“Do you have any crosses without the little man on it?” That’s a real question a woman once asked in a jewelry store. And it says more about how we’ve sanitized the cross today than we’d like to admit.
In this message, Pastor Greg Laurie walks us through the darkest hour in human history—and the love that held Jesus there.
Notes:
Luke 23
The cross was not a fashion statement.
It was the most scandalous, horrifying symbol imaginable.
Next to Christ’s arrival in Bethlehem, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus are the most important events in human history.
At the cross, God and man were reconciled.
God’s righteous demands were satisfied.
It’s not an accident that when Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, He pointed us straight back to the cross, “Do this in remembrance of Me.”
Read 1 Corinthians 15:14–17
But here’s the good news: Jesus did die, and He did rise again.
And because of that, we know there really is life beyond the grave.
That’s what sets our faith apart from every other religion.
The cross was not an accident, but a plan. God’s plan.
Acts 2:23
The cross wasn’t a detour from Jesus’ mission.
It was the mission.
Before there was a Bethlehem, there was a Calvary.
Before there was a crown of thorns, a decision was made.
Romans 5:8 (KJV)
While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
John 10:18 (NIV)
“No one takes My life from me, but I lay it down of My own accord”
Christ’s road to the cross ran through a series of illegal and rigged hearings.
Read Luke 23:26, 32–33
Simon from Cyrene was forced to carry the cross of Jesus.
A garrison was 600 elite Roman legionnaires.
Matthew 26:53 (NIV)
“Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”
Jesus had access to more than 70,000 angels.
God placed Simon there to have the greatest privilege: to ease the pain of Jesus momentarily as he carried His cross.
This brush with Jesus changed Simon forever.
Read Luke 23:33–43
The Romans did not invent crucifixion, but they took it to another level.
Rome perfected it into a science of suffering.
It was a punishment designed to produce the slowest possible death with the greatest possible pain.
Crucifixion was death by suffocation.
A crucified person might survive for hours, sometimes days.
Your arms tire, and your chest can no longer expand to breathe.
Therefore, you must push up against the nail in your feet to pull in another breath.
THE SEVEN STATEMENTS FROM THE CROSS:
1. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
2. “Today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).
3. “Woman, behold your son! Son, behold your mother” (John 19:26).
4. “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).
5. “I thirst” (John 19:28).
6. “It is finished” (John 19:30).
7. “Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit” (Luke 23:46).
Matthew 5:44 (NKJV)
“Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you.”
Our sins put Jesus on the cross.
Acts 2:36 (NKJV)
“God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
That first prayer from the cross, “Father, forgive them,” was ultimately answered.
Thousands of those very people were cut to the heart, turned, and believed.
No one is beyond the reach of prayer.
The two criminals couldn’t have escaped their crosses.
Jesus could have escaped His with a single word to Heaven.
No one is beyond the reach of God, not even a hardened criminal.
Believing in Jesus can happen in a flash.
Read Luke 23:40–42
This man, only moments old in his new faith, had amazing insight.
He knew Jesus was the Son of God and would be going to His kingdom.
Luke 23:43 (NIV)
“Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Luke 9:23 (ESV)
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”
The cross means dying to self.
Luke 9:24 (NIV)
“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will save it.”
The world says, “Find yourself.”
Jesus says, “Lose yourself.”
Losing your life for His sake isn’t the loss of everything.
It’s the discovery of everything that matters.
Isaiah 53:10 (NKJV)
It pleased the LORD to bruise Him.
Jesus died to show His love for us.
If you are ever tempted to doubt God’s love for you, look at the cross.
Jesus died to absorb the wrath of God.
Jesus suffered and died to provide our forgiveness and justification.
Christianity says, “Done!”
Jesus said, “It is finished; it is accomplished!”
Christ’s love for you and me held Him to the cross.
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