The Cross Speaks

The Cross Speaks

"Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth."  (Isaiah 53:1-9)

Why stands that cross upon yon hill

So alone and dear against the sky

Who suffered there, Who gave His life?

Was He a thief, why did He die?

For nineteen hundred years men have been asking this question – Why stand that cross upon yon hill? What is the meaning? Of what significance is it?

The cross of Christ which tower’s o’er the wrecks of time, and around which gathers all the light of sacred story has captured the heart and imagination of mankind. It has inspired men like Raphael, Michael Angelo, and Leonardo DaVinci, Warner Sallman to produce some of the greatest masterpieces of art. It has given birth to some of the great works of literature. Men like Dante, Schiller, Tennyson, Browning, and John Milton found their inspiration in the cross and in the Christ of the Cross. Some of the best beloved hymns of the Church are the hymns of the cross. Truly the lives, the hopes and the works of men have been different because of the cross.

Today the cross is emblazoned against the sky. It shines its golden outline from the spires and towers of our Church by day and flashes its eternal truth by night. It is the badge of the international society of mercy, the Red Cross. It is the ground plan of many Churches; it is embossed upon our Bibles; men wear it upon their coat lapels and women wear it upon a chain around their necks.

Some have accused Christians of worshipping the cross. It was George Bernard Shaw who is reported to have said, “Let the Christians call their religion “Crossianity” instead of Christianity.” Such a criticism is untrue. We worship not the cross. To the Christian the cross is but a sacred symbol, even as a wedding band is a symbol and as the flag is a symbol.

I am the Cross of Christ!

I crown the pointed spires

Of man made temples near and far.

I watch the rising and the setting

Of each far flung star.

All through the night I am

Eternal Sentinel for Man!

I am the Cross of Christ!

They say, “I tower o’er the wrecks

Of time” I only know

That when a humble tree

This was not so. But this

I know – since then

I have become a symbol for the hopes of men.

And so the Apostle proclaimed: “God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of Jesus Christ.”

Beyond the symbol there must be substance, there must be meaning, there must be some significance. A symbol has value in that which is signifies. Beyond the symbol of the wedding band there must be significance and there is: for it signifies that a man and a woman stood in the presence of God and God’s people and were united in the holy bonds of marriage. Beyond the symbol of the flag there must be significance and there is: the flag signifies that 50 separate and sovereign states were united into a whole that out of many there may be one United States of America. Beyond the symbol of the cross there must be significance and there is: the cross signifies that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

The cross speaks to us of the depths of divine justice and also of the depths of divine mercy. The eternal cross stands as God’s judgment upon all sin, as you “Sit at the cross and watch Him there” you discover in a new way the sinfulness of sin.

The world thinks lightly of sin but God does not. God has revealed His mind towards sin in many ways and on many occasions. We see it in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden. We see it at the time of the flood in the days of Noah when “the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil and continually.” We see it at the tower of Babel in the confusion of tongues when man sought to become as God. We see it in the judgments of God upon sin was the death of the Son of God on the cross, “who was crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” (Acts 2:23)

But far deeper than this, the cross shows how evil “good” can be. Who were the people that put Jesus on the cross? Was it the criminals, the dregs of society, the social outcast? No, for they were up there being crucified with Him. Those who put Him to death were those who gathered at the foot of the cross and laughed at Him and mocked Him. They were the good people – the scribes, the Pharisees, the leaders of the people. They were the respectable people who upheld Roman law and order, who led in the temple worship. They were people like you and me. The cross speaks and says, “Your righteousness is as filthy rags.”

If this was all the cross signified we of all men would be most miserable. But the cross which speaks of God’s holiness speaks also of His love. It speaks of His justice but it also speaks of His mercy. When Caiaphas declared: “It is expedient that one should die for the people,” little did he understand the full prophetic import of those words. For the cross says to us, “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.”

