Pastor Tim Patoka
Joy For Our Journeys #6 August 11, 2019 The Journey To The Cross John 19:16-24, 28-30 1) Jesus’ Journey To The Cross Is Christianity’s Focus 2) Jesus’ Journey To The Cross Is A Christian’s Joy
One of the things I’ve discovered when teaching or learning something, is that it’s helpful to break it down into smaller pieces of information. Often I do that by asking the question, “what it’s all about?” If you can answer that question, it becomes a lot easier to teach or learn something. For example, take our campus ministry’s Bible studies for the fall semester. It’s all about seeing how living the 10 Commandments lets us shine our Christian light. While each Sunday evening we’ll go into detail about this Christian light and what exactly each commandment is talking about in view of a young adult’s life, it’s ultimately about letting our Christian light shine in the way that God guides us to. When I’m looking at historical periods, I often get lost in a sea of names, places, and dates. Yet if you can answer, “what’s it all about?” you’ll be much more likely to remember those names, places, and dates. For example, take the American Revolution. We declared independence from the British Empire because there was a significant percentage of Americans who were willing to risk their lives to be free. As such we are more likely to remember the importance of names like George Washington and Benedict Arnold, places like Philadelphia and Valley Forge, and dates like July 4, 1776. When it comes to the Christian faith, there’s likewise a lot of information to take in. Yet if we can answer, “what’s it all about?” then we’ll be on our way to remembering what’s truly important. Thankfully, we don’t have to search far to answer that question because we find it in our verses for this morning from John chapter 19. It is Jesus’ journey to the cross that the Christian faith is all about. Because if we can understand how and why Jesus journeyed to the cross, then we’ll be well on our way to keeping the Christian faith focused on what it should be. However, Jesus’ journey to the cross not only tells us where to focus our faith. It also teaches us that we have joy in every circumstance and place. 1) Jesus’ Journey To The Cross Is Christianity’s Focus If you worshiped at Grace last week, you had the privilege of celebrating Christmas half a year early as we looked at when Jesus journeyed from heaven to earth by coming to a little town called Bethlehem. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell us what happened after that blessed event. Jesus’ family moved and eventually made Nazareth their home. We don’t know much about Jesus’ childhood. We only get one glimpse when he was 12 years old and stayed behind the Temple without his parent’s knowledge to wow the religious teachers with his understanding of Scripture. 1
Pastor Tim Patoka
Joy For Our Journeys #6 August 11, 2019 Most of our details about Jesus’ time on earth cover his final 3 years. Jesus and his 12 disciples went around modern-day Israel and shared the good news that the Savior was finally here. And along the way Jesus got the people’s attention by teaching, correcting, rebuking, and miraculously healing others. Eventually Jesus became a thorn in the side of the Jewish religious leaders who knew that he was too big a problem to ignore. So they conspired to put Jesus to death by manipulating Pontius Pilate’s tenuous governance over the Jewish people. And as they wanted, Pilate gave into peer pressure and signed off on Jesus’ unjust death so as to keep the peace in Jerusalem. It is at this point that we slow down the historical timeline to see what exactly Jesus’ journey to the cross looked like. After Pilate handed Jesus over to the soldiers, Jesus carried his own cross to the execution grounds of Golgotha. There Jesus was nailed to a cross in the middle of two others. Over Jesus’ head was the condemning charge, “Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews.” (John 19:19) written in the major languages of the day. As Jesus hung on his cross, the soldiers unknowingly fulfilled a prophecy from our Psalm of the Day, Psalm 22, by dividing up Jesus’ clothing amongst themselves. 3ish hours later, Jesus knew the end was near. So he quenched his thirst one last time, declared that the payment for sins was finished, and breathed his last. As grisly and saddening these details are, we are right to look them over in detail. It’s for this dark moment that Jesus journeyed from heaven to earth last week and did all he did in the intervening 33 years. If someone were to ask us, “what’s the Christian faith all about?” would we point them to these verses about Jesus’ death on the cross? Or we would perhaps focus their attention on something else that’s involved in the Christian faith? We remember how sin has made a mess of this world as evidenced with the shootings at El Paso and Dayton last weekend. We can’t just ignore what happened there. While it is good and right to help out the victims as we can, we can cross a line if we make Christianity’s sole priority to help others. When we take our focus off the cross, we can easily lead people to think that Christianity is all about being a force for social justice. We have the privilege of living in a democratic country where our governmental leaders hear our voices. Now I’m too young for this, but I’ve been told that back in the 80s the Moral Majority was a big thing. It was great at letting our leaders know what the Bible says about all kinds of issues and had a lot of influence in political decisions. But how many people today view Christianity as a political force that forces its ideas on others, expecting them to live as Christians even though they are not? If you were to ask these people what Christianity is all about, they might say that it’s a political viewpoint which they likely disagree with in good conscience.
