3.29.15
"Walk With The Cross In Mind"
Audio Sermon Can Be Heard Here.
Palm Sunday.
Jesus on a donkey.
People throwing down their cloaks and palm branches.
They chant "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
Jesus is a rock star entering the town of Jerusalem.
In the devil's attempt to cause Jesus to sin in the dessert, the gospel writers record that the devil left for another time. I have to wonder if this was such a time. Not the time when the pain is filling his lungs while he slowly suffocates on the cross. Not when the Roman insults pierced his ears and his heart. No, I suspect it is the time like this when Jesus could have decided to rebel against his father's plan and declare: "Yes. This is how it should be."
He could have ordered an army of angels to drive out the Romans and clear the temple of the false teachers. Thankfully, he did not. As we look to Jesus and try to follow in his footsteps, this story is not an invitation to walk with him in glory and praise. That will come later. Much later at his second coming. No, this is the record of the final steps towards his end goal: the cross.
A walk towards death is a difficult walk. To follow in his example is monumental. We are all creatures of comfort. We will take the easy route almost every time it is offered. Observe the next time you come to a shopping center that has landscaping scattered about the parking lot. A person should park and follow the designated path on the walk clearly marked for them, but people do not. No, the extra steps required to walk to the end of the curb is too much, so they cut through the bushes and cause gaps in the landscaping.
Jesus was not that kind of guy. No short cuts for him. The first thing we can see in the story of Jesus and his trek to the cross is: The Walk To The Cross Requires Resolve.
In Luke 13:32, Jesus is warned by the Pharisees that King Herod was looking to kill him. (Sarcastic note: wasn't that just swell of them to warn him considering they were plotting to do so as well should he come to Jerusalem.) In his reply, Jesus tells the spiritual hypocrites and all others who were listening that he must continue doing his job for the next two days and then he would be in Jerusalem. Jesus is taunting Herod, and the Pharisees, by telling them when he was coming and that there was nothing they could do to stop him.
Jesus stood his ground with his disciples as well. We read in Matthew 16, that when Jesus lays out his plan to go to Jerusalem and be handed over to the authorities, beaten, and killed, he is "corrected" by Peter that it can't be that way. Gotta love Peter. Imagine standing toe to toe with God made flesh and correcting him. Jesus immediately sees who is behind this suggestion and tells Peter: "Satan, get behind me!" Jesus was resolve in his determination to walk to the cross.
The second thing we see in the relationship to the cross is that while Jesus had the Cross to carry, We Too Have A Cross To Carry.
In Luke 9:23, Jesus tells his disciples and those following him at the time that to be a disciple they must "deny themselves and take up their cross daily." Oh, how my grandmother would lament on a wayward grandchild or adult child of hers who was not living as they should. She would echo the meaning of this verse and tell us that the person or persons were her "cross to bare". I think Jesus had something else in mind, but Grandma's use of the phrase told me that there are things in this world that I just have to endure. There is no setting them down. Some jobs must be done.
Paul writes to the church in Rome that we must offer ourselves as living sacrifices on a daily basis. Letting our sin riddled flesh die and letting the spirit filled inner man that we truly are in Christ live. It is my least favorite verse in the Bible. Practical, yes. Prudent, yes. Difficult, yes and yes! Paul's admonition to let our old self die daily so that the new self can live is a challenge. But we can take heart that we do this in obedience to the example Jesus gave us on the cross. And we can do this because Paul tells us in Galatians 2:20 that we died with Jesus on the cross and that now it is no longer us that lives but Jesus in us. On those days when I am truly dead, and Jesus is seen living in me, amazing things happen! But when I resurrect the dead old nature and let him have dominion in my body, I am not surprised to find myself doing the things which I know I should not do (Romans 7).
Our cross can be heavy. It can be a burden we sometimes feel as though we can no longer bare. Before Jesus was forced to carry his cross to the site of his execution, he was beaten, tormented, and publicly mocked. Have you ever felt that way? Has life ever stacked the deck against you and not just one or two, but three or twelve or ninety things seem to hit you all at once? In those moments when we are beaten and mocked, and tired, there is hope.
The third thing we can learn from Jesus and his walk to the cross is that sometimes, We Need Others To Help Carry Our Cross. In Luke 23:26, we read that there was a man named Simon who was commissioned to carry the cross for Jesus. I cannot say if this man was a follower of Jesus before or after this day, but imagine for a second that he became a believer and walks in heaven today. Will Jesus see him strolling the heavenly courts and stop to say "thanks again for helping me that day on earth"? Who of us would not love that honor? That opportunity? Good news, we can!
If what we know about our lives after accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior is true, that we all have died and now Christ lives in us, then it reasons that when we see a brother or sister in Christ who is struggling under the weight of their circumstances and we stop to help them carry that cross a while, then we are in essence doing it for Jesus! Wow! You and I can have the opportunity to help Jesus! If we see it in this light, then helping a fellow believer should be a privilege, not a burden.
Ecclesiastes 4:12 tells us that when we are alone, we can be overpowered; but when there is two, we can help each other; and when there is three, we cannot be easily broken! If we unite together as fellow members of the body of Christ, we can be a force most strong. If we stand together with Christ as the third strand, we are unbreakable!
Maybe today is a day like the triumphal entry, and you are loved and adored by many. Maybe today is a day where you lay tired and disliked by most. As a Christian, we have the call to follow Jesus and be resolved to march onward. On to the Cross, and on to victory!
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