The Necessity of the Cross
Text: Isaiah 53:4-6, Mark 8:31-38
Pastor Phil Hughes, American Fork Presbyterian Church, Utah
February 26, 2023 First Sunday of Lent
Perhaps the most read daily devotional book is My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. It’s a classic. There is a copy in our library. You can get it free online. Many people continue to use it every day.
In it Chambers wrote to preachers and said, “If we get away from brooding on the tragedy of God upon the Cross in our preaching, it produces nothing. It does not convey the energy of God…it may be interesting but it has no power. But preach the Cross, and the energy of God is let loose.”[1]
My hope is that the energy of God will let loose in this church, in your life and my life, as I preach on the cross during these Sundays in Lent.
The Apostle Paul said it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching the message of the cross to save those who believe.[2] And he said while some want a show and others want special wisdom, “we preach Christ crucified.”[3]
Today through Resurrection Sunday the messages will focus on the cross. May God unleash his power and energy among us, reminding and convicting us of the grace with which we have been blessed, and the price paid for us to know such a grace.
This morning we begin with the necessity of the cross. Jesus taught his disciples “that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.”
Jesus said he must go to the cross. Twice he says this. The Lord said that it was necessary, indispensable, there was no other way, but the cross. Jesus did not say, “it’s a possibility”, or that his suffering, rejection and dying was one of the options, or that it could happen. He said “must”. It was a statement of certainty.
Really Jesus? There is no other way? We like options. We are 21st century Americans and we need options.
Perhaps Jesus had in mind the prophecy of Isaiah about the suffering Servant of God,
“he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.”
Jesus was wounded, crushed, punished and bruised on that cross. And because of that we are healed in our relationship to God.
It was necessary for Jesus to suffer and be rejected. To suffer is one thing. Some suffer heroically, with honor and admiration. But to suffer and be rejected is another thing. Rejection takes away any glamour in suffering. Jesus could not suffer in a way that would win him the applause of people. He was not a glorified martyr.
In Deuteronomy it says, “Cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree.” Jesus suffered as that curse for humanity.
Jesus said he must be killed because he is going to conquer death. He conquered death by going into it and through it and rising from it. Jesus couldn’t beat death until he tasted, experienced and was taken by death fully. He went inside of it and he came out of it. A real resurrection needs real dying. You can’t have resurrection without death.
Peter, one of Jesus’ foremost disciples, had trouble with Jesus having to die. He immediately takes Jesus aside and rebukes him. Peter says, “Never Lord.”
Peters’ words sound ominously like the words of the serpent in Genesis 3, who said, “You will not surely die.”[4] And you know what that led to.
Peter has acknowledged that Jesus is the Messiah, but he has yet to understand how Jesus will be Messiah. You see, Messiahs don’t get rejected and die. Never in Israel was it heard that the Messiah must suffer. Yes, there are the words about the suffering figure in Isaiah, but those passages came to be associated with Jesus long after his life and ministry on earth. At the time when Peter hears this they were not applied to the Christ. It was after Jesus did all he did that it became clear to the earliest Christians that what Isaiah was talking about was a foretelling of Christ.
But there was no paradigm for a Messiah to suffer, be rejected and die.
This is what it says about the Messiah in an ancient Jewish writing:
How fine is the King, the Messiah, who will arise from those of the house of Judah! He girds his loins and goes forth and sets up the ranks of battle against his enemies and kills the kings together with their commanders and no king and commander can stand before him.[5]
How triumphant and strong. This is the picture Peter had of what the Christ should be. He thinks that Christ will establish a reign of peace by coming in and overthrowing all those terrible Romans.
No, “For Peter, a suffering Messiah is impossible. The Messiah will come as a triumphant hero, dishing out punishment to those who oppose him.”[6] They will be the ones to suffer.
Peter thinks the Christ should be the ultimate winner, gold-medal champion, destined for honor and glory. After all, anyone who can silence the roaring waves of the sea and unclean spirits, to heal the sick with a word or touch, can feed thousands with a few loaves and fish is headed for glory.
So when Jesus said it was necessary for him to suffer, be rejected, and be killed it didn’t add up to the Jewish expectations of Peter.
Jesus recognizes where this comes from and says to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
It is Satan’s greatest lie to affirm that sin does not lead to death, that it is possible and desirable to pursue ‘the good life’ without understanding what God says about that life.[7]
But Jesus knew that the cross was necessary.
Peter, in a way he cannot know, opposes a deep mystery of God, because suffering is the only way to destroy the stronghold of Satan. Early on in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus says he came to defeat Satan and the kingdom of darkness.[8]
The ironic thing is that it would be satanic if Jesus didn’t go the route of the cross. Satan didn’t want the cross. And so attempt to tear Christ’s church away from the cross of Christ means Satan has crept in.[9]
Maybe we are stunned that Jesus would call one of his disciples “Satan.” Isn’t Jesus being a little rough? Jim Edwards, a university teacher who has written several very insightful commentaries on New Testament books said, “When disciples play God rather than follow Jesus they inevitably become satanic…”[10] And Peter is trusting his own knowledge and insight here.
When Jesus says, “Get behind me” he reminds Peter where disciples belong. “Disciples are not to guide, protect or possess Jesus; they are [we are] to follow him.”[11] Peter was quite sure he knew better than Jesus did.