Say unto Isaiah: “Isaiah, prophetically what is the significance of the cross?” and he would answer: “All we like sheep have gone astray and the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all; for He was wounded for my transgressions and bruised for my iniquity.” Say unto Jesus, “What does the cross in the here and now mean?” and He would answer: “The son of man is come to seek and to save the lost … this is the cup of the new covenant which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sin.” Ask Peter, “Peter historically what is the significance of the cross?” and he would answer: “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree that we being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness.”

An Illinois farmer was discovered kneeling at the head of a soldier’s grave at Nashville. Being asked, “Is that your boy?” he replied, “No, he lived in our town, and I have come to find his grave.” The observer said, “Perhaps you represent his father who could not come.” “Yes, my neighbor was glad to have me come; but I came for myself. You see, I have seven children, all of them small; and my wife is sickly. I was drafted. There was nobody to carry on the farm, and I could not hire a substitute. My $13.00 a month would not feed the family. It seemed as though I must go and they must suffer. When we were in our greatest trouble about it – just the morning I was to leave and report to camp – my neighbor’s son came over to the house and offered to go to the war for me. He said he had nobody depending on him and could go better than I. He went and was wounded at the battle of Chickamauga; he was brought to a hospital at Nashville, and this is his grave. You see, my friend died for me.” This is the significance of the cross: “My friend, the Son of God, loved me and gave Himself for me.”

The cross is a symbol which has deep and significant meaning but there must be more – there must be service. Beyond the significance of the wedding band there must be service. It is never enough for a young man and woman to repeat the wedding covenant to each other: I take thee to be my lawfully wedded wife and I do promise and covenant before God and these witnesses to be thy loving and faithful husband in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health as long as we both shall live,” then we go out and live a life of selfishness and unfaithfulness. It is never enough o pledge allegiance to the flag and the republic for which it stands and then go out to betray the democratic principles upon which this country was built. It is not enough to accept the sacrifice of God’s love and then go out and betray that love and do the things which bring shame to the cause of Christ, and crucify Him afresh. As one has said, “The cross condemns me to service.”

The cross was a way of life for Christ – the way of sacrifice, of selflessness, of service. Unto all who would enjoy the benefits of His atoning death and become His disciples He says, “Take up thy cross and follow me.”

This day the cross speaks to you. It says:

Pour contempt on you pride and believe on the Christ of the cross.

Take up thy cross and follow Him.

What will be your response?

Dr. Robert W Kirkpatrick

First Presbyterian Church Charleston, W Va, March 19, 1961

The Magnetism of the Cross

The Magnetism of the Cross

"And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself." (John 12:32)

It is not the character of Christ, unparalleled as it is in human history that has made men willing to die four of loyalty to Him. Renan, an apostate monk speaks of Christ in this manner after he had abandoned the Christian faith: “A thousand times more alive, a thousand times more beloved since Thy death, Thou shalt become the cornerstone of humanity so entirely that to tear Thy name from this world would be to rend it to its foundations. All ages will proclaim that among the sons of men there is no one more greater than Jesus.” One of the greatest of modern historians, Lecky, a frank and bold opponent of the Christian faith said, “Through all the changes of eighteen centuries, one ideal character has filled the hearts of men with an impassioned love, and has shown itself capable of acting on all ages, nations, temperaments and conditions; has not only been the highest pattern of virtue, but the highest incentive to its practice, and has exerted so deep an influence that it may be truly said that the simple record of three short years of active life has done more to regenerate and to soften mankind than all the disquisitions of philosophers and all the exhortations of moralists.” These men placed a tremendous value upon the life of Jesus but yet they would not bend their will to the will of Jesus, with Peter, James and John they would not follow Jesus wherever He led.

Neither is it the teachings of Christ unrelated to His death that makes multitudes of people His willing followers. Robert Ingersoll, America’s foremost infidel, who devoted his life to the destruction of the gospel of Christ said, “I place Him with the great, the generous, the self-denying of this earth, and for the man Christ I feel only admiration and respect. Let me say once for all, to that great and serene man I gladly pay the homage of my admiration and tears.” Rousseau, the man who sowed the seed of the revolution which drenched all Europe in blood wrote, “It is impossible that the Sacred Personage whose history the Scriptures contains, should be Himself a mere man? What sweetness, what purity of manner! What presence of mind, what subtlety, what truth in His replies! Where is the man, where is the philosopher, who could so live and so die?” Such is the testimony of men concerning the man Christ Jesus and His teachings but yet such admiration does not cause them to deny themselves daily, to take up their cross and follow Him.

