Reflections on the Cross: A Call to Repentance

 

Summary

In reflecting on the events of Good Friday, we are drawn to the scene in Jerusalem where a great company of people, including women, followed Jesus as He made His way to the cross. This moment in history presents us with a profound question: How does this event affect us personally? There are two dangers we must avoid: becoming overly focused on the dramatic spectacle of the crucifixion or being solely concerned with the doctrine of salvation, neglecting the historical reality of the events. We must find a balance, recognizing both the historical facts and their deep spiritual significance.

Jesus, even in His agony, turned to the women of Jerusalem and rebuked them for their thoughtless weeping. He urged them to think deeply about the events unfolding before them, to understand their significance, and to repent. This call to thought and repentance is as relevant today as it was then. Jesus' first and last messages were calls to repentance, urging us to think deeply about our lives and our relationship with God.

The women wept for Jesus because of His innocence and the injustice of His condemnation. Yet, Jesus instructed them not to weep for Him but for themselves. He did not need their sympathy, for He came into the world to fulfill God's plan of salvation. His death was not merely the result of human actions but the fulfillment of God's predetermined counsel. Through His death, Jesus glorified God and demonstrated His love for humanity.

Jesus' death on the cross was the moment of His greatest triumph, defeating the powers of darkness and reconciling humanity to God. He urged the women to weep for themselves because they did not understand who He was or their own need for salvation. This ignorance of God, of our own sinfulness, and of the significance of Jesus' sacrifice is a cause for weeping. We must recognize our need for repentance and the amazing love of God demonstrated through Jesus' sacrifice.

Key Takeaways:

- The crucifixion of Jesus is not just a historical event or a theological concept; it is a call to personal reflection and repentance. We must avoid the extremes of focusing solely on the spectacle or the doctrine and instead embrace the full significance of the event. [04:25]

- Jesus' rebuke to the women of Jerusalem highlights the danger of thoughtlessness. We are called to approach the cross with contemplation and understanding, recognizing the depth of our need for repentance and the significance of Jesus' sacrifice. [09:17]

- Jesus' death was not a tragic accident but the fulfillment of God's plan for salvation. He willingly went to the cross, knowing it was the means by which humanity would be reconciled to God. This understanding should move us to gratitude and worship. [19:15]

- The call to weep for ourselves is a call to recognize our own sinfulness and need for salvation. We must see beyond the injustice of the crucifixion to our own need for redemption and the amazing love of God that made it possible. [32:12]

- The triumph of the cross is the defeat of the powers of darkness and the reconciliation of humanity to God. Jesus' death is the ultimate demonstration of God's love, and our response should be one of repentance and faith in Him. [29:38]

Youtube Chapters:

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [00:09] - Introduction to the Passage
- [01:05] - The Scene in Jerusalem
- [02:25] - The Dangers of Misunderstanding
- [04:25] - Balancing History and Doctrine
- [05:34] - Jesus' Last Public Teaching
- [07:18] - The Rebuke of Thoughtlessness
- [09:17] - The Call to Repentance
- [12:20] - The Innocence of Jesus
- [17:08] - The Purpose of Jesus' Death
- [20:54] - God's Plan and Jesus' Sacrifice
- [24:21] - The Glorification of God
- [29:38] - The Triumph of the Cross
- [32:12] - Weeping for Ourselves
- [39:46] - Personal Reflection and Response

Study Guide

Bible Study Discussion Guide

Bible Reading:
- Luke 23:27-31

Observation Questions:
1. What was the reaction of the women of Jerusalem as Jesus made His way to the cross, and how did Jesus respond to them? [00:28]
2. According to the sermon, what are the two dangers we must avoid when reflecting on the crucifixion of Jesus? [02:45]
3. How does the sermon describe Jesus' attitude towards His own suffering and the people around Him during His journey to the cross? [06:44]

Interpretation Questions:
1. Why does the sermon emphasize the importance of balancing the historical facts of the crucifixion with its spiritual significance? [04:25]
2. In what ways does Jesus' rebuke of the women of Jerusalem serve as a call to deeper contemplation and understanding of His sacrifice? [09:17]
3. How does the sermon explain the significance of Jesus' death as the fulfillment of God's plan for salvation? [19:15]

