The Power of the Cross

Welcome! This week and next, in keeping with the Easter season, we are focusing on the cross and resurrection of Christ. In today’s message I want to remind you of the events leading up to and including the crucifixion, and then we will look into the title of this message, the power of the cross.

I will start by reading a fairly long set of verses from the book of John focusing on Jesus’ arrest, questioning, and the events that follow. We start in John 18. 

When He had finished praying, Jesus left with His disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was an olive grove, and He and His disciples went into it. Now Judas, who betrayed Him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with His disciples. So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. – John 18:1-3

Notice how Jesus makes absolutely no attempt to prevent what is about to happen. He could have chosen a new place to meet, a place Judas would have been unfamiliar with. Jesus knew Judas would betray Him. Not only is Jesus not trying to avoid the cross, it is as if He is willfully marching straight towards it, just as surely as the soldiers with the officials were marching up to Him.

Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to Him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. – John 18:4-6

What happened here? The passage does not tell us exactly why it happened, but it does reveal some very important things about what is really going on. It shows that Jesus was the one really in power, not the army or the officials. I think one reason Judas is specifically mentioned is that it shows that Judas is just a part of the group; he is no more in power than any of the others who have come to Him on this day. As for the soldiers, these people didn’t trip on a shoelace! They didn’t stumble over one another like dominoes. They were highly trained professionals, under threat of death for insubordination or incompetence. These people didn’t draw back and fall to the ground because of an accident; they did this because Jesus made it happen. And it is fascinating that it happens as He says the infamous phrase “I am,” the same phrase that God said was His name when He confronted Moses at the burning bush.

I am also reminded of Phil. 2:9, which says that God gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. The army may think they have the real power in this situation, but Jesus makes it clear that it is really Him that has control of the situation, not Judas, not the soldiers, not the officials, not even Satan, who has entered into Judas.

We don’t know whether they all had a sudden sense of the glory of the one who was God-in-the-flesh that made their knees quake and them fall to their knees, or if it was some kind of power going out from Jesus forcing the bended knee, but we do know that it happened because Jesus was the one in charge.

Again He asked them, “Who is it you want?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” “I told you that I am he,” Jesus answered. “If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.” – John 18:7-9

Here we see another reason for what is going on; Jesus is asking them who they want so as to make the point that it is not the disciples that they want, that they should let the disciples leave freely. This shows Jesus’ love for them as well as His plans for them (they cannot spread the gospel if they are all killed before they even receive the Holy Spirit). And the soldiers agree. Again, it is fascinating to notice how Jesus is the one in charge; He is giving the orders here.

Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” – John 18:10-11

From the other gospel accounts we know that Jesus then healed Malchus’ ear. Again, Jesus shows He is in charge, this time, to His disciples, telling Peter to forget about violence, that Jesus is determined to do the will of His Father, to drink the cup of sorrow and pain and torture and torment that God has prepared for Him.

Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound Him and brought Him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be good if one man died for the people. – John 18:12-14

I wonder what it was like to be Malchus, arresting Jesus after being healed. For the matter, what was it like to be any of those present at the arrest of Jesus after seeing this as well as being forced to bow to Him. And how ridiculous that they bound Him. That’s a bit like going fishing for some of the largest ocean fish using a line that can only handle a fish that weighs a few pounds. But bind Him they did, and they brought Him in for questioning. Jumping ahead to verse 19,

[…] The high priest questioned Jesus about His disciples and His teaching. “I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. Why question Me? Ask those who heard Me. Surely they know what I said.” – John 18:19-21

Annas, as the patriarch of a very wealthy and influential family, held his position most likely through back door dealings and bribes. Over a period of about 10 years, various sons and sons-in-law held the official position of high priest, but during this time, it stayed in Annas’ family, and as the patriarch, much of the power remained with him. He would be the one responsible for the overcharging of money changing, of buying animals for sacrifice, and so on, and Jesus would have known this. Annas, too, would know of Jesus’ overturning the tables at the temple courts. All this is to say that Annas’ questioning would not have been for earnest information, but for entrapment.

By the way, this was also a violation of the Jewish law at that time. They had something like our fifth amendment, about not having to testify against oneself. Jesus is not out-and-out calling Annas a lawbreaker, but at the same time He is refusing to answer Annas’ illegal line of questioning.

When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby struck Him in the face. “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” he demanded. “If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?” Then Annas sent him, still bound, to Caiaphas the high priest. – John 18:22-24

In a similar way, Jesus does not call out the official for what was also certainly an illegal action according to their laws, but asks a question for which no good answer can be given.

Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?” – John 18:28-29

John does not tell us about the trial run by Caiaphas, but Matthew and Mark do. At this trial, false witnesses came forward, false in the sense that they had not personally witnessed anything. One of them did correctly quote the essence of Jesus’ saying about destroying the temple and rebuilding it in three days, but he implied Jesus meant the Temple when Jesus meant Himself. Then Caiaphas asked if Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. Jesus agreed, saying also that in the future they would see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven. At this Caiaphas tore his robes, stating it was blasphemy. Then those handling Jesus spit on Him, taunted Him, and struck Him with their fists after blindfolding Him. This is a very cruel thing to do – without seeing the blows coming; you are unable to use your reflexes to properly respond to the blow. You know, you can break a leg just walking off a curb if you don’t see it.

