The Women at the Cross [Part 2]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright.

I don't want to miss thinking about the cross and the sufferings, the passion of Christ, because I don't want to lose my gratitude, and I don't want to lose my awareness of how profoundly valuable I am to God. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today and the series titled, God Used Who?

And you may just be surprised, as presented at Reynolda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at PastorAlan.org or call 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. More on that later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching.

Here is Alan Wright. And so they put the little covering on his head and made him preach. And he stood there wearing that little yarmulke, completely naked, and preached out of Micah on what it is to walk humbly with your God.

Until you begin to allow your soul to see something like that, you can't even begin to understand what Jesus was enduring. The petibulum, the cross beam, may have been what he was carrying because oftentimes the custom was that the one to be crucified would carry that cross beam and then the upright beam they would attach there on the hillside. Just outside the city's northwest walls, a place they called Golgotha, which means the place of the skull.

It was a very common entry way into the city. It was Passover time. So thousands and thousands of Jewish pilgrims would come by and see Jesus being crucified. You were not crucified high above the ground but within hearing distance, close enough to be spat upon. The earlier empires had developed some rudimentary forms of crucifixion, which was more of an impaling of the victim and then just staking it up. But the crucifixion model was more torturous.

It was designed to be slow, so there was plenty of time to see the horror so that it would deter crime. And they would have seen it all. And how with something along the lines of railroad ties, these huge nails, one above the ankles and nailed at the wrists and roped around the wrists. And when he's erected up onto the cross, the jarring of his body, they would have seen it. He'd already lost a lot of blood, but his death would not be by blood loss. It would be by suffocation, was the plan, because after a while, the weight of the body hanging, you cannot exhale. They would, when they wanted to hasten death, come and break the legs of the one being crucified, because in order to get your breath, you'd push up on the nail and the ankles to try to be able to get the diaphragm to work and be able to breathe. And so if the legs are broken, then you can't push up.

You'll die quicker. When they came to Jesus, they didn't break his legs in fulfillment of the prophecy that not a bone would be broken. And the reason was he had already died, because Jesus didn't fight his cross. He took his cross. When they impaled his side, it was all the way, scientists who study this say, into the sack around the heart, and the water and blood that flowed had showed the pressure that had come around his heart, that many who have studied this and reviewed the details of the crucifixion say Jesus uncommonly may have died of heart failure. He may have died literally and figuratively of a broken heart. Those women had been there from nine to noon, and they'd seen the fogging, and they'd seen him be nailed to the cross, and they'd watched people come by and mock him, and they had been there at noon when the sky grew dark.

It was an eclipse, and they had seen these ominous events. It wasn't just difficult to watch the physical suffering, but to watch the mockery, a crown of thorns. He's a king. Let's give him a crown.

The thorns that were found in that region were sharp and deep and long and pierced his brow deeply. A placard above his head that is supposed to be the place where you indicate the crime simply read King of the Jews. It was mocking. You said he was a king. Look, he saved others.

He can't save himself. Even the robbers mocked him, and the religious leaders mocked him. Let me just be clear about the essence of the mockery of hell against Christians and the persecution that comes. When you go through the difficult times of life in which you can't explain why it's happening, and you don't yet know how God is going to redeem it, in those times, those low valley times, there will be a voice that will come and say, look at you.

You follow God, but what has it got in you? And this is the time of old times for hell itself to mock the Son of God. They would have not only seen his suffering and the mockery that he experienced, but those women also, you know what they saw? His mercy. Father, forgive them.

They don't know what they're doing. They would hear him cry out that it's finished, and left be wondering what that means. And the boulders split open, and there was a shaking of the ground. And they heard at least one Roman centurion say, surely this was the Son of God. Whether you never believed one bit of the gospel, you need to know this, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is a historical fact. And so Jesus endures the shame of a cross. We have found a piece of graffiti from I think second century somewhere in a cave mocking Jesus, for it is a figure that had the body of a donkey and a head like Jesus hanging on a cross. And it says, Alexamenos worships God. There was even graffiti mocking what had happened to Jesus. Sabbath was approaching, and so by six o'clock the women needed their work done because they were dutiful Jewish women. And so it was that his body was taken down, and they were making their arrangements with Joseph of Arimathea before Sabbath began. That was Good Friday. That's Alan Wright, and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series.