Application Questions:
1. Reflect on your personal understanding of the crucifixion. Do you find yourself focusing more on the historical events or the theological implications? How can you find a balance between the two? [04:25]
2. Jesus urged the women to weep for themselves rather than for Him. In what areas of your life do you need to recognize your own need for repentance and salvation? [32:12]
3. The sermon highlights the danger of thoughtlessness. How can you cultivate a habit of thoughtful reflection and understanding in your spiritual life? [09:17]
4. Consider the idea that Jesus' death was not a tragic accident but a deliberate act of love. How does this understanding affect your gratitude and worship? [19:15]
5. The sermon calls us to recognize our own sinfulness and need for salvation. What steps can you take this week to deepen your awareness of your spiritual condition and seek God's forgiveness? [32:12]
6. How can you actively respond to the amazing love of God demonstrated through Jesus' sacrifice in your daily life? [29:38]
7. Reflect on a time when you have been thoughtless in your spiritual journey. What practical steps can you take to ensure you approach your faith with more contemplation and understanding? [09:17]

Devotional

Day 1: The Crucifixion as a Call to Personal Reflection
The crucifixion of Jesus is not merely a historical event or a theological concept; it is a profound call to personal reflection and repentance. This event challenges us to avoid the extremes of focusing solely on the dramatic spectacle or the doctrine of salvation. Instead, we are invited to embrace the full significance of the crucifixion, recognizing both its historical reality and its deep spiritual implications. By doing so, we can better understand how this pivotal moment in history affects us personally and calls us to a deeper relationship with God. [04:25]

Hebrews 12:2-3 (ESV): "Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted."

Reflection: In what ways can you move beyond the spectacle of the crucifixion to truly reflect on its personal significance in your life today?


Day 2: Thoughtfulness at the Cross
Jesus' rebuke to the women of Jerusalem serves as a warning against thoughtlessness. He calls us to approach the cross with contemplation and understanding, recognizing the depth of our need for repentance and the significance of His sacrifice. This call to thoughtfulness is as relevant today as it was then, urging us to think deeply about our lives and our relationship with God. By doing so, we can avoid the danger of superficiality and embrace the transformative power of the cross. [09:17]

Isaiah 1:18 (ESV): "Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."

Reflection: How can you cultivate a more thoughtful and contemplative approach to your faith, especially in light of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross?


Day 3: The Fulfillment of God's Plan
Jesus' death on the cross was not a tragic accident but the fulfillment of God's plan for salvation. He willingly went to the cross, knowing it was the means by which humanity would be reconciled to God. This understanding should move us to gratitude and worship, as we recognize the depth of God's love and the intentionality of His plan. By embracing this truth, we can find hope and assurance in the midst of life's challenges, knowing that God's purposes are always at work. [19:15]

Acts 2:23 (ESV): "This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men."

Reflection: In what ways can you express gratitude and worship for the intentionality of God's plan in your life today?


Day 4: Recognizing Our Need for Salvation
The call to weep for ourselves is a call to recognize our own sinfulness and need for salvation. Jesus urged the women to see beyond the injustice of the crucifixion to their own need for redemption and the amazing love of God that made it possible. This call remains relevant for us today, as we are invited to acknowledge our own shortcomings and embrace the transformative power of God's love. By doing so, we can experience the fullness of life that comes from being reconciled to God. [32:12]

Romans 5:8 (ESV): "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Reflection: What specific areas of your life reveal your need for salvation, and how can you invite God's transformative love into those areas today?


Day 5: The Triumph of the Cross
The triumph of the cross is the defeat of the powers of darkness and the reconciliation of humanity to God. Jesus' death is the ultimate demonstration of God's love, and our response should be one of repentance and faith in Him. By embracing the victory of the cross, we can live in the freedom and hope that comes from being reconciled to God. This triumph invites us to live lives marked by gratitude, worship, and a deep commitment to following Jesus. [29:38]

Colossians 2:14-15 (ESV): "By canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him."

Reflection: How can you live in the freedom and hope of the cross's triumph today, and what steps can you take to deepen your commitment to following Jesus?

Quotes

We are meant to concentrate upon the facts and upon the details that is why we are met together that is why we observe this day at all it reminds us of the historicity of these events the Christian Gospel the Christian message is not a mere teaching not just a a philosophy a way of life it is something that is based solidly upon facts history upon events. [00:04:36]

He teaches us how to look at and to face him and what happened to him on that occasion this in many ways is the last piece of public teaching that was delivered by our Lord from there on he's on the cross and he answers questions he makes statements here is his last piece of teaching and this in itself is amazing and astonishing. [00:05:30]

He preaches to them he teaches them he thinks of them rather than of himself oh how typical and characteristic this was of him always in the midst of his own problems and trials his heart is concerned about others and let her as we've been reminded even in the agony nail to the tree he deals with the soul of that Thief that was crucified by his side. [00:06:44]

