The Old Rugged
Cross
32 And there were
also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. 33 And when they
were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and
the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. 34 Then said Jesus,
Father,
forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. 35 And the people
stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved
others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God. 36 And the soldiers
also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, 37 And saying, If
thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. 38 And a
superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and
Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. (Luke
23:32-38)
Many of us awakened on this beautiful spring morning to the sound of birds
chirping in the lush foliage of the season, and streams of radiant light
bursting forth from the sun rise of Good Friday. We face the observance of the
day with mixed emotions. It is a day when the greatest good of all time and
eternity was done for those who would know Christ as Lord and Savior; and it is
the day when the greatest sorrow imaginable was suffered by God the Father as
His only Begotten Son suffered indignation, humiliation, and excruciating pain
as He hung on an old rugged cross without the gates of Jerusalem – and in the
very sight of the Temple.
With tired and blood-stained vision, the Lord Jesus Christ looked out across
the rural hills and gardens which He had once traveled in His ministry of
healing, teaching, and miracles. He had loved those who followed to hear His
every Word but who now had deserted Him completely, or worse, joined in the
hecklers beneath that instrument of torture called a cross. He saw the brute
soldiers casting lots for the only garments that had covered His nakedness. His
virtue and modesty were as painful as the nails as He hung naked, in open view
of all, on that cross. He saw the priests and Pharisees exulting in His demise –
the same religious hypocrites whom He had so labeled and called a “generation of vipers.” He saw, as well,
the masses of residents of Jerusalem who had, less than a week earlier,
welcomed Him into Jerusalem with shouts of “Hosanna to the Son of David!”
Despite the most unimaginable and excruciating pain He felt in every muscle,
joint, and breath He took, there was at least one advantage to the cross – His
view of distant objects and people was enhanced by the higher vantage point of
the cross compared to those on the ground. He perhaps saw Peter, James, Andrew
and other of the disciples standing afar off. They were now fully awake and
fearfully watching with Him – though at a distance. But He saw far more
than just these – He saw you and me, our children, and our children’s children
from the vantage point of that cruel cross. The nails themselves had etched our
names into the palms of His hands. Can a woman forget her sucking child,
that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may
forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold,
I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are
continually before me. (Isaiah
49:15-16) Though transcribed by the prophet, Isaiah, more than 700 years
earlier, these were nonetheless the Words of Jesus! Graven does not mean to
WRITE. It means to CUT into.
Centuries and Millennia of the human race , both past and future, passed before
the knowing eyes of Christ as He suffered there, alone. No others saw what His
Divine Eyes saw that day, else all would have bent the knee and bowed their
heads in utter shame and despair of their actions. It is for this reason that
our dear Lord uttered those amazing Words from the cross at the beginning of
His crucifixion: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Truly, they did not know, and part of the
reason was that they did not WANT to know. Jesus was an open threat to the cozy
and economically rewarding religious establishment of the day – just as He is
in our own time. He represented a threat to the secular power of Rome as well.
As the unregenerate High Priest, Caiaphas said, And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest
that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, Nor consider that it is
expedient for us, that one man should die
for the people, and that the whole
nation perish not. And this spake he not of himself: but being high
priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; And not for that nation only, but that also he
should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.
(John 11:49-52) Let your hearts burst with gratitude, for those “children
of God scattered abroad” are you and I.
Why
did Jesus word His prayer in such a way? I mean, why did He ask the Father to
forgive them instead of frankly forgiving them Himself? I believe it is because
the greater offense was done to God the Father than even to Jesus who
experienced the travesty firsthand. There is no way that we can understand the
infinite love God feels for His Son. But He is a God of Righteousness and
Justice. If we are to be saved, that righteousness and justice must be
satisfied. It was satisfied in the sacrifice of God’s only Begotten Son. We had
some indication of the pain of that sacrifice in the command to Abraham to
sacrifice his own begotten son on this same mountain (Moriah) where Christ
suffered and died. But God would require no such sacrifice from any man. He
would pay the penalty of sin Himself. Moreover, no man was worthy to die in our
stead but Jesus. And Isaac
spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my
son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a
burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God
will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of
them together. (Gen 22:7-8) The Lamb God would provide would be His
only Begotten Son. You will not find this testimony of Christ in the newer
versions of the Bible such as the NIV.
Even a heart racked with pain and over-stressed with congestive failure (as the
cross inflicted) found premise to love deeply. Jesus also saw His dear mother,
Mary, at the base of the cross. A mother’s love cannot be dampened by fear. She
stayed there at the cross out of an immeasurable love for her Son. John, often
referred to as the Apostle of Love, was also there – the only disciple not to
hide away at a distance. Though the day was darkened from noon time until now,
Jesus recognized these two. It must have given Him a rare comfort that they
were there watching at His feet. When
Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he
saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy
mother! And from that hour that
disciple took her unto his own home. (John 19:26-27)
You
will also observe that there were two thieves crucified on either side of our
Lord. He, though near death in the moments to follow, yet found the strength to
add one last soul to Heaven before His death: And one of the malefactors
which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and
us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing
thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due
reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto
Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto
him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be
with me in paradise. (Luke 23:39-43) How happy I am
to read this, since that forgiven thief was surely the author of this devotion!
Unable to lift a finger to save myself, the Lord saw fit to do so! He has done
so for you as well if you are the called and elected in Christ!
Jesus has suffered on the cross from the
third hour (9 A.M.) until the ninth hour (3 P.M.). Darkness covered all of the
land from noon until He gave up the ghost at 3 PM – the precise moment of the
sacrifice of the Passover Lamb in the Temple. 45 Now from the
sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. 46 And about the
ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli,
Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Matt
27:45-46) During those hours of thick darkness, Jesus suffered alone. Even His
Father turned away His face from beholding the sin of the cross. Do you
remember the very words Christ uttered from any other recent study? How about
the opening lines of the 22nd Messianic
Psalm? My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Psalms
22:1)
The moment Christ uttered these words was
the moment of ultimate pain and suffering for Him but, alas, the ordeal has
been suffered, and the moment that dissects all time and eternity forever has
arrived! When Jesus therefore
had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished:
and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. (John
19:30)
Those three words are the most important and significant to each of us of all
words in the dictionary. Father, into thy
hands I commend my spirit:
and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. (Luke 23:46) And, behold,
the veil of the temple was rent in twain
from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks
rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept
arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the
holy city, and appeared unto many. Now
when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the
earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly
this was the Son of God. (Matt 27:51-54) This once
unbelieving centurion and his cohort became the Faithful Centurion, and fellowship,
from that hour.
That Temple Veil that was foreshadowed in
the old Tabernacle in the Wilderness was torn from top to bottom in the Temple
of Jerusalem. It was not torn from bottom to top because the world has no
access to God except it be granted them by a precious Savior. Our Lord and
Savior was typified in that Tabernacle by the Bread of Presence, the altar of
Incense, the Temple Veil, the Altar of Burnt Offerings, and the Mercy Seat! But
those types are now done away for the real and genuine article has arrived as
prophesied from Ancient of Days.
These few days of Holy Week have not been
so easy to read about. But it is important that we mingle the wine of suffering
with the joy of the coming Sonrise. Tomorrow is Saturday of Holy Week. Since
Easter follows hard on at sunset tomorrow, I shall expedite to the resurrection
and bid a reluctant good-bye to this mournful subject, and take up that
glorious resurrection of our Lord on the morrow!