Men are not attracted to Jesus by His profound teaching or the purity of His character, but by the Magnetism of the Cross. It is the Cross of Christ towering over the wrecks of time that bring men to Him and cause them to present their bodies a living sacrifice in His service. Jesus said, “And I, if I be lifted up will draw all men unto me. This He also said, signifying what death He should die.” The Jew of Jesus’ day would have lifted Him up upon a throne set in Herod’s palace. But such was not in the immediate purposes and pans of God. Christ was to be exalted, He was to be raised above every name; He was destined to have pre-eminence in all things, to be exalted above all principalities and powers; He was to have all power in heaven and earth; at His name every knee would bow and every tongue proclaim Him Lord. But before He would become Lord of lords, He was to become the Savior. But before He was to be set upon a throne, He was to be lifted up upon a cross. This text from the lips of Jesus does not refer to the exaltation of Him in our preaching nor to His pre-eminence in our living as needful as these are, but to the death He was to die on Calvary. “This He said signifying what death He would die: “And I, if I be lifted up will draw all men unto me.” Jesus is not speaking of universal salvation. He does not teach that all men without exception will be saved, but that all men without distinction may be saved. The magnetic power of Calvary is not limited to one group or one race color or position in life, if they will come. Whosoever will may come and drink of the water of life freely.

What is there about the cross that draws men into the service of the Christ of the cross? Men are drawn to the up lifted Christ because the cross reveals the mind of God towards humanity. In these days of distrust amongst nations, of feelings that borders upon hatred for nations and groups of people it is refreshing to know that God thought humanity worth dying for. It is easy in times like these to become cynical and lose one’s faith in mankind. As we witness the destruction of priceless treasures, of the efforts of human accomplishments, of the needless destruction of human life we may well ask is man worth saving? Why try to do anything with people who in 2500 hundred years indulged themselves in 2017 wars? Why try to do anything with a generation which has seen 27 wars take place since the Armistice of 1918? Why try to do anything with men who after passing through the most destructive war ever known refuse to sit together in human love and understanding and solve mutual problems? Humanity is not worth the effort.

But God did not feel that way. The cross is an assertion that men are worth it. It is an assertion that God is mindful of man and the soul of man is of infinite value to God. We must come to see that man himself has the possibilities of great living, and that God was willing to seal His belief in that statement with the life of His only begotten Son.

The uplifted Christ draws men unto Him as the sun draws the water because the cross reveals to us that God loves men. A minister of the Southern Presbytery tells of a man who frequently came to the Church of which he was a pastor but who never made a profession of his faith in Jesus Christ. In the many conversations he had with him he met stubborn opposition on the basis that he could not believe that God was good and loved people when He permitted so much sorrow and disappointment and grief and pain to come to life. The minister tried to reveal to him the love and tender mercy of God in Christ but made little progress. They had in thier home one son who was at the draft age. When conscription became real and he recognized his son would be called to the colors he became almost frantic. He consulted politicians and lawyers and others as to means of preventing the drafting of his son. This of course was all to no avail. The boy was called and with broken heart the mother and father saw him depart. Soon after this the man came to the minister and said, “My wife and I will be at Church Sunday morning. We want to make a profession of our faith in Christ and unite with the Church.” The minister expressed his joy and asked what had brought this change. The man replied, “You know the sorrow that came to our home. We were disconsolate and grieved to the depths of our being. We turned to the bible. There in John 3:16 we read, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” We became convinced that a God who would give His only begotten Son is a God of love and we want to dedicate our lives to Him.” This is the drawing power of the Christ of Calvary:

“O love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee;

I give Thee back the life I owe, that in Thine ocean depths it flow,

May richer fuller be.”

