LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Tasters from the King's Table
Three Aspects of Christ's Cross
In John 19 the word "cross" appears three times. And the sentences that contain them are very significant.
The first one says: "They took Jesus therefore: and he went out, bearing the cross for himself unto the place called The place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha..." (v.17). The Lord carried his own cross, and when carrying it, in order to be able to walk with it, he had to embrace the cross. To carry the cross not only means supporting its weight, but also to walk along embracing it. He did it well, without crying out, amid the greatest opposition imaginable. Was that cross that the Roman rulers made him carry too heavy and unjust for him? Yes, without a doubt; but it was not the cross of the Romans that the Father gave him to carry.
The second says: " But there were standing by the cross of Jesus...." (v.25).The four most intimate people were next to the Lord in that moment when he died. They were witness to the way that the Lord died on the cross. The cross has a greater end than mere suffering: it is death itself. And the Lord died on His cross. And many were there to see it - His mother, and His beloved disciple-, but nobody could defend Him.
The third says: " that the bodies should not remain on the cross upon the sabbath..." (v.31). Once dead, the Lord was quickly removed from the cross, for His burial. The cross had completed its work, now He could be removed from it. There was no longer life in him, so the cross didn't have anything else to do. The cross deals with man's life, so completely that when life ends, the cross becomes unnecessary.
Beyond the cross is the grave, where resurrection is awaited. Burial is the place of transition between death and new life. It is the trusting hope that the power of God is already ready to do its work.
Chapter 19 of John finishes with the Lord Jesus in the tomb. It is the end of the process of the cross and of death. It is the conclusion of a perfectly carried out work according to God's design.
But John's gospel doesn't conclude there. Chapter 20 is at the door. There is no cross suffering, or death there. The resurrection is the true end of Christ's cross.
And it is also the end of the cross of Christ's disciples.