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Pastor's Blog January 28, 2021
"Look at the Cross"
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Christians often encourage people to "look at the cross," and this pious phrase is meant to highlight our belief that seeing Jesus as he really is (i.e., the crucified Lord) will enable someone who is looking for God to actually come to faith in him.
But according to the crucifixion story in Matthew 27, this formula must be reversed: it is only by faith drawing us to look at the cross that someone is able to see Jesus as he really is, and thereby come to faith in him as the true Son of God. Matthew 27:33-56 records Jesus' crucifixion and death; nevertheless, this account records two different responses to Jesus' deity as he hangs on the cross.
The first response comes from Jewish people waiting for the Messiah. Matthew 27:40 quotes the reaction of passersby to Jesus on the cross - "You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!" - while Matthew 27:42-43 records the response of the chief priests: "He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. 'He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him'; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"
Regular Jewish citizens cite the false testimony that Jesus would destroy the temple as the reason why no one should believe that he is the Son of God. If the Son of God can destroy a temple, goes the argument, then surely he can also reverse his own crucifixion. Judea's religious leaders acknowledge that Jesus spent his ministry healing and saving people so that they can mock his inability to save or heal himself from crucifixion; to add insult to injury, the chief priests also quote Psalm 22:8 in order to revile Jesus, which ironically is a prophecy about the Messiah's crucifixion and death.
Obviously, merely looking at Jesus on the cross will not automatically disclose to anyone Jesus' divine identity! But Matthew 27:54 recounts the Roman centurion's response to Jesus' crucifixion - a response that is a saving confession of faith: "Truly this was the Son of God." God's people only saw a guy on a cross. A pagan, however, recognized the crucified Son of God.
Friends, when you look at the cross, can YOU see with the eyes of faith that Jesus is the Son of God?
God bless,
Pastor Nathaniel Gamble