The magnetic power of the uplifted Christ lies in the message that Calvary proclaims:

“On Calvary’s brow there was planted a cross.

Which lifted a man up to shame;

But He on the cross was the dear Son of God,

Who died for a lost world to reclaim.”

In a marvelous and mysterious way “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.” In some unexplainable manner Jesus bore our sin in His body on the tree. Calvary proclaims that the sin of man was laid on Christ and the righteousness of God’s Son is credited to the account of all who will believe. Just what this sacrifice of Christ fully means has never been fully revealed to the minds of men. Only to him who comprehends something of the exceeding sinfulness of sin can the cross of Jesus be understood. When sin is thought of as a breaking of the law, the death of Christ is spoken of as an atonement or reconciliation; when sin is thought of as a debt, the death of Christ is spoken of as a satisfaction; when sin is thought of as slavery to evil, His death is spoken of as a ransom, a redemption or buying back; when sin is thought of as impurity, His death is spoken of as purging or washing away. It is the eternal sacrifice of Christ on Calvary that has drawn and continues to draw men to Christ in humble submission of life.

“And I, if I be lifted up will draw all men unto Me.” Jesus has been lifted up: “On a hill far away stood the old rugged cross, where the dearest and the best for a world of lost sinners was slain.” He says, “Come unto me and your souls shall live.” He loves you. He believes in the worth of your soul. He died for you. Do you not feel the magnetic love of Calvary drawing you? Do not linger. Yield to the drawing of Christ and say to Him, “Jesus lover of my soul, let me hide myself in Thee.”

Dr. Robert W Kirkpatrick

First Presbyterian Church Hinton, W Va. March 4, 1953

The Challenge of Gethsemane

The Challenge of Gethsemane

Come with me in company of Peter, James and John into the Garden of Gethsemane. Come that we might see Jesus in the Garden, that we might see the disciples in relation to Gethsemane and that we might see ourselves in relation to the Gethsemane experience. As you come “take off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place wherein thou standest is Holy ground.”

This garden into which we come has a significant name – Gethsemane. So many Scriptural names are significant. Genesis, the first book of the Bible means, “beginnings.” There we find the story of all beginnings – the beginning of nature and man, of tribes and nations, of sin and redemption. Bethel where Jacob had his vision of God means “house of God.” Bethesda where Jesus healed the paralytic means “house of mercy.” Golgotha where our Lord was crucified means “place of a skull”. Gethsemane means “winepress.” Here is the place where the oil is crushed from the olive, where the juice was crushed from the grape. Winepress signifies the place of agony and suffering. It was in Gethsemane that Jesus experienced great suffering and agony.

“It was alone the Savior prayed in dark Gethsemane;

Alone He drained the bitter cup and suffered there for me.”

Jesus came to the garden with eleven disciples. Judas alone was missing, but he would come later bringing the authorities who would arrest the Savior. As they came to the entrance of the garden, Jesus said unto His disciples, “Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.” Then He took Peter, James and John into the garden with Him. They had been with Him on the Mountain of Transfiguration and had beheld the deity of Christ in all its splendor. Now they were to behold the humility of Christ made manifest.

After going a short way with the three into the garden, Jesus halted and said to them, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death; abide ye here and watch with me.” Jesus went forward a little and in agony of soul and spirit prayed, “O, my Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me, never the less not as I will but as Thou will.” Three times Jesus prayed this prayer and so great was His agony that “sweet was as if it were great drops of blood, falling down to the ground.”

“Ah, never, never can we know

The depth of that mysterious woe.”

In the garden, we see Christ drawing back from the cross. Why? Here we see Him shrinking from drinking this cup of bitter agony. Why? What was there in this cup that was so bitter?

The cup was bitter because it was a cup of physical pain. It was only natural for a young and vigorous man to shrink for such an agonizing death as crucifixion. As Jesus knelt there in the garden, there came before His eyes the events of the next hours – an unjust trial, mockery by the crowds, scourging by the soldiers, nails driven into His hands, long hours of slow death on a cross. The fear of pain is worse than the actual experience. We dread the thought of having dental work done more than the actual experience itself. As Jesus thought of the actual pain involved, He shrank from the cross as any normal man would. Thus He prayed, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.”