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Pastor Tim Patoka
Joy For Our Journeys #6 August 11, 2019 Or for those of us who been in the church for a while, do we not sometimes think that because we know Jesus’ journey to the cross so well that it’s time we focus on something else? That we investigate how to show compassion and mercy as Jesus did or exercising our rights as American citizens without crossing the line? We would be wise to look into these matters. But when we exclusively focus on these things and major in the minors, do we not give the impression that Christianity is all about something other than the cross? Without a doubt there’s a lot to the Christian faith. Yet, it is first and foremost about Jesus’ journey to the cross. Much of the Old Testament and almost all Jesus did for the 33 years build us up for that journey by telling us how Jesus went to the cross. He went on purpose. If Jesus wanted out, he could escaped at any moment by calling down 12 legions of angels to protect him from being arrested by Judas Iscariot and the Temple soldiers. He could have pleaded for his life before Pilate and Herod who were looking for any reason to commute Jesus’ crucifixion. He could have used his almighty power he has as God to physically remove himself from the cross. Yet he did not. He purposefully journeyed to the cross exactly as John chapter 19 tells us. And you want to know why he did that? So that he could save us from our sins and give us to the gift of eternal life. Our words from Isaiah chapter 53 spell it out so well. “He was crushed for the guilt our sins deserved. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all have gone astray like sheep. Each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has charged all our guilt to him.” (Isaiah 53:5-6) When Jesus journeyed to the cross, he took our sins with him. Along with that, he received the full punishment that God has for our sins by being crushed, wounded, and charged with our guilt. And in return, we have peace with God because now there are no sins separating us from him. Jesus’ death on the cross was the last sacrifice ever to be made. It’s for that reason that when Jesus said, “It is finished” (John 19:30) he meant what he said. There’s nothing we need to do to make things right with God. Jesus did it all. There’s no need to worry if God still considers us guilty for the wrongs we have done. Jesus received it all. It’s all been finished as evidenced by the cross. And no other component of the Christian faith can assure us of this. That’s why we’ll want to solely keep Christianity’s focus on Jesus’ journey to the cross. Because if we focus on any other thing, we are diminishing what Christ did on that cross. 2) Jesus’ Journey To The Cross Is A Christians’ Joy And as we keep our focus on Jesus’ journey to the cross, we also renew ourselves in the joy that Christ alone can give. It’s a joyful blessing that we don’t have to be afraid of what will come when we close our eyes in the sleep of death. It’s a joyful blessing that as we walk in this life, we don’t have to endlessly worry ourselves if we’ve done enough to remain on God’s good 3
Pastor Tim Patoka
Joy For Our Journeys #6 August 11, 2019 side. And whenever our guilty consciences or false ideas say otherwise, we can prove them wrong simply by looking at Christ’s cross. It’s because of what happened there that we know we are forgiven of each and every sin. Because Jesus finished his journey to the cross, we can now live by faith and free from the curse of the law. That’s essentially what our 2nd Lesson from Galatians chapter 3 tells us, “No one is declared righteous before God by the law, because ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ The law does not say ‘by faith.’ Instead it says, ‘The one who does these things will live by them.’ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” (Galatians 3:11-13) That even though we daily sin, God considered his Son Jesus guilty for them. And since Jesus received the punishment that we deserve, we are now free from the curse and fear of the law. Instead, we can focus on living as children of God. And that’s my encouragement to you this morning. What is the Christian faith all about? While acts of compassion and mercy, living as a Christian as we exercise our American rights, and wanting to know more about God’s Word are all good things, the Christian faith is first and foremost all about Jesus’ journey to the cross. Jesus purposefully went on that journey because he knew that it is on the cross where he would bring us salvation. We’ll want to keep the focus of our faith on that singular event because nothing else can even come close to overshadowing it. And as we remain focused on the cross, we’ll also renew ourselves in the joyful blessings we certainly have – the forgiveness of sins, peace with God, and an eternal life in heaven. May the Lord help us to keep our eyes drawn to the cross so that we may always remember what joy we have because Jesus finished his journey to the cross. Amen.
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