Sunday April 9, 2017 Phone: 570.829.5216
Pastor David Miklas e-mail:
Message: Easter 2017 Text: Galatians 6:14
Empty Cross, Empty Tomb,
Empty Threat
INTRODUCTION: In the Gospel of John 19:17-25 we read,
“And he bearing his CROSS went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: (18) Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. (19) And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the CROSS. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. (20) This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. (21) Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, 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 garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. (24) They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did. (25) Now there stood by the CROSS of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.”
Visitors who descend into sprawling catacombs in ancient Rome can detect the earliest symbols of Christianity engraved on the tombs.
One of the most popular emblems is an anchor, signifying the fact that in Christ according to Hebrews 6:19, “we have an anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast…” But look carefully at that anchor and you'll see that it's really a cross in disguise.
Nearby you might see another symbol, the Greek letter Chi; but that, too, is a cross - like our letter "X." Chi is the first letter of the name of Christ.
Occasionally among the tombs you'll also spot an engraving of the mast of a ship. Look closely and there's another cross. Even in times of intimidation and persecution, the early Christians found ways of making the cross their symbol.
Now head northwest from Rome to France and fast-forward across the centuries. Join the crowds each year who tour the American Cemetery at Normandy. Walking among the thousands of plain white marble crosses, you'll feel you're treading sacred ground. The silent crosses are perfectly aligned in haunting, endless rows, signifying the brave troops of D-Day who gave their lives to liberate Europe.
Among the graves are 33 pairs of brothers who died side by side in World War II. At one end of the cemetery is a circular white limestone colonnade and military chapel, and inscribed on the altar are the words of Christ: "I Give Unto Them Eternal Life and They Shall Never Perish."
Throughout the centuries, the cross has been the greatest symbol of death and of life the world has ever known. The apostle Paul, referring to the Gospel and to Christianity, called it "the message of the cross."
The cross, he said in I Corinthians 1:17-18, “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the CROSS of Christ should be made of none effect. (18) For the preaching of the CROSS is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”
He told the Galatians in Galatians 6:14, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the CROSS of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”
In Philippians 2:8-9 Paul wrote concerning Christ, “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the CROSS. (9) Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:”
To the Colossians in Colossians 1:20 he wrote, “And, having made peace through the blood of his CROSS, by him to reconcile all things unto himself…”
In Hebrews 12:2 Paul wrote, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the CROSS, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
For 2000 years the cross, the "t," has been most ubiquitous symbol in Christendom in memory of the Savior who died on Golgotha's cross in Jerusalem.
As an image, the cross was in use long before the time of Christ. But following His crucifixion the image of the cross was multiplied among cultures. Wherever the Gospel went, so went the sign of the cross.
The cross appeared on staffs, was embroidered into garments, and was painted and sewn onto Crusader's shields and robes.
During the Middle Age those who looked after the sick, incorporated the cross much as the Red Cross does today.
Then as today, the cross was not always used in a pure, biblical sense-in memory of Christ who died a horrific death on a cross. But as a result of the passage of time, the Christian cross has to be the most universally-recognized symbol in the modern world.
We do not want to be guilty, however, of allowing the Christian cross to become a cultural cross devoid of its message of salvation through Christ Jesus. If we are going to be followers of Christ, then we must become people of the CROSS - those who have heard and embraced Christ's words in Luke 14:27, "And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.”
The cross of Jesus is not a sentimental symbol. It was a cruel instrument of death upon which Jesus of Nazareth was brutally killed. There is nothing beautiful about the cross where Christ died a shameful death that shows the wickedness of sin and the evil of man.
There came a dread day, when the sun went down at noonday behind a blood-stained wooden cross on the hill that was shaped like a skull.
Interestingly Matthew, Mark and John used the term “Golgotha” as the place of crucifixion. Only one time the word “Calvary” is used and it is in the book of Luke.
It was at Calvary that Heaven touched Earth.
It was at Calvary where God so loved the world and turned His back on His only begotten Son.
It was at Calvary where Christ cried "It Is Finished," and once and for all completed eternally the payment for the penalty for sin by His shed blood.
Earth has no darker Sin than Calvary.
History knows no blacker page than Calvary.
Humanity has no fouler spot than the Saviour's crucifixion.
In Eden, man became separated from God. This began the saddest story of man. However the saddest story of God is CALVARY. It is a far cry from the Garden of Eden to CALVARY, but they share an intimate relationship.