He makes makes it plain in his action he makes it still plainer in his words what is he rebuking well he is rebuking thoughtlessness thoughtlessness he does it of course with gentleness but nevertheless it is a rebuke he's rebuking this attitude that looks upon him and all that's going to happen to him without really think it's a way of looking at him and what happened to him which is purely emotional purely sentimental which doesn't trouble to really consider what is taking place. [00:07:49]

His teaching about his own death is this that we should approach it with thought with contemplation with intelligence with understanding that we must realize what is happening so you see my dear friends in a way we can describe this statement of his this last piece of teaching of his as a great appeal to us to think and if ever that message were necessary for the church as well as for the world it is at this present time. [00:09:03]

He is telling us so to meditate upon these things so to think of them so to realize their meaning and their significance that we shall repent that's what the Weeping means now here again we are struck by a very remarkable thing our Lord be began his ministry and ended it on exactly the same note what was his first message well the first report we have of his preaching is found in The Gospel According to St Mark. [00:10:10]

Think think think apply your minds consider Until You Weep until you repent and this my dear friends is his message I feel to us this morning yes to us who are Christian people as well as to the whole world to repent why are things as they are why is the church as weak as she is at the present time why does she count for so little in this country and in the world look at the whole state of the world what's needed well what's needed this morning is repentance. [00:11:27]

He tells them not to weep for him for this reason because he had come into the world in order to go to this that's why he the Son of God had ever come out of the glory into this world of time he wasn't surprised at his death he had come into the world in order to die he had talked about it hadn't he said in his teaching as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should not perish. [00:18:09]

He knows that what is happening to him is not ultimately the action of men it is the action of God Peter you see preaching on the day of Pentecost puts it very clearly when he says him being delivered by the predetermined counsel and for knowledge of God you have taken and by Wicked hands of Cru ified but remember it was God's predetermined counsel and for knowledge our Lord knows at this moment and that's why he rebukes the Weeping and the Wailing of the women that he is about to fulfill that great plan of God for the Redemption of men. [00:21:00]

He knows he says it there again in that same passage in John 12 now he says is the Judgment of this world now shall the prince of this world be cast out and it happened on the cross he defeats the principalities and Powers as the Apostle puts it in Colossians 24 and 15 he has made an open shower of them triumphing over them openly putting them to an open shame he knows all this there he is staggering to the cross and he hears the Weeping and the lamenting and he turns Round And he says weep not for me don't weep for me don't be sorry for me don't waste your sympathy and compassion on me don't merely be filled with a sense of Injustice and of the unrighteousness of it all don't be for me why well what I'm about to do terrible though it is is the the Judgment of this world and the prince of this world is cast out it is the moment of his greatest Triumph it is the means whereby he reconciles men unto God and delivers them from the bondage and the surom and the slavery of Satan and of sin and of hell it's the way in which he sets the captives free. [00:28:45]

He tells us not to weep for him because he knows that now in a few minutes what is going to happen to him on that cross is going to glorify his heavenly father in a way that nothing else has ever done orever can do he has already prayed father glorify thy name that's with reference to the Cross look it up when you go home in John 12:28 he's speaking about his death father glorify thy name the reply comes I both have glorified it and will glorify it again what's he mean oh what he means is this that it is his death upon the cross that glorifies God as nothing else has done it's there and there alone you really see the love of God. [00:24:21]

He is making this solemn pronouncement and it's for the whole world this morning he is indicating the fate of all who die impenitent that's what he is proclaiming don't weep for me he says weep for yourselves don't spend your time merely in talking about the Injustice and the unrighteousness the cruelty of men these politically minded people don't waste your time don't stop at that think go down to the depths get understanding and realize this that if you die without realizing why I had to die if you die in your sins you go on to Eternal punishment he'd been saying it right through his ministry here it is again God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son what for why that whosoever believeth in him should not perish if a man doesn't believe in him he does perish the only way to evade perishing is to believe in him to realize who he is and to realize why he died upon the cross why he set his face steadfastly to do so why he had to do so why he tells people don't waep for me don't be sorry don't hold me back I must it's the only way whosoever believeth in him should not perish but who doesn't believe of necessity does perish there is only one way of Salvation it is in Jesus Christ and him crucified a man who doesn't realize that he can only be saved because the Son of God has born the punishment of his sins is a man who lost and a man who dies in a lost State perishes there there is no hope for him he goes on to Eternal misery unhappiness and torment in whatever form it may be that is the only thing that awaits him weep for yourselves he says that you don't realize this weep as you contemplate the torment the agony the suffering of a damn soul that has never seen the need of what I am about to accomplish on that cross that awaits me. [00:36:12]

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Transcript
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