And so Jesus was led on to Pilate. The Jews did not enter the palace because there were non-Jews there. How striking that, while committing the greatest crimes imaginable against God-in-the-flesh they are worried about religious minutiae. The strain at a gnat, but swallow a camel, as Jesus had once said.

“If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed Him over to you.” Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” “But we have no right to execute anyone,” the Jews objected. This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled. – John 18:30-32

Pilate didn’t want to deal with Him; he had enough problems and issues of his own. Now they couldn’t directly charge Jesus with blasphemy, because although that merited a death penalty under their Jewish laws, it didn’t under Roman law. So they were forced to skirt the issue. By the way, the loss of the right of the Jews to execute someone in their own courts had only happened two years prior to this moment, according to a Jewish source. When this had first happened, there were massive demonstrations in Jerusalem bemoaning their loss. How ironic that it in fact it was exactly in God’s plan so that Jesus would be crucified, a Roman punishment, and not stoned, un fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies.

Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked Him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?” “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?” – John 18:33-35

Pilate asked Jesus a question that should have never occurred to him. This idea of asking some random guy the Jews want killed whether he is a king could only happen if Pilate had been given a sequence of “talking points” from the Jews. Once again, Jesus would not directly answer the question of someone who has no real interest in the answer. The exchange causes Pilate to back off from the talking points and ask Jesus what He had done.

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now My kingdom is from another place.” “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to Me.” “What is truth?” Pilate asked. – John 18:36-38a

Jesus now answers Pilate’s original question. We don’t know what Pilate was thinking when he gave his answers, but we can make a pretty good educated guess. When he said “You are a king, then!” he was probably thinking Jesus was a crackpot, someone with a Messiah complex. There had been others who claimed to be the next Judas Maccabeus, attempting to lead a military revolt to throw off the rule of the Romans. Each of these had failed completely. But Jesus makes it clear He is not one of these people by saying He was not claiming Jerusalem, but “another place” by which He meant heaven. If Pilate had understood the implications, it probably would have made him think Jesus was even more of a crackpot than he had thought previously. And when Pilate said “What is truth?” I think he meant it in a very political way. Today we would say it this way: Truth about current events is what the media says it is. Truth about past events is what the history textbook writers say it is. And so on. All three of Jesus’ questioners had no interest in real truth.

With this he went out again to the Jews and said, “I find no basis for a charge against Him. But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?” They shouted back, “No, not Him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion. – John 18:38b-40

There was this custom, to try to keep the Jews happy, of releasing a prisoner at the Passover. But the Jews who had followed Jesus there demanded that Jesus not be released, that this man Barabbas be released instead. The word “rebellion” can also be translated as “robber” so it is unclear exactly what his crime was, but it was a genuine crime.

Then Pilate took Jesus and had Him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to Him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they struck Him in the face. – John 19:1-3

I am not going to go into the gory details here except to say that it was 39 lashes with a whip with pieces of glass in it, a whip that often killed if not done “properly.” Thirty-nine lashes because the number 40 symbolized judgment, and by doing one less, they were showing “mercy.” What a sad and twisted definition of mercy! Traditionally, if the person confessed a crime on receiving a lash, the next lash would be less severe, so often people being lashed would confess something on each lash. But if nothing was confessed, each following lash would be more severe than the last one. And this is likely what happened with Jesus. As it says in Isaiah 53:7, as the sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.

Jesus had already been severely mocked and beaten at Caiaphas’ trial. Here the cruel mocking continues again. The crown of thorns cruelly cut into His head. Despite receiving what would probably ultimately have been lethal blows from the whip, they continue to strike Him in the face, acting like savages, like beasts more than humans.

Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, “Look, I am bringing Him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against Him.” When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” – John 19:4-5

Pilate, perhaps feeling guilty for seeing how severely Jesus had been whipped, perhaps feeling shocked that Jesus is still alive given how severe his beatings had been, and perhaps feeling that certainly this must be enough to satisfy the Jews, again brings Him out seeking to not have to crucify Him.

As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw Him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!” But Pilate answered, “You take Him and crucify Him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against Him.” The Jews insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law He must die, because He claimed to be the Son of God.” – John 19:6-7

Pilate, probably shocked by the Jews’ continued insistence of crucifixion, has had enough. He tells them to do it themselves (although they can’t legally do that). The Jews were ready even to do that, even to riot, it seemed, as they told Pilate that this was over a religious matter.