The TRAGEDY of one is the reason for the TRAGEDY of the other. In Eden we see the beginning of the TRAGEDY which is to end on CALVARY. And the agony of the atonement for sin which we see on CALVARY has to do with the TRAGEDY of sin, which we learn about in the Garden of Eden. The Hymn-writer wrote
Upon that cross of Jesus,
Mine eye at times can see
The very dying form of
One who suffered for me;
And from my smitten heart with tears,
Two wonders I confess,
The wonders of His glorious love
And my own worthlessness.
No matter how you look at the cross, it is the crossroads where the best of heaven and the best of earth met in the person of Jesus Christ who laid down His life for us.
Sometimes we think of the cross as a symbol of death. But it's also a symbol of life because of one obvious fact - it is empty! We visualize the empty tomb at Easter, but let's not forget the empty cross.
FIRST: There is the Empty Cross. Who removed the body of Jesus from the wooden beams? Who detached the hands and feet from their bloody nails? That duty belonged to a mysterious man of wealth and power named Joseph of Arimathaea. We've been led to believe that Romans treated the bodies of crucifixion victims as if they were the carcasses of dogs; but Matthew 27:57-60 tells us,
“When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple: (58) He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. (59) And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, (60) And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.”
We know nothing about Joseph of Arimathaea except what we read in the four Gospel accounts of the death of Christ.
Mark 15:43 tells us that Joseph was a prominent member of the Council who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God. According to Mark, his approach to Pilate was an act of boldness.
Luke 23:50-52 adds that he was a upright man who had disagreed with the Sanhedrin's decision to seek the Lord's death.
John adds this about Joseph and his helper in John 19:38-39, “And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. (39) And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.”
My mind's eye can scarcely imagine the scene.
The sun was low in the sky. The temperatures were dropping. The area around Calvary was buzzing with soldiers and citizens, though perhaps the crowd was thinning now that the victims were dead. These two powerful, wealthy men took charge of the remains of Jesus, treating the body as tenderly as possible. Extricating the body from the cross was no easy task. It was grim and repulsive work.
Did they have servants who aided? Was there a sympathetic soldier who helped? Were the women nearby - those who had stood vigil through the day?
These scenes are shrouded in the discretion of the Divine.
It's enough for us to know that two influential men - secret disciples - came to the forefront and demanded that the body of our Lord be treated with reverence, even if they had to do it themselves.
It's enough for us to remember that our Lord's body wasn't left on the cross to decay, as was often the practice. It wasn't tossed into the trash heaps in the Valley of Gehenna. It was tenderly removed from the old rugged cross, anointed with appropriate spices, wrapped in white linen, and buried before sundown in a nearby tomb.
And so today, we celebrate an empty cross, and we worship the One who died there and was buried and rose again for us.
SECOND: There is the Empty Tomb. Our Lord remained six hours on the cross and three days in the tomb, but He left both of them as empty as He'd found them.
David said in Psalm 16:10 speaking of Christ, “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”
Matthew writes in Matthew 16:21, “From the time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and the chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.”
Jesus had said, in Matthew 20:18-19, “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.”
In Matthew 28:5-6 we read, “And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for He is risen, as he said, Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”
The empty tomb means that we have a living Savior. During the Easter season of 1874, while having his devotions one evening, Robert Lowry was impressed with the events associated with Christ's resurrection. Soon he found himself seated at the little pump organ in the parlor of his home, and in a very spontaneous fashion, the words and music of "Christ Arose" gave expression to the thoughts that had been uppermost in his mind.
Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior!
Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!
Vainly they watch His bed, Jesus my Savior!
Vainly they sealed the dead, Jesus my Lord!
Death cannot keep his prey, Jesus my Savior!
He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!
Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes;
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever with His saints to reign.
He Arose! He Arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!
Christ’s cross which was prophesied through ages and peered into by angels, found its complement in the empty tomb.
The Savior’s sacrifice whereby:
His sinless soul became the means to save from sin,
His sore-parched lips the means to quench our thirst,
His thorn-crowned brow the means to free from the curse,
His suffering soul the means to save unto the uttermost,
found its complement in the empty tomb where Jesus wrestled from Death’s brow his black diadem (crown).
The Savior’s suffering, whereby:
His nail-pierced hands became the means to give release,
His spear-opened side the means to enter bliss,
His cross-bound feet the means to tread God’s courts,
His gall-stained mouth the means to His Father’s kiss,