a church. But we must face it that it is not the latest gadget that we have to sell to our world. Our product, if you will forgive me such a crass term, is nothing less than an invitation to fully embrace the life of Jesus as our own. Every day Jesus needs the help of ordinary folk to bear the weight of the cross because it is only a cross-shaped life that will hear and do the will of God.
Then let’s not bother with God’s will! Wait a minute. We cannot escape the cross because we need what is accomplished through the cross. …the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
You know the story, don’t you? Let me remind you. The temple in Jerusalem that existed at the time of Jesus was one that had been renovated by King Herod the Great. It’s outer court was called The Court of the Gentiles. Anyone was welcome in this area. There were signs posted warning non-Jews that to go any further was to risk being put to death.
Moving inward we come to the Court of the Women, then the Court of the Israelites, and then the Court of the Priests. The number of people eligible to enter each of these smaller courts becomes fewer and fewer until the Most Holy Place, also known as the Holy of Holies, into which only the High Priest could enter and him only once per year on the Day of Atonement.
The Most Holy Place was thought to be the dwelling place of God on earth and it was a curtain that separated it from the rest of the Temple area. This was the curtain that was torn from top to bottom when Jesus died on the cross. This is not only something that happened as a tangible reality, it is a symbol of what was accomplished by the death of Jesus. In The Letter to the Hebrews the author speaks of the confidence we have to enter the sanctuary, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (Hebrews 10:20). In other words Jesus has made it possible for those who trust in him to gain access to God. The curtain is gone; the high priest who went before God on behalf of the people is no longer necessary. Through Jesus we are welcomed into the presence of God.
I suppose it must be some fifteen years ago that I saw John Gladstone make a slight error in a sermon. This didn’t happen often. Dr. Gladstone was legendary amongst Canadian Baptist preachers for his flawless oratorical skills, thoughtful sermons crafted with care and delivered without notes.
During one Lenten season John was the preacher at an ecumenical Sunday evening worship series in Markham. One of those evenings was held at St. Joseph’s Church on Highway 7. John was talking about the suffering of the cross and mentioned the crucifix, a cross with the representation of Jesus still on it. He turned to the altar area behind him where he expected to be able to point to a crucifix. This particular Catholic Church is one that is simple in architecture and devoid of almost anything in the way of ornate art work. There was no crucifix there.
The reason I mention that is simply that despite the possibility of sounding like a reactionary, I worry about churches which have no place for a cross because it might put some people off. I think anyone put off by the cross doesn’t understand how much they need the cross.
There is one more thing. We cannot escape the cross because it is at the cross where love is clearly revealed. I mentioned earlier that it is the first three gospels that tell us Simon of Cyrene was pulled from the crowd to carry the cross beam. Mark adds one detail: They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus (Mark 15:21). The only reason I can think to add that detail is that this family was known to Mark. In other words, they had become part of the Christian community; they were believers.
John, who always gives a slightly different slant from which to view the gospel story tells us what Jesus said would happen as a result of his death. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself (John 12:32). Luke reports the witness of a most unlikely source. When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent.”
We don’t know exactly what happened to Simon that day at Golgotha, but we can speculate and I think be close to the truth. Simon had come to Jerusalem for the Passover. This was the celebration of God having led Israel out of slavery in Egypt. Lambs would be killed in order to be eaten as part of the Passover meal. I believe Simon came to understand that Jesus was the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). He came to understand that this horrible death was the greatest expression of love the world has even known.
Jesus said, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). Paul put it this way. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
The Jesus Creed is to love God with heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbour as yourself. We have come to the end of our study of this creed given to us by the Lord and yet we have ended at the beginning. The love we are to return to God, the love we are to share with the world, is a cross-shaped love. You would rightly think me odd at best were I to wear a tiny guillotine around my neck. But the cross is not remembered as only an instrument of death. It is remembered as the place where the victory of love began.
I admit at times it seems foolish to speak of that victory in a world of AIDS orphans and Canadian soldiers dying in Afghanistan and young lives being wasted in street gangs in north-west Toronto. But speak of victory we do because it was at Golgotha that truly all appeared to be lost. Instead love was showing the way to life. It still does!
This is an ariel view of the National Cathedral in Washington, D. C. Now there is a church in good shape!
