The Cross Looms Ahead

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on the fifth Sunday in Lent, the 21st of March, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  This was an abbreviated service due to constraints put in place from the COVID-19 pandemic.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Today is the 5th Sunday in Lent, as we continue our walk with Jesus so we can remember all He did for us.  We’re very close to the days when Jesus was arrested, tortured, nailed to a cross, died, was buried, and then rose again from the dead.  So let’s look at this same time frame when Jesus experienced it, a couple weeks before His resurrection.  For you see, He knew exactly what was coming and when it would happen.

As the cross loomed just ahead on the horizon, Jesus took every opportunity possible to teach both the multitudes that gathered around Him and His chosen disciples.  Of great importance was to instruct them on what was about to happen in the days ahead.

We are in those days now, in our Christian calendar, so let’s listen to what Jesus has to teach.  Please follow along to what the Apostle Mark saved for us in his Gospel account, from chapter 8, verses 27 through 33, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

27 Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, “Who do men say that I am?”

28 So they answered, “John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.”

29 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.”

30 Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.

31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33 But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but the things of men.”

--Mark 8:27-33 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for ensuring that the words of Your Son Jesus were saved for us so that we too can benefit from His teachings.  He gives us great insight into His thoughts and feelings during His final days of mortal life, and lets us know what to expect at the end of this age.  Please help us learn from what Jesus taught.  Help us be prepared for what is about to happen, just as He tried to prepare His followers in the weeks leading up to the cross.  And Father, please keep us safe from the devil’s evil ways and from those who do his bidding.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and purpose in our love and worship, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Show us what is most important to You and then help us do those things for You.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

In 1926, Lee deForest, the inventor of the cathode ray tube, was quoted as saying, "Theoretically, television may be feasible, but I consider it an impossibility, a development which we should waste little time dreaming about."

In 1943, Thomas J. Watson, Chairman of the Board of IBM, famously said, "I think there is a world market for about five computers."

And then in 1962, an unnamed recording company expert proclaimed, "We don't think the Beatles will do anything in their market. Guitar groups are on their way out."

As a retired IBM employee, I love the prediction that Thomas Watson made.  Of course, when he said that, a room about the size of our sanctuary was needed to house a computer and its peripheral equipment.  Now I carry a computer more powerful than those of his day right here on my hip.  We call it a cell phone, but it’s really a computer with a phone app, and a camera app, and many other apps.

The point is, when we mere humans make predictions, too often they fly wildly off target.  But the predictions recorded for us in our Bible have all come true.  Especially those things predicted by Jesus.  Everything that He said would come to pass as His mortal life neared its end did indeed happen.  So we have every reason to believe that all He told us will happen when He returns will also happen, just as He said it will.

As I mentioned, Jesus was trying to prepare His followers for the weeks ahead.  I think one could say that these were the most important weeks in the life of mankind, for they hold the key to our eternal life.  Jesus wanted His disciples especially, but also the others who came to hear Him teach, to grasp just who He was and what was going to happen.

As the cross loomed ever closer, His sense of urgency had to have been growing.  In our scripture reading, we can see Him trying to get His closest friends to recognize Him as God’s Messiah.  Peter finally gets it, so then Jesus turns to the subject of His immediate future, of how He will suffer and die at the hands of those He came to try to save.  He also let them know that He would not stay dead, but would rise again from the grave on the third day.

Peter just always had to deny that anything bad could happen to Jesus, and this time was no exception.  I can almost hear him, taking Jesus aside and saying, “Now Jesus, You know You don’t have to let anything like that happen.  We’ll take care of You.”  But Jesus knew exactly what would happen, what must happen, so He reminded Peter to stop dwelling on the things of this earth and set his thinking on the things of God and the divine.  Now understand that Jesus wasn’t calling Peter “Satan”, but was acknowledging that Satan was behind Peter’s thinking.  Just as the devil is behind our thinking whenever we focus more on this life than our future life with God.

So, the cross is visible ahead, at least to Jesus.  His followers are still somewhat clueless.  Three times Jesus predicted His death and resurrection.  Three times He told His disciples what was to happen.  The first one I read to you in our scripture reading.  Mark also recorded the second prediction in chapter 9 of his Gospel account, verses 30 through 32…

30 Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it. 31 For He taught His disciples and said to them, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day.” 32 But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.

--Mark 9:30-32 (NKJV)

Still the disciples just could not understand what Jesus was trying to tell them.  They failed to grasp what He was preparing them for.  So as the cross loomed ever nearer, He gave them one more chance to get it.  Mark saved this instance for us in chapter 10 of his Gospel account, verses 32 through 34…

32 Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him: 33 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; 34 and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.”

--Mark 10:32-34 (NKJV)

These are similar words, spoken in the days before Jesus entered Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday.  He will be betrayed, arrested, and handed over to the Romans who will mock Him, whip Him, ridicule Him, and then execute Him in the cruelest way.  But, on the third day, death will not hold Him, the grave cannot contain Him, and He will rise to life again.

This all seems pretty clear to us, to we who know the rest of the story.  And we know it happened just as He said it would.  But being human, and knowing how poorly our predictions pan out, would any of us have understood Jesus any better than did His disciples of that day?  And couldn’t this very human failing be why so many people have trouble believing what we are told in the Apostle John’s Book of Revelation?  After all, a human wrote that book, and humans don’t have very good track records at making predictions.

What we need to understand is that Jesus showed John these things.  Jesus revealed to John what is going to happen when He returns and our world comes to an end.  John simply recorded what Jesus showed him and told him to write.  So whether some want to believe it or not, these things will happen!  Jesus has been urgently trying to prepare us for it, through His teachings in the Gospel accounts, and through His revelations to John.  Listen and take heed!

There is one more time Jesus warned His friends about the days ahead.  Turning to chapter 26 of the Apostle Matthew’s Gospel account, verses 1 and 2 and then skipping ahead to verse 32…

1 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, 2 “You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”

32 "But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”

--Matthew 26:1-2, 32 (NKJV)

This message sounds similar, but it includes a beautiful promise.  “I will go before you”.  Jesus promised His disciples that they would see Him again, in Galilee, where it all started.  He would once again rise from the dead and they would witness Him for themselves.

Family, this is a promise for us as well.  He has risen, and He has gone before us, to heaven.  If we maintain our faith and belief and obedience to Him, then we will see Him for ourselves when it is our time to go home.  We can believe this promise, because everything Jesus ever said came true.  He has gone before us to prepare a place for us so that where He is, there we may be also.  

Praise the Lord!  Thanks be to God!  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the one true Son of God, our Savior and our Redeemer.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, again we thank You for our Bible.  We thank You for inspiring the people who wrote down the words that You gave them.  Thank You, Father, for sending Your Son to offer us salvation, and for raising Him from the grave so that we can share in His victory over death.  Father, please help us keep our faith and belief strong and active.  Help us be more obedient to Jesus and do as He commands us.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more faithful and true, putting all our trust in You and Jesus, and seeking Your help as we do so…

Lord Jesus, as the cross loomed near, You tried to prepare Your followers for the fateful days ahead.  Thank You, Jesus, for teaching them so that we too may learn.  Please, Lord, help us fully recognize and acknowledge You as the one true Son of God.  Help us learn from all that You said and taught.  Help us be prepared for that day when You will return to set the world right.  And Jesus, please help us keep our focus on the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer us.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.