Dr. M. Taylor Bach John 18:1-19:42

When I was a little boy, I was told about the meaning of the cross. I would like for you to take a look at the cross in the front of the Sanctuary for a moment so that you can visualize what I was told. The vertical beam stands for God reaching down from heaven with love to touch the earth. The horizontal beam stands for God's embrace of all the people in the world with love. This, of course, is a modern interpretation. In fact, there was nothing similar to this in the first four centuries of Christendom when the cross was strictly looked upon as an instrument of torture. It was considered an instrument of degradation and shame. There was nothing that Christians liked about it and they didn't want to be associated with it. It was the symbol of the dregs of humanity  thieves, robbers, and murderers  all being punished for their crimes by the Roman Empire. Thugs were the only ones hung on the cross or those guilty of crimes against Rome or against Caesar.

In the 4th Century, Constantine, the emperor of Rome, embraced Christianity as the Roman Empire's religion. He was the first then to begin to use the cross as a symbol standing for Christians and he would see to it that the cross was painted on the shields of the knights and warriors who went out to conquer the world. So in that sense, the cross became a fearful symbol, a symbol of dread to the enemies of Rome. But it was the beginning of the cross symbolizing the religion of Christianity. It was from then on that the artists of centuries to follow began to connect the cross with love. Protestants produce an empty cross as a symbol of the resurrection. Roman Catholics show a cross with the body of Christ on it, more reminiscent of this night, Good Friday. It is a difference in theological emphasis&sacrifice or victory.

Since this is good Friday, we want to focus on the meaning of the cross in terms of that first Good Friday but to do so properly, I want to take your attention back to a Biblical event that occurred about a week before Good Friday. It was another supper. Not the last supper but a supper with the apostles when they were gathered together in a house in the city of Bethany. As they were gathered there and the supper was about to begin, the door burst open and a woman appeared. Immediately throwing herself at the feet of Jesus, she began to weep for her sins and her offenses against Him, washing His feet with her tears and drying His feet with her hair. She then stood up possessing in her hands an alabaster jar filled with the finest of perfumes. She broke the jar open and poured it on Jesus' head. It permeated his hair, flowed down permeating His robe and soaking through it covering His body. The apostles were indignant. It was probably Judas who protested the most against this wasteful use of perfume saying, “It could have been sold and money given to the poor.” Or, “We could have used it for our own support in the months to come.” The worth or value of the perfume, the apostles protested, was at least a whole year's wage. So it was her very best offering. Jesus rebuked the apostles saying, “The poor you will always have with you, but leave her alone. For she is preparing my body for burial.” A great sadness came over them as they protested against the idea that He would be dying soon. They tried to ignore the significance of His prediction.

Then we take ourselves to the Last Supper and the happenings at that supper. People didn't bathe frequently back then so His hair no doubt was still permeated with the fragrance of this fine perfume. And definitely His robe was filled with the fragrance of it. As they began the Last Supper, this pleasant aroma would remind Him that someone loved Him enough to give her very best. That became important as the events of the evening unfolded. Jesus finished the Last Supper and went to the Garden where He prayed in agony and was so filled with anguish that He sweat droplets of blood. He still had that aroma reminding Him that someone loved Him enough to give her very best. When Judas came with the cohorts, the legion of soldiers, and kissed Jesus in a kiss of betrayal, did Jesus recall from the aroma from the perfume that someone loved Him enough to give her very best? As He stood before Pilot, unjustly condemned, was he comforted by that aroma? In the back of His mind, could He think, did He think, that someone loved Him enough to give her very best? As He was tied to Pilot's whipping post and beaten with a cat of nine tails, an instrument of torture with bones and metal chards attached to the end of it, ripping through the skin of his back, could He still smell in His hair the perfume and be comforted by the thought that someone loved Him enough to give Him her very best? When He was given the cross to carry, the very cross beam that His hands would be nailed to as He walked to the hill called Golgotha, the place of the skull, under the great burden of its weight. That perfume may have still lingered there. Certainly it was in His robe which had been placed back on Him for Him to walk through the streets. Did He recall that someone loved Him enough to give Him her very best? As the Roman death squad nailed His hands to the cross, nailed His heels to the wooden vertical beam, and the pain was excruciating, could He still smell a whiff of that perfume and realize that someone loved Him enough to give her very best? As He hung on that cross, forgave the good thief and told that thief that “this day you'll be with Me in paradise”? Was the love that came from realizing that someone cared enough to give Him her very best still there? As He cried out in despair, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachtha ni?” “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Did the aroma still permeating his bloodied and matted hair let Him know that someone loved Him enough to give Him her very best?

What about you? Do you love Him enough to give Him your very best? He died for you on that cross, knowing that His father loved Him even though He felt at that moment, abandoned by His father. At least He had a symbol of human love remaining with Him, knowing that someone loved Him enough to give Him her very best. So what about you? He carried the weight of your sins and my sins to that cross. Do we love Him enough to give Him our very best?

This reminds me of a touching story I heard on television this past week of a man who had a stroke and was laying on his deathbed with his wife by his side. He looked at her and he said, “You know, Honey, you have been with me from the moment of our marriage through the birth of our children and you were there with me when my business failed. You were there with me when we were robbed. You were there with me when I had the automobile accident. You were there with me when lightening struck our house and it burned to the ground. You were there with me when I was shot in a break-in and you were there with me when I got sick. You know, Honey. I think you are bad luck!” All kidding aside, if a loving wife did do those things, it would never be interpreted as bad luck. It would be interpreted as someone who cared enough to give her very best.

As we are gathered here this evening, we want to recognize that God cared enough to give His very best. He sent His only begotten Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to save us from our sins. That is God's very best. We want to recognize that Jesus of Nazareth gave of His very best when He marched to Jerusalem, chose the nails, chose the cross, chose to sacrifice and gave up His very life. He was giving of His very human best for the sake of you and me, for the sake of the remission of our sins. The High Priest cried out, “Look. He said He could save others but He can't save Himself.” Wrong. He could save Himself. It is possible that He could have called upon legions of angels to protect Him and keep Him from the Roman death squad. But if He had saved Himself, He wouldn't have given His very best to save you and me. He gave up His life to save us from our sin and to restore our relationship with God the Father, to enable us to call Him our Father and be called children of Him once again. When the Temple veil was rent at the time of Jesus' death, it meant that no longer was there separation between humanity and the Holy of Holies, the place where God dwelt. Because Jesus gave His very best, we now could go to the Father, have a relationship with Him that made us one with Him through the indwelling of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. So again it begs the question, are you willing to give your very best to love Him? When you see the cross, train yourself to be aware of and feel God's love. That is what the cross is all about. The vertical beam is symbolic of God's love reaching down from heaven to touch our humanity. The horizontal beam is symbolic of God's love reaching out to embrace all of us. His heart was broken so that our heart was mended.