August 3, 2003pm   The Cross in the middle   Isaiah 53

By Ronald E. George Jr. at the Fayetteville Baptist Church

  

Clarence Jordan, author of the "Cotton Patch" New Testament translation and founder of the interracial Koinonia farm in Americus, Georgia, was getting a red-carpet tour of another minister's church. With pride the minister pointed to the rich, imported pews and luxurious decorations. As they stepped outside, darkness was falling, and a spotlight shone on a huge cross atop the steeple.

   "That cross alone cost us ten thousand dollars," the minister said with a satisfied smile.

   "You got cheated," said Jordan. "Times were when Christians could get them for free."

 -- Michael Jinkins, Itasca, Texas. Leadership, Vol. 5, no. 3.  

 

 How splendid the cross of Christ!

   It brings life, not death;

   light, not darkness;

   Paradise, not its loss.

   It is the wood on which

   the Lord, like a great warrior,

   was wounded in hands and feet and side,

   but healed thereby our wounds.

   A tree had destroyed us;

   a tree now brought us life. -- Saint Theodore of Studios in Breakfast with the Saints. Christianity Today, Vol. 41, no. 4

 

Isaiah 53      Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? ^2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. ^3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. ^4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. ^5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. ^6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. ^7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. ^8 By oppression  and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. ^9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. ^10 Yet it was the Lord ’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes  his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. ^11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life  and be satisfied  ; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. ^12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

 

Luke 23:33 When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals--one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."  And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One." 36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself." 38 There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" 40 But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." 42 Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. 43 Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

 

The Cross of Rejection:  39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"

 

The Cross of Acceptance:  40 But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence?

41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." 42 Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.{[42] Some manuscripts come with your kingly power}"

 

The Cross in the middle is a:

 

A Place of Sacrificial Giving.   

 A Place of Suffering

A Place of Substitution

A Place of support and love

A Place of selection / decision:  He decided to bear the cross so that we could decide to bear ours. 

 

Which cross would you bear?  Which cross are you on today? 

 

The cross of Rejection.  Would you say no to the Lord? 

 

The cross of Acceptance.  Would you say Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom? 

 

The cross of Sacrifice.  Would you say Father, not my will but yours be done?  Would you willingly bear your cross so that others may see the cross of Christ and be saved?  The cross of sacrifice is the cross that brings others face to face with the opportunity to live forever.  The cross of sacrifice is the cross that shows others the way of the Christ not the way of the thief who repents at the last minute.  Is there a difference?  Which way have you chosen?  Some may think that they can wait until the last minute and make it to heaven like the thief.  Can you? 

 

Matthew 16:24  Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

 

Isaiah 1:18  "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.