The cup was especially bitter because it was a cup of spiritual pain. That which causes spiritual pain is a consciousness of sin. Out of the consciousness of sin, Isaiah cried, “Woe is me.” In anguish of soul, the Prodigal said, “I am no more worthy to be called thy son.” In deep conviction of sin, Peter cried out to the one he love more than all the world, “Depart from me.” Sin brings crushing pain to the soul of man. Jesus knew no sin. His spiritual pain came not from His sin but from the sin of others. Christ was one with man in blood, “He was born of a woman.” He was one with us in life, “He was tempted like as we are.” He was one with us in experience; He prayed, He wept, He thirsted, He hungered. Now He is to be brought the sin bearer of man. He who knew no sin is to be made sin for us. He, His own self is to bear our sins in His body on the tree. This verse defies exegesis and exposition. We cannot plumb the depths of there meaning. In some manner unexplainable to man “the Lord laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.” As the Son of God prayed in Gethsemane, He beheld the burden of man’s sin falling upon Him. The whole being of Christ dew back from being “made sin.” He would endure the physical pain and the metal anguishes of loneliness but to be made sin, No, not that. The purer, the more righteous a person is the more contact with sin hurts. The sinless character, the purity of Christ’s nature shrank from the thought of sin. The spotless Lamb of God prayed, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.”

Three times, Jesus prayed this prayer and three times He prayed, “not my will but Thine be done.” In the hour of prayer, He found courage to surrender Himself completely unto the will of God. The Good Shepherd has come into this world to seek and to save the lost sheep and to give His life for them. If it meant drinking the cup of physical, mental and spiritual anguish, He was willing.

His heart craved sympathy, but He was alone.

He was fighting the battle for all the race, and He was alone.

He was pitted against all the powers of Hell, and He was alone.

He was lonely – desperately lonely, and He was alone.

He was alone in that hour of extreme agony because His disciples fell asleep. They missed one of the high privileges of life. What a privilege it is to be asked to share a friend’s sorrow, to give aid and comfort in the hour of spiritual turmoil! It is a higher privilege to be asked in the accomplishment of a high and noble purpose. But in the hour when Jesus needed most the support of and the presence of His disciples, “they took their ease in Zion” and slept.

Let us be slow to judge these men and even slower to condemn them. Let him who is without sin cast the first stone. How often are we guilty of failing to watch with Him? We are quick to speak to our friends of the drama we witnessed last night on television, but our tongues are tied when it comes to speak of the of drama of Calvary. We are quick to speak of the lessons learned by reading the newest book to gain the best seller list, but slow to speak of the truths of God’s Word. We spend hours in fellowship with human friends but only seconds in fellowship with our Divine Friend. We become so enamored with the temporal things that we seldom think of the eternal values. We become too involved with making a living that we fail to live a life of praise and honor and glory unto Him. If the cause of Christ is to be advanced, if the world is ever to choose His way, it will be because His friends watch and pray with Him. If Gethsemane says anything to us, it says, “Watch and pray with me.”

But there is a deeper meaning here for us. The Gethsemane experience teaches us that there is victory in surrender, conquest in commitment. Jesus cautioned Peter: “Watch and pray, least ye enter into temptation.” Peter disregarded our Lord’s exhortation and command and went to the defeat of denial. Jesus committed Himself to the will and purpose of God and left the garden with new courage to win a complete victory over the power of evil. It is in losing our self to the high purpose of Christian witness and service that we truly find our true selves.

The challenge of Gethsemane is:

Have thine on way Lord, have thine own way,

Thou art the potter, I am the clay,

Mold and make me after thy will,

While I am waiting yielded and still.

Dr. Robert W Kirkpatrick

Oakwood Presbyterian Church, Lenoir, N.C. April, 1983