We'll see you in the next video, and we'll see you in the next video. We're in the final days of this special offer being made available to you. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Today's teaching now continues.

Here once again is Alan Wright. There is a benefit to looking deeply at the cross and deeply at the sufferings of Jesus because this has happened to me again this week. If you look at what Jesus suffered, then you see what Jesus paid. And if you can contemplate the depth of the price that he paid, then you will also be contemplating the worth of your life to God. In other words, to contemplate the sufferings of Christ, to spend reflection on Good Friday, to see Jesus hanging in pain is not so much in the end an invitation for you to dwell upon the magnitude of your sin that put him there, though that is true. But it is ultimately an invitation to see the magnitude of your worth to God.

For who and what manner of love is this? That he would lay down his life for us, he who knew no sin, to subject himself to mockery from those who came to save, the one who could call down a legion of angels to smite those who execute him, instead relinquish his spirit in a moment of God-forsakenness so that he could feel what you feel, know what it is to be human, and to pay the eternal debt. In other words, I don't want to miss thinking about the cross and the sufferings, the passion of Christ, because I don't want to lose my gratitude and I don't want to lose my awareness of how profoundly valuable I am to God. And there's another benefit if you're willing to look at the sufferings of Jesus. And the secret is in Philippians chapter 3 where Paul talks about how much he wants to know the power of Christ's resurrections and the fellowship of his sufferings. And I think for a lot of my life I've been confused by that text because some people have interpreted to say essentially the more you suffer then the more that you can have fellowship with Jesus and it can almost lead to an errant idea that we should somehow seek out suffering or seek out sickness or see, well that text means it all. Instead it is to say that Jesus has suffered everything that any human could suffer.

So when you suffer, which in this world will have trouble, and when you go through those times of suffering and trouble, when you experience times that you're hurting physically or you're hurting emotionally or you're abandoned by those who should have been there for you or you're mocked or rejected, when you go through those times you can know for sure you have a fellowship with Jesus himself because he knows what it's like. I heard this week on the radio an interview with a friend, a friend of our church, Tommy Hicks who is a, amongst other things, a songwriter and he was telling about this, I didn't get to hear the whole story, but he was telling about a story about a song that he had written that had to do with autism. They have a child on the autism spectrum and he had written this song. I heard a piece of it was very tender and they were talking about this song but they said in the midst of it that he was going to travel, I think it's April is autism awareness month, and he was going to travel to a big conference and fundraising event put on by world-famous golfer Ernie Els who has an autistic child and he was going to be singing his song there and so the interviewer said, well how did you wind up being invited to come sing this song?

And the story was simple. Tommy said he was at the golf tournament. I suppose the Wyndham championship in Greensboro last year and he was around a big crowd of people watching Ernie Els practice and of course people calling out to Ernie Els asking for his autograph and so forth and he just keeps practicing, keeps practicing until Tommy called out and said, Mr. Els, you and I have something in common. Ernie Els keeps hitting balls and Tommy says, we both have and Tommy says, we both have a child with autism. So he immediately handed his club to his caddy and turned around and walked over. He said, tell me about your son, tell me about your child.

And pretty soon the world-famous golfer called his wife over and introduced him and next thing you know he said, why don't you come to our big conference and sing this song. It's a fellowship and I'm saying as a thousand voices couldn't have moved Ernie Els to even sign an autograph in that moment but one with the fellowship of suffering and he was moved. In this broken world God is not the author of evil and suffering. He is the one who suffered so that he could be your great high priest, always able to sympathize with you in your time of need. Those women saw a lot that day and there was a benefit to seeing it and I'm glad Jesus had someone who whether from afar or up close was showing him they were still there but oh what I wish those women could have seen because it's what they couldn't see that day that we now see through the lens of the gospel that makes all the difference. I just wish that the Lord could have peeled back the heavens and just let him get a glimpse because what was really taking place that day was not just a man dying on a cross it was a spectacle in the heavenlies.

