HIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE CROSS

HIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE CROSS & MORE

In the first place then an examination of the words of His, which while not immediately revealing the fact of the Cross, do yet conclusively prove that it was present to His mind, in the midst of all the ceaseless activity of three years of public ministry.

There is a notable silence concerning it as to open declaration until the moment when His Messiahship was confessed by Peter. He then began to speak plainly of the Cross, but yet during all that period of preaching and teaching, it was present to His mind, and is the only explanation of certain things He did, and words He uttered.

In such an article as this, the principal factor is that of careful attention to the Master's own words. Comments upon them are of minor importance, and will only be made in an attempt to indicate their true meaning.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." (John 1:51)

The Lord had spoken of Nathanael as “an Israelite indeed." (John 1:47) In response to his evident wonder He makes a statement closely connected with His declaration that this man was a true child of Israel. It calls to mind the reve­lation made to the patriarch concerning the communication existing between heaven and earth by the ladder, and the ascending and descending angels, and of the fact that in the King of Israel there shall be the fulfillment of all that was suggested by that dream. How were these words of Jesus fulfilled? Only by the way of HIS CROSS, and RESUR­RECTION, and ASCENSION.

“Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come." (John 2:4)

This is the first of a series of references in the Gospel of John to an hour yet to come. A comparison of them will show that they all refer to the Cross. His mother evidently thought that now at the commencement of public ministry, He would demonstrate His Divine calling, and accomplish His work, and in the first fact she was cor­rect, but her understanding was limited. He wrought the miracle she suggested, and it was His first sign, but His words prove His understanding of the fact that His mightiest work could only be accomplished by the way of the Cross.

"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." (John 2:19)

The Pharisees demanded His authority for cleansing the temple, and His answer, which was utterly misunderstood at the time, declared HIS CROSS and RESURRECTION to be the authority.

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth may in Him have eternal life." (John 3:14)

Utterly perplexed by the strange words that have fallen upon his ear, Nicodemus at last said, “How can these things be?" that is to say, granting the truth of the asser­tion made, by what process can there be accomplishment? The reply of the Lord, almost certainly not then under­stood by Nicodemus, yet reveals His clear understanding, that life could only be communicated through His UPLIFTING in the sorrows of death.

"My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to accomplish His work." (John 4:34)

In the absence of the disciples He had been dealing with a lost woman, and winning her back with inimitable strength and tenderness to the pathway of virtue. When they, returning, offered Him food, He declared that the very suste­nance of His highest life consisted in the doing of the will, and the accomplishment of His work. How evidently here His mind was dwelling upon that mighty work by which He would seek and save the lost.

“The Son of Man both authority on earth to forgive sins." (Matt. 9:6. See also Mark 2:10; Luke 5:24)

Here by a miracle of healing, He demonstrated to His critics His power to forgive sins, while His very claim to be able to do this, proves His consciousness of the fact that "His own self bare our sins in His body upon the tree," (1 Peter 2:24) for by this bearing of sin alone has He the power to forgive.

“Can the sons of the bride-chamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then will they fast." (Matt. 9:15. See also Mark 2:19-20; Luke 5:34-35)

In astonishment at the absence of fasting in the lives of His disciples, men contrasted this fact with the fasting of the disciples of the Baptist, and asked His explanation. In answer He declared that while He was with them, there was no room for mourning, and then there is evident His consciousness of the coming Cross, as He declared that when the bridegroom should be taken away, the sons of the bride-chamber would mourn.

“Even so the Son also giveth life to whom He will." (John 5:21)

In controversy with His foes He made this inspiring as­sertion of His power to give life to those who are dead, an assertion He could only make in view of His victory over death through THE CROSS and RESURRECTION.

"And he that doth not take his cross and follow after Me, is not worthy of Me. He that finds his life shall lose it; and he that loses his life for My sake shall find it." (Matt. 10:38-39)

In these words, uttered when first He commissioned the twelve, there is a meaning far deeper than they then understood, or were intended to understand. They were to take up the Cross and follow after Him, and as He uttered the words, most surely there was present to His

mind His own Cross. And yet He declared that “he that finds his life shall lose it; and he that loses his life for My sake shall find it." He knew how afterwards such declaration would find its full explanation and vindication by the way of that CROSS, in which He found His life by losing it, and lost His life to find it.

