Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision (law and religious practices), why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.

Galatians 5:11

God has given us some valuable time just to be with ourselves. To sit and ponder about what truly matters. A chance to think again. Because once we are let out of the prison of house arrest, the frantic pace of manic living will kick back into high gear. My desire is that you will embrace the blessing of boredom this week to meditate on what has been done for you on the cross. It is Passion Week, the season of the year that gives purpose and meaning in the life of a Christian.

But for many of us, the cross has been buried under a pile of neglect. We have learned by habit, over time, to take the cross for granted. But this is our primary message, maybe the only message that actually matters. So during this rather unique time – a divine pause in life as Pastor Ken spoke about last week – I want you to consider along with me this week, how the cross of Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the only thing any of us can boast about. Paul writes in Galatians 6:14 – 

“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

I will also be referring to the book “The Crucifixion” by Fleming Rutledge because it is a cruciform masterpiece that has been written to help us consider just how deep and wide the love of God has been expressed through the death of the Messiah. In the opening of the book, Fleming describes how “since the turn of the twenty-first century,” the teaching of the cross has been devalued. She laments, “It is quite possible for a pastor to go through an entire year of Sundays and never once preach Christ crucified in any expansive way. The skandalon (offense) of which Paul the apostle spoke, and the difficult and controversial issues surrounding the interpretation of the cross, have gone missing from the heart and center of our faith. This is a grave deprivation affecting not only evangelism but also the shaping of the Christian life.”

I am convinced she is right. Modern day pastors want to talk about everything else but the cross. But let us be honest, the cross is all we really have. Listen to Paul, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:2)

Why is the cross so hard to talk about? Why do we think we have had our fill of it when Paul didn’t really want to talk about anything but the cross? I think one writer, Kenneth Leech, hits at the core of the problem with teaching the cross, “The proclamation of Christ’s death involves an engagement with the wounded Christ, the Christ who suffers, who ‘bears in his heart’ all wounds…it is a symbol of folly and scandal.” To paraphrase, Leech believes the cross is humiliating. 

It doesn’t make us feel good about ourselves.

This is precisely why we need to ponder it afresh. The cross is devoid of sentimentality and it exposes us to what really lies hidden in our hearts. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13:5 that we need to examine ourselves, and the only way to do that is to consider the cross. It is meant to be the x-ray for the soul of mankind. 

I am asking you to come and examine yourself this week. Here is how we are going to approach the five days leading up to the resurrection of Christ:

MONDAY: “The Death”

TUESDAY: “God’s Foolishness”

WEDNESDAY: “Reaching the Bottom”

THURSDAY: “A Place of Wrath”

FRIDAY: “Sin’s Dreaded Foe”

At the end of each study I am going to ask you two questions to meditate on. Let’s capitalize on the time we have been given so we can love the King who we often neglect in the busyness of life.

1. When was the last time you have really considered what the cross means to you personally?
2. What did Jesus actually accomplish when he allowed himself to be “handed over by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.” (Acts 2:23)