When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over Me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” – John 19:8-11

This made Pilate very nervous. Things were close to a riot, and a riot might mean that he, Pilate, would be removed from office. Usually, removal from office was accompanied with removal from the land of the living, and Pilate did not want this to happen to himself. Pilate spoke to Jesus again, seeking some way to diffuse the situation. Pilate was surprised Jesus didn’t answer, but Jesus explained, in effect, that God was in charge, not Pilate. Pilate may have thought he had the ability here to play God, but just as Pilate was in danger from the Roman authorities, he actually was in much greater danger from the “higher authority” (as they like to say in the Hebrew National hotdog commercials). And then Jesus explained that the Jews were guilty of more than Pilate was, because they had instigated this.

From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. – John 19:12-14

The savvy Jews knew how to threaten Pilate. If they went and complained about Pilate’s leadership, especially by letting a man go who “claimed” to be king, then Pilate would be guilty of being a co-conspirator. Pilate prepared to make a final judgment.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. – John 19:15

The Jews continued to threaten Pilate with this Caesar line.

Finally Pilate handed Him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying His own cross, He went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified Him, and with Him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle. – John 19:16-18

And at last, Pilate caved in. But understand who was really in power here – God, in the fullness of the Trinity. God the Father, orchestrating events; God the Holy Spirit, responsible for the prophecies given to the Old Testament prophets to write down concerning this time, centuries later; and God the Son, Jesus, fulfilling them.

And so, Jesus was given the sentence of death by crucifixion. At such a circumstance, Roman soldiers would give the sentenced person his own cross to bear, and he would be paraded through the city. In front of the sentenced person, a soldier would shout out his crime as a warning to those who might consider such a crime.

Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” – John 19:19-22

Pilate got back a bit at the Jews with what he thought was his clever sign. In perhaps the greatest irony of all time, Pilate, the man who will forever go down in history as the one who said, flippantly, “What is truth?” will also go down in history as the one who told the truth about who Jesus really was.

When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took His clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. – John 19:23

Again, I do not want to get too graphic here. You all know what is involved in crucifixion.

“Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.” This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, “They divided My garments among them and cast lots for My clothing.” So this is what the soldiers did. – John 19:24

More fulfilled prophecy. More evidence that, as shocking as the events were, they were according to the plan and will of God. Skipping ahead a few verses:

Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When He had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. – John 19:28-30

God’s work of redemption for you was finished, complete. We are saved not by our works, not by our righteousness (such as it is, which isn’t much), but by His work, His plan, His suffering, His sacrifice, His substitution for us. This is what it took to save us. If there had been an easier way, God would have done it.

And so, what do we take away from this account? What is its message? I am struck by the words of Paul:

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. – I Cor. 1:17-18

This is why we have gone through so much Scripture today. It’s not my message that matters; as Paul says, “words of human wisdom” have no value, no power if they diverge from the message of Scripture. And, listen, even the very words of Scripture have no value to those “who are perishing,” that is, to those who do not act on these words by entering in to a personal relationship with Christ. But to those of us “who are being saved” it is indeed the power of God.

Paul follows up these thoughts in the next chapter of I Corinthians with this:

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. – I Cor. 2:1-5

In the past I took the “demonstration of the Spirit’s power” phrase to refer to miracles like healings and the like, but now I don’t really think this is what Paul meant. I don’t have time to fully explain my reason for this, but I would say it comes from reading the entire book of I Corinthians as a whole and thinking about it. It wasn’t like the Corinthians didn’t know anything about the works of the Spirit through spiritual gifts and the like; in fact, they had a problem with using these gifts in a way that was not edifying to the body of Christ, the church, and Paul addressed this in length in this letter. And if you combine this with thinking about the previous verse we looked at, I Cor. 1:17-18 – the message of the cross is the power of God – I think what Paul is talking about in verse 5 is simply a continuation of these thoughts. It is through resolving to fixate on “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” that we experience God’s power.

How? That’s the key question, isn’t it? I think the answer is that all that we think and all that we do should be “in the shadow of the cross.”

It means that we treat times with God – in His Word, in prayer, in worship – both times of solitude and times in fellowship with a local body of believers – as the most essential parts of our days.

It means that we view ourselves as not our own, but as bought through the cross, and thus, that we see ourselves continually as servants (or you can use the word “slaves” if you can put aside its negative connotation) – as servants of Christ. This means that as we read in the Word things we are to do, such as share the gospel, pray for others, love others, and so on, that we really do them, that we are doers of the Word and not just hearers.

And it means that we take to the deepest place in our hearts the command of Jesus to “deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Me” (Matt. 16:24, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23). The Luke passage says specifically to do this daily, that is, every day. We are to learn to be like Jesus, who denied His own desires so as to serve God literally by dying on the cross. In our case, it means to die to our own sinful, selfish desires, daily seeking God’s strength to do this. As we do this we really will see and experience the “power of the cross.”

What Paul died to was the temptation to impress others, to be admired. That’s what you see in I and II Corinthians. What about you? Is there something God is gently asking you to die to today? I encourage you now to pray, to ask God to search your heart, to show you what you need to die to today. And then, in prayer, commit now to die to this thing, whatever it is.