Remembering the Cross of Christ

In Scripture and in Song

The Place Where He Was Crucified• We sang “At Calvary” and “There Is A Green Hill”• Golgotha: Hebrew word, meaning “place of the skull” (John 19:17)• Calvariæ locus: Latin phrase, “Calvary” in English, meaning “skull place”• Kraniou topos: Greek phrase for “skull place”• Theories abound on why the location had this name, but no hard facts

• Refers to a place outside the walls of Jerusalem (Hebrews 13:12-13)• Exact location is unknown, despite many claims for one hill or another• Simon of Cyrene was forced to carry Jesus’ cross part of the way (Luke 23:26)

• John 19:17 (NASB) says: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.

The Cross of His Crucifixion•We sang “Ivory Palaces” and “At The Cross” • Crucify: to nail or tie to a tree or upright beam • A method of torture, usually ending in death, with the utmost suffering and disgrace• Death came slowly with a combination of blood loss, heart failure, and suffocation• Jesus knew this was His fate, and He willing went to the cross (Matthew 26:2)

• History of crucifixion• Practiced for over a thousand years, from 6th century BC to 4th century AD• Persians, Seleucids, Greeks, and Romans used it as capital punishment• 519 BC: Darius I (king of Persia) crucified 3,000 political opponents• 88 BC: Alexander Jennaeus, the king of Judah and High Priest (a Sadducee) crucified 800

Pharisees who opposed him• Alongside Jesus, the Romans crucified two criminals (Luke 23:33)• Romans crucified up to 100,000 Jews in the first century because of rebellion

The Message of the Cross• We sang “The Banner Of The Cross” and “I Will Sing The Wondrous Story”• What did Jesus’s death on the cross accomplish?• He bore away our sins in His body (1 Peter 2:24)• Our peace with God (Colossians 1:20)• Our reconciliation to God (Ephesians 2:16; Romans 5:10)

• What does the cross teach us?• The cross itself is not a relic to be worshiped, but a symbol of what God did at Golgotha• Jesus loved us enough to endure such a death for our salvation (Matthew 26:2)• To preach the cross is to preach the Gospel (1 Corinthians 1:18; 15:1-3)• God saves us today through the preaching of the Gospel (Romans 1:16)• In baptism, we join in Jesus’ death on the cross, His burial in the tomb, and His triumph of

resurrection over death (Romans 6:3-7)• The message of cross is an invitation to you, to be saved from your sins and

receive the gift of eternal life, through the power of the cross.

Bearing Our Own Crosses•We sang “I’ll Never Forsake My Lord” and “Lead Me To Calvary”• Each of us must bear our own cross• Sacrifice of selfish desires, the spiritual “death” of self to sin• Make God first in your life, above self and family, forsaking false religion• Matthew 10:38 “he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me”• Matthew 16:24 “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up

his cross and follow Me.”• Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ”• Galatians 5:24 “…crucify the flesh with its passions and desires”• Hebrews 12:2 “…fixing our eyes on Jesus…who endured the cross”

Are you ready to respond to the message of the cross, to take up your own cross and follow Jesus into eternal life?