This is what we are taught in the New Testament is that Christ through his crucifixion made a public spectacle of the enemy by disarming the principalities that were at war with him and the people of God and how was it that they were disarmed? It is because the only thing the devil has against you is an accusation that you have fallen short of the law and therefore deserve condemnation and destruction and so at the cross where he who knew no sin became sin for anyone who would trust in him so that the Christian then becomes the righteousness of Jesus that there was a transaction that was taking place and what looked like hell's greatest moment of victory was actually heaven's greatest moment of victory and the enemy was disarmed because the lion that roared is silenced by the fact that Jesus has paid the price. It's why when John says in his little epistle that when we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us. He's not just faithful and merciful or loving to forgive. He's just in forgiving us because it would be unjust for two people to pay for the same crime wouldn't it and once the crime has been paid for once the debt has been removed once the sin has been forgiven once the judge's gavel has come down and said not guilty there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Oh I wish that they could have seen the heavens peeled back and watched the angels on high make a public spectacle of the devil himself. I wish they could have seen deeply into the victory that was taking place and I wish that they could have understood what theologians call propitiation that they had not just expiated our sin not just removed our sin so that we were justified and forgiven forever but that he had become propitious towards us such that he has no anger against you Christians but instead he looks upon you now through this eternal transfer wherein he sees you through the blood of Jesus not only as if you'd never sinned not only as if you'd never sinned but as if you had lived the meritorious life of Christ himself and therefore he is propitious to pour out blessing upon blessing upon blessing upon blessing it's not just that he took our stripes it's by his stripes we also are healed it's not just that he took the curse it is that also he gave us his blessing were you there when they crucified my lord in the spirit today we say yes and that's the gospel allen right in today's teaching the women at the cross stick with us alan is back in a moment with additional insight on this for your life and a final word god's love you've heard about it with your ears you've believed it in your mind now experience it in your heart with alan wright's beloved book lover of my soul the bible is a love story from beginning to end you are the spiritual bride of christ the perfect bridegroom the bible tells about a god who has gone to unimaginable lengths to woo you to win you and to walk with you hand in hand for any man who has fallen in love with a woman you've tasted the sweetness of what god's love for you is like for any woman who has searched for true love which you long for can only be found fully in god gary chatman renowned author of the five love languages says the incredible reality that god pursues us in love comes to life and lover of my soul ancient biblical accounts explode in the heart accept christ's proposal enjoy his embrace revel in his love after all it's a match made in heaven it's lover of my soul by alan wright we're in the final days of this special offer being made available to you we are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries call us at 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860 or come to our website pastor alan.org alan is this more than just simple reflection or is there value in the reflecting there's more than just reflection although there is such value in our contemplation yeah i think that this gets close to what the scriptures mean by the fellowship of his sufferings god does not need us to suffer like christ suffered in order to pay something and it's not an invitation for us to seek out suffering in our lives i think instead in contemplating the cross it's not so much you enter into christ's sufferings as he enters into yours that you'll never suffer as much as jesus did but in this world we do suffer and it is a reminder in the deepest and most profound way daniel that when you see jesus on that cross you remember how much he understands you and so in contemplating his suffering you experience an intimacy with the one who suffered on your behalf and in contemplating the cross you are and this is the invitation contemplate everything jesus bought for you contemplate every aspect of the victory that he's won and the fullness of his redemption that he has bought for you through his own suffering and death the cross of jesus christ is in that sense beautiful though absolutely hideous beautiful to us today's good news message is a listener supported production of allen wright ministries