Which Cross Is Yours?
Jerry Watts
Luke 23:32-43
The greatest picture of love ever displayed was when Jesus died on the cross. It was not because of His guilt, it was not the hammer, the nails, the crown, or the abuse that Jesus died, it was His love; it was the love He had for you and me. But never miss this critical part.
He didn’t just die there for us, but literally He died in our place, for our sin. The nail, the pain, the shame of it all - should have been ours. A friend of mine wrote the song, ‘‘I Should Have Been Crucified’’ and that is the truth. It should have been me and you. Sin had to be paid for and Jesus did it when He had no sin of His own.
The caveat is found in Luke 9:23 when Jesus pointedly tell us, ‘‘If anyone would come after me (which means ‘be my disciple’), let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.’’ Can anybody say, ‘‘OUCH?’’ In other words, you must deny self, die to self, and devote self. Today we seem to want to soften these words, Jesus does the opposite in Luke 14 when He says, ‘‘Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me CANNOT (not may not but cannot) be my disciple.’’
(READ TEXT) Let’s take a look toward the hill called Golgotha. On this hillside that is said to be shaped like a skull we see three crosses. I bring this to our attention because all too often, we only visualize one cross, but there were indeed three.
Crucifixion may well be one of the cruelest forms of punishment ever devised by man. While the Romans didn’t invent crucifixion they certainly raised it to an art form. If you study crucifixion, you discover that death was the ultimate outcome but not the only purpose. The inflicting of unimaginable pain and shame was the desire. For instance, the sedile (or seat) was a sharp piece of woods which the victim might rest his backside on - but would ultimately hurt like a knife in the skin of the victim’s backside. When they nailed a person to the cross, the legs were bent sligh ...
Jerry Watts
Luke 23:32-43
The greatest picture of love ever displayed was when Jesus died on the cross. It was not because of His guilt, it was not the hammer, the nails, the crown, or the abuse that Jesus died, it was His love; it was the love He had for you and me. But never miss this critical part.
He didn’t just die there for us, but literally He died in our place, for our sin. The nail, the pain, the shame of it all - should have been ours. A friend of mine wrote the song, ‘‘I Should Have Been Crucified’’ and that is the truth. It should have been me and you. Sin had to be paid for and Jesus did it when He had no sin of His own.
The caveat is found in Luke 9:23 when Jesus pointedly tell us, ‘‘If anyone would come after me (which means ‘be my disciple’), let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.’’ Can anybody say, ‘‘OUCH?’’ In other words, you must deny self, die to self, and devote self. Today we seem to want to soften these words, Jesus does the opposite in Luke 14 when He says, ‘‘Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me CANNOT (not may not but cannot) be my disciple.’’
(READ TEXT) Let’s take a look toward the hill called Golgotha. On this hillside that is said to be shaped like a skull we see three crosses. I bring this to our attention because all too often, we only visualize one cross, but there were indeed three.
Crucifixion may well be one of the cruelest forms of punishment ever devised by man. While the Romans didn’t invent crucifixion they certainly raised it to an art form. If you study crucifixion, you discover that death was the ultimate outcome but not the only purpose. The inflicting of unimaginable pain and shame was the desire. For instance, the sedile (or seat) was a sharp piece of woods which the victim might rest his backside on - but would ultimately hurt like a knife in the skin of the victim’s backside. When they nailed a person to the cross, the legs were bent sligh ...
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