Three men crucified. Here at the start we see it is not the cross which matters but the one hung on the cross. Two of the men were robbers. The manner of their death would seem to indicate that their crimes were against Rome, that their robbery also involved insurrection. But of the third, the governor, Pilate, had said, "I find no crime in him." (Jn 19:4). He was crucified at the demand of the Jewish leaders. He was crucified for the claim to be "King of the Jews." And Pilate placed an inscription above him, "The King of the Jews." So wished the inscription had said, "He said he was king of the Jews" but instead Jesus was simply labeled, "King of the Jews."

This "King of the Jews" was dying an agonizing and humiliating death. Rome had perfected the cross as a horrible way to die. A Roman citizen was exempt from crucifixion. It was most commonly used for slaves and rebels. At times, after a province had rebelled, the roads would be lined with hundreds of crosses. As I said, it is not the cross which was important, it was the one hanging on it.

Jesus had come into the city, at the beginning of the week, to the loud cries of "Hosanna.!" On what we call Palm Sunday he had a triumphal entry into the city. Many thought he had come to violently overthrow Rome. The expected him to set up his kingdom with Jerusalem as his Capital. At one point in his career multitudes had followed him. But now he was alone. Of his disciples, one was there at the cross. The others had scattered. The crowd was gone. The twelve had scattered. Peter had denied even knowing him. The man who had been so popular was now abandoned.

Perhaps you have had a time when you felt like all had turned against you. For Jesus this was the case. But for him it went one step further. From the cross we hear him cry, "My God. My God. Why hast thou forsaken me." At this point we begin to understand how his death on the cross stands out. Paul wrote,(Gal 3:13) "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us." If you have ever felt abandoned and alone think of Christ's aloneness on the cross. He was not just abandoned by the crowd and his friends. He was taking upon himself the penalty for our sin. And the penalty for sin is spiritual death. Jesus had used terms such as "outer darkness" to describe the punishment for sin. On the cross he, himself, experienced separation from God. Christ, who had been for all eternity one with the Father, knew, for the first time, what it meant to be alone. He who could say, "I and the Father are one" now knew what it meant to be lost in sin and rejected by God.

The message of the cross is the message of one who died for our sins. It is the message of one who took upon himself the penalty of our sin.

Christ's last words were, "It is finished." Without the cross his work would have remained incomplete. Jesus could show us the power of God. He could teach us the way we should walk. But he could not show us the way to be freed from sin. In the hymn we ask, "What can wash away my sin" and sing the answer, "Nothing but the blood of Jesus." It is the crucified Christ who cleanses us from all sin. On the cross he completed the work of salvation. And having completed the work he left us, who have no way to save ourselves, with a way to be saved from sin and death.

When Paul wrote to the church in Corinth he reminded them of his ministry among them. He said, "I decided to know nothing among you except Christ and him crucified." Always remember, this is why we come together. Jesus is the center of our faith. In Hebrews he is called the "author and finisher of our faith." But the cross is the reason he is lifted up. Without the cross, we would not have known of Jesus. Many "messiahs" rose up in that era of Judah's history. In Acts we read the words of Gamaliel who counsels the rest of the Sanhedran to let the Apostles alone. He had seen other such movements rise up and they came to nothing. It is the cross which lifts Christ above the rest.

Without the cross Christ would have lived and died in obscurity. The multitudes he gathered would have gone to their homes having enjoyed a great teacher but without having anything changed. Without the cross we would still be lost in our sin. On the cross Christ paid the price of our sin. The Bible says, "the wages of sin is death. Sin has a price which must be paid. God can not simply ignore sin. And we can not atone for our own sin, for the price is death. So it was that Jesus died for us. "God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us."

Paul notes that not everyone is able to accept the word of the cross. For the Jew, the cross was a stumbling block. Jesus did not meet their expectations for the Messiah. The Messiah was not supposed to die like that. They knew that a curse was laid upon anyone hung on a tree. They would have seen Jesus as under a curse. To say he bore the curse for us was to confuse the matter. They could not accept it.

But for the Greek the cross was a problem because it seemed foolishness. From the first the cross has been treated as weak and foolish. Some stood at the foot of the cross and mocked Jesus. The Greek wanted something more philosophical. The simple statement "Christ died for your sins" didn't fit their desires. Today we see people who also have problems with the idea of Christ crucified. They find it either a stumbling block or foolishness.

Still, the word of the cross is the word of God's power to save. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself and the method he chose was the cross. The wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. We have seen many human programs of salvation. All have failed. And all will fail. We fail because we stay in our sins. But Jesus Christ has power over sin and over death. In him is life and forgiveness of sin. Salvation is not in lofty words, it is in putting our trust In Jesus Christ who died for us. He died for my sins. He died for your sins. Have you received the gift of salvation purchased for you on the cross.