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The Message of the Cross
What does the cross mean to you?
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15 So they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar." 16 So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified. 17 They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. 18 There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, "JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS." 20 Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, "Do not write, `The King of the Jews'; but that He said, `I am King of the Jews.'" 22 Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written." 23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts, a part to every soldier and also the tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. 24 So they said to one another, ``Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be"; this was to fulfill the Scripture: "THEY DIVIDED MY OUTER GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS." 25 Therefore the soldiers did these things. But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" 27 Then He said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" From that hour the disciple took her into his own household. (John 19:15-27)
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Rome used the cross as a brutal method for executing criminals. But through Jesus’ sacrificial act, its message became one of hope and life for those who believe in Him.
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The cross meant various things to people in the Gospels. To Pilate, it was where an innocent man died. The religious leaders saw the cross as the way to eliminate a problem—with the rabbi gone, they assumed their position and authority were safe. When Judas Iscariot heard Jesus was condemned to die, he was greatly distressed and committed suicide. (Some Bible scholars believe Judas thought his betrayal would force Jesus to declare His kingdom and then Judas would take a powerful position in it.)
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In that culture, the cross represented shameful crime. Knowing the perfection of her child’s life and His identity as the Son of God, Mary knew the brutal punishment was undeserved. She also no doubt saw it as fulfillment of prophecy. (See Luke 2:34-35.)
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To Jesus’ disciples, the crucifixion was the time when their beloved friend and Messiah died. Their close relationship with Jesus seemed to end.
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What does the cross mean to you? Is it the place where a good man lost his life, a troublemaker was eliminated, or the Son of God died to save you?
​By Dr. Charles Stanley
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