It’s interesting that it says Jesus spoke plainly and openly about all of this. No parable. No symbols or cryptic language. Here, Jesus is shooting straight, right down the middle.
And his disciples can’t handle it. Can we handle it?
There are softer and easier ways. There are philosophies and religious paths that will keep us in tact. There are ways of living that do everything possible to cater to our self. But that is not the way of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This passage is not only about what Jesus will do, but also how we are to follow him. “If any want to become my followers…” Jesus says, “if”. It’s a choice to be his follower. It is never forced. But if you want to do this it will mean denying ourself, taking up our cross and following him. Again, just as the cross was a necessity for Jesus, so it is for us. It’s different in that for Jesus it was a literal cross. For us it is symbolic but means there is cost, sacrifice, and self-denial.
When Jesus says those who lose their life will gain it he doesn’t mean to follow him is a path of misery and hatred of self. Losing our life for his sake is placing our life in the hands of Christ, following him, and letting him determine our way.
Maybe the cross is so hard because we want to live, really live on our terms. We’re told to experience, taste and encounter life at its best. Everything we are told about the good life has to do with success on this world’s terms. How many funerals have you been to where the person is praised for living life to the fullest. “She lived every moment to the fullest!” Shun the thought of denying ourselves, or of not having it our way.
Just like the Messiah going to the cross doesn’t seem right to our human thinking, so our having to take up a cross doesn’t seem right. For most people, and we can get sucked right into this, our spiritual goal is to get through life with as little trouble as possible. We see any dealings with God as something that should serve us. But isn’t that a self-serving kind of religion?[12]
People talk about living our best life! Which is what exactly? The most pleasure I can get? Making myself happy? Jesus asks, “What does it profit someone to gain the whole world but lose their soul? Depends on our priorities and who we choose to serve. And if Jesus is Lord of our life then our best life is going to be what he says it is. And Jesus says our best life is actually losing our life for him and the gospel because then we will actually find it.
To lose our lives for Jesus’ sake is to accept whatever sacrifices and gifts, struggles and blessings come on his behalf.
It’s not enough to just believe Jesus is the Son of God. A disciple must also follow him – actively, personally, sacrificially – on Jesus’ way. Everyday I must ask the Lord how he wants me to follow him and what his call is for me as his disciple for that day.
People can observe Jesus. They can admire Jesus. They can like him and even respect him. But to follow him is to give our lives over to him. Following Jesus is exactly what it means – following after, behind him. If we follow we aren’t in the lead. Jesus is in the lead.
We follow in his steps and path. We aren’t alongside him. We are not hand in hand. We are behind him.
The cross is part of this following. But, like Peter, maybe we resist. We search for a better way. Surely the cross is not the only way. “Jesus, are you sure you haven’t lost your mind? Are you sure it is absolutely necessary? That is really going to cramp my style.” If that’s what you are thinking, who is putting that thought in your mind? The same one who put that thought in Peter’s mind?
Jesus is not interested in making our life as inconvenient as possible. The way of Christ is to live from God’s point of view which can often be madness to the world.
But Jesus is saying, “There may be times when I ask you to sacrifice. It may be for a day or a longer season of time. But you will gain a life you cannot know otherwise.”
I think sometimes we think this losing our life for Jesus’ sake is some huge move we have to make to make our life as hard as possible. Losing our life is probably made up of a bunch of small things. It is the constant saying “no” to ourselves and “yes” to God.
It is going through the little inconveniences, unselfishly giving up our preferences, yielding instead of insisting on our way.
Carrying the cross isn’t always the grand, big, spiritually-flashy thing. It is more often probably a number of smaller and simpler things put together:
taking time to listen to someone who is hurting, which, if you have done that, you know the patience and time it can take…
forgiving the person who offends us, which will kill our ego…
turning a deaf ear to gossip, which will kill arrogance…
sharing our material resources instead of hoarding them, which will put to death materialism…
doing some menial task that brings blessing in someone else’s life, which kills self-importance and takes humility.
It’s the small-sized sufferings that often add up to the larger work in our lives.[13] In every small thing a small dying takes place inside of us, and we follow Jesus a little more closely.
Jesus had to suffer and be rejected and die.
It’s God’s plan and God’s way. If it had been a victory constructed, thought of, and done by humans, then it would have been us saving ourselves. But it was God’s victory through his Son. There are some things that charisma, force, position and influence just can’t do. Salvation - ultimate and eternal wholeness, and being right with God - is one of those.
It had to happen. It was necessary. And praise be to God that it was.
Prayer: Lord, help us to not lean on our own understanding, but trust you and what you tell us. And help us to remember that whatever cross we carry, you always end up carrying the heaviest part yourself. Amen.
[1] P.330
[2] I Cor. 1:21
[3] I Cor. 1:23
[4] Genesis 3:4
[5] Targum Yerushalmi on Genesis 49:11
[6] David Garland, NIV Application Commentary, Mark, pp. 325-26
[7] Peter the Rock, p.83, Gill
[8] See Mark 1:24, 3:27, idea from James Edwards, Mark, p.255
[9] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, p.87
[10] P. 255
[11] Lamar Williamson, Jr. Mark, Interpretation Series, p. 153
[12] In Search of Belief, p.120-21
[13] See Elisabeth Elliot, A Path Through Suffering, p.31