"As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Matt. 12:40; See also Luke 11:30)

In answer to the scribes and Pharisees, who sought a sign, He declared that He would give them none except that of Jonah, but He linked that with a coming fact, namely, that of HIS CROSS, and BURIAL, and RESURRECTION. He under­stood perfectly that no sign He wrought would be final, except that mightiest of all, of a man cast out in death, yet winning his victories by return to life.

"The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in the field; which a man found, and hid; and in his joy he goes and sells all that he hath, and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a merchant seeking goodly pearls; and having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it." (Matt. 13:44-46)

In the midst of the parables of the kingdom, these have evident reference to His coming passion. The popular interpretation of them fails to discover this, in supposing that lost man sells all to buy the field, and possess the pearl. That is an utter failure to appreciate the essential value of the parable. What has man to sell to buy the pearl of price? He is a bankrupt beggar on life's high­way, and nothing that he has to sell will purchase for him the field of the world, or the pearl of price. It is Christ Who sold all to possess the pearl, and in that double declaration of the cost at which He purchased the field of the world, and the pearl which is the Church, there was evidently present to His mind His Cross. We “were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold . . . but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of Christ." (1 Pet. 1:18-19)

"I am the living Bread which came down out of heaven: if any man eats of this bread, he shall live forever: yea and the bread which I will give is My flesh, for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove one with another, saying, How can this Man give us His flesh to eat? Jesus therefore said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood; ye have not life in yourselves. He that eats My flesh and drinks My blood hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him." (John 6:51-56)

In this memorable discourse on the true sustenance of man's spiritual life, while not declaring in detail, no argu­ment is needed to prove that He was speaking out of the consciousness of that CROSS by which He would give His flesh for the meat, and His blood for the drink of the world.

So far the references have been indirect, proving the consciousness of the Cross in His own mind. Those which follow are clearer, because they come after Peter's confession, and are subsequent therefore to His clear an­nouncement of the Cross as the issue of His work, to His own disciples.

"If any man have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, Both he not leave the ninety and nine, and go unto the mountains, and seek that which goes astray?” (Matt. 18:12)

In this most wonderful chapter which deals with the child and the Church, these words clearly reveal His conscious­ness of the long journey into the uttermost darkness that He must take for the finding and restoration of that which had gone astray.

“Jesus therefore saith unto them, My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but Me it hates, because I testify of it, that its works are evil. Go ye up unto the feast: I go not up unto this feast; because My time is not yet fulfilled." (John 7:6-8)

Here is another reference to the hour that had not yet come, this time spoken to His brethren, as at the first it was addressed to His mother. They were urging Him to manifest Himself, and accomplish something. He declared that the supreme moment had not arrived, knowing per­fectly that between Him and any manifestation of real power, there lay the Cross.

"Jesus therefore said, Yet a little while am I with you, and I go unto Him that sent Me. Ye shall seek Me, and shall not find Me : and where I am, ye cannot come." (John 7:33-34)

To the officers sent to arrest Him, He uttered these words, and in common with all those of a like nature, spoken to those outside the immediate circle of His dis­ciples, they prove His consciousness of the Cross, while not openly declaring it.

“Jesus therefore said, When ye have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall ye know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself, but as the Father taught Me, I speak these things." (John 8:28)

Here again is the consciousness of limitation until the Lifting up of the Cross, after which men shall know.

“I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven." (Luke 10:18)

At the return of the seventy, as they recounted the story of their journeying and their work, He uttered these most wonderful words, which, while variously interpreted, certainly indicate the discomfiture and defeat of the enemy which was only wrought in the Cross. The words there­fore prove the Lord's consciousness of that Cross.

“We must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work." (John 9:4)

This declaration of Christ has very often been taken out of its setting and its relation, and has been made to teach that which is undoubtedly true, but what is not here de­clared. Through John, as has been seen, there is a refer­ence to an hour which was coming. It was to be an hour of darkness, of night; and here He said to His disciples in connection with the healing of the man born blind, "We must work," and then declared that shortly the night was coming in which no man could work. His mind was almost certainly fixed upon that deep, dense, dark night, in which man should be excluded, and God alone should accomplish the redemption of the lost race.

“I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd layeth down His life for the sheep. . . . I lay down My life, that I may take it again. No one taketh it away from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." (John 10:11, 17-18)

No comment is necessary here to prove the Lord's con­sciousness of His Cross.

"But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!" (Luke 12:50)

Here is an almost startling declaration of His sense of limitation of the work of preaching, and miracle working. He seems to have gazed on towards the dark and awful passion-baptism with eagerness for it, that He might be no longer straitened, but able to accomplish all that could only be accomplished through its mysterious experiences.

“Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures to-day and tomorrow, and the third day I am perfected." (Luke 13:32)

How closely this follows upon, and adds emphasis to, the last quotation. The Pharisees were warning Him of Herod's hatred and opposition, and in calm and dignified language He declared His present work, and that soon He would be perfected. He looked towards the perfecting by the way of HIS CROSS and RESURRECTION.

"Whosoever doth not bear his own cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:27)

Here is another instance similar to that recorded in Matthew (Matt. 10:38) in which the value of His word, as subsequent events would prove, was created by the fact of His own Cross.

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, and having lost one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing." (Luke 15:4-5)

In this wonderful parable of the lost sheep, the lost piece of silver, the lost man, a parable thus indicating the order of the Divine plan of salvation, is the whole gospel of redemption; the saving of the sheep, illustrative of the work of Jesus; seeking for the silver, illustrative of the work of the Church indwelt by the Spirit, and the welcome of the prodigal, illustrative of the attitude of God to man. At the first in His declaration concerning the Shepherd seek­ing the wanderer, one finds His Cross and passion.

"Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If a man walk in the day, he stumbles not, because he sees the light of this world." (John 11:9)

The Master proposed to go to Jerusalem that He might wake Lazarus from sleep, and His disciples protested be­cause of the opposition that had been stirred up against Him, and the certainty they felt that men would lay hands upon Him to kill Him. To their objection He replied in words that are in harmony with some already considered in this Gospel of John, which show His consciousness of a working day, merging into a terrible night; and while His attitude is a revelation of His sense of security based on the plan until the day's work be over, it also clearly indicates His conscious­ness of the Cross.

“But first must He suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation." (Luke 17:25)

"Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and scribes; and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him unto the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify: and the third day He shall be raised up." (Matt. 20:18-19; See also Mark 10:33-34; Luke 18:31-33)

"But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?" (Matt. 20:22; See also Mark 10:38)

"Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Mark 20:28; See also Mark 10:45)

Upon these no comment is necessary. Here He was teaching His disciples that second lesson, which they utterly failed to learn, until the accomplishment of the facts.

“For in that she poured this ointment upon My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial." (Matt. 26:12; See also Mark 14:8; John 12:7)

Mary, conscious of some dark sorrow settling over His life, with the keen intuition of a great love, perceiving the very shadow of death upon Him, anointed His feet; and in His recognition of the gracious action there is a revelation of the overwhelming consciousness of THE CROSS, which was yet unappreciated by the many, and discovered only by Mary.

"But afterwards he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But the husbandman, when they saw the son, said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and take his inheritance. And they took him, and cast him forth out of the vineyard, and killed him. . . . Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures,

The stone which the builders rejected,

The same was made the Head of the corner: This was from the Lord,

And it is marvelous in our eyes?

Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And he that falleth on this stone shall be broken to pieces: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust." (Matt. 21:37-44; See also Mark 12:6-10; Luke 20:13-18)

Thus, in what was probably Christ's last appearance in the temple, in a parable and an application of Scripture, He openly declared the issue of His ministry to be the Cross.

“Ye know that after two days the Passover cometh and the Son of Man is delivered up to be crucified. . . . My time is at hand; I keep the Passover at thy house with My disciples. . . . Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me." (Matt. 26:2, 18, 21; See also John 14-17)

These Scriptures are the records of His last messages to His disciples, all of them delivered under the very shadow of His Cross, the fact of which is evident today; and yet though openly declared to them, it seems as though they had no clear understanding of its nearness.

Thus we have, in hurried fashion passed over a wide field, and consequently nothing is perfect except the actual Scriptures as recorded. Enough though has surely been done, to show that from the moment when His public ministry began, there was present to His mind its consum­mation in THE CROSS. In great love and tenderness He hid it from His disciples until they had learned the first lesson, that, namely, of His Messiahship. And even then, appreciating their weakness and inability to perfectly under­stand, He seems to have spoken to them seldom concern­ing it. The pathway of the three years was a pathway ever resolutely trodden towards  the Cross and while the consciousness of its pain was forever upon Him, so was also the  sense or its value, for upon the triumph there to be won, He based His authority for all the wonders which He wrought, and the blessings which He scattered were in His view made possible thereby.