Always the Cross
Text: Mark 10:32-45
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
A phrase that we’ve become much too comfortable with as we study God’s Word is “yes, but…” I hear it a lot: “Yes, pastor, but that’s the Old Testament,” as if that somehow makes it less Scripture, or worthy of less attention. Or for those who are uncomfortable with the personal accusations of Law, I’ll hear, “Yes, I’m a sinner, but so is everyone else,” or “Yes, that’s breaking a Commandment, but it’s not really that bad.” For those who worry that the Gospel might create a bunch of people who securely indulge in sin, I’ll hear, “Yes, we’re forgiven, but now we have to…” and fill in the blank with the saving work of their choice. Or for those who are offended by a crucifix, they’ll say, “Yes, Jesus was crucified, but He didn’t stay on the cross,” as if we can now move past it and look at something else.
Even the Apostles did this. When Jesus was leading His disciples up to Jerusalem, for the last time, He repeated something He had been teaching them from the start. “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.” Jesus speaks to them about how He will suffer and die, to brace them for that shocking and nightmarish event.
It’s at this point that the brothers James and John, the sons of Zebedee, have their own, “Yes, but” moment. “Yes, Jesus, we know that you’ll be disliked by the leadership in Jerusalem. We know that you’ll be handed over to the Romans. We even know that you’ll suffer. Every great hero has to go through some kind of suffering. But let’s get to the part we want, the stuff we like to think about. We want sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory. When you come to rule your kingdom, we want spots right next to your throne.” They wanted to skip the gruesome, sad, and bloody part of what Jesus was trying to show them. They wanted the glory, the comfort, the dominion of ruling.
We do the same. It’s particularly an issue for those who have heard the good news of sins forgiven at Jesus’ cross many times. “Yes, we know all this Lord. We know we’re forgiven. We’ve heard the Gospel. But we need to talk about something else now. Yes, your cross is important, but let’s talk about what we want, what we like, what’s important to us in this moment.” So we move quickly to the glorious topics of how to live triumphant, victorious lives, how to look impressive to the rest of the world. We want to talk about voting guides and how to increase the power of whatever cause we’ve decided to adopt. We ask Jesus to give us rule over whatever kingdom we wish to have dominion over. Like James and John, of course we’ll let Jesus sit on the throne, but we want to be there, at His right and left, advising, sharing the rule. We want to see the glory. We’ll finally feel safe and free and secure, perhaps even powerful. We’ll get that cross and suffering behind us and will move on to brighter times of glory.
The only problem is that Jesus will not move beyond His cross. He won’t leave it behind. He won’t let it escape His thoughts, even after His resurrection. It’s a bit of a spoiler, but I think everyone here knows that Jesus was raised from the dead after His crucifixion. But look at the title given to Him by the angel that bore witness to His resurrection: “You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified One. He is risen, He is not here.” And even John, who was granted the revelation to see His Lord one more time after Jesus’ ascension, saw Christ as a Lamb that stood forever as the Sacrifice: “I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain…and the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!’”
Jesus’ cross, His sacrifice, is the center of everything, so there’s no leaving it behind for brighter, richer, happier, or more glorious and shiny things. It will forever be what determines our good standing before God. It will forever be how our Lord wants to be known: the Lord who forgives, the Lord who takes our sin and death on Himself, the Lord who is the Sacrifice that stands eternally.
This cross, because it determines our standing before God, will also determine the shape of our lives. After James and John’s request, Jesus responds: “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” James and John are confident of their ability, so they answer “We are able.” It’s then that Jesus explains how the cross will shape their lives. “The cup I drink you will drink, and the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it for those for whom it has been prepared.” James and John will drink the cup of suffering, as Jesus will. They will be baptized by blood and fire, as Jesus was. They will bear their crosses as He bore His. This is the way of the disciple, to follow their Master through everything. A disciple is not better than his Teacher. Those who follow Jesus cannot expect different treatment from the world if they walk the same path as their Master, if they speak the same Truth He does. So James and John would also have their lives determined by the cross. James would be beheaded by Herod as the first of the Apostles to be martyred. John would bear his own cross as he suffered arrest, mistreatment, slander, and even exile on Patmos away from everyone and everything he knew. They would not get past the cross of their Lord. They would walk the way of Jesus, with all that it entailed. But it would also fill all their preaching—the Savior who died for the sins of the world, an Advocate and Redeemer, paying for the sins of humanity, who rose again to promise new life with Him forever. The cross would become the sum of their message, so that they would preach Christ and Him crucified, the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world.
Nor is there any getting past the cross for us. We must always return to it. There is no greater teaching, no greater truth, no greater guide for living than the forgiveness of sins won on Jesus’ cross. That’s why it fills everything we say and do. It’s why it lays out what our lives look like: forgiving those who trespass against us as we ourselves have been forgiven. It shapes our life in the world, which will always marvel at those who are willing to suffer for the truth, at those who live the forgiveness of Jesus, even when it costs us. It also fills our life together here in the Church. It’s the sum of what we say and do in the service: the confession and absolution at the beginning, the readings, the sermon. It’s the reason we receive the Lord’s body and blood, for the forgiveness of sins and strengthening of faith in that forgiveness to life everlasting. It’s the reason we have all these reminders of our forgiving Baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. It’s the heart of our hymns and prayers. It’s what determines the way we live with each other in the Church, never getting past the cross of sacrifice to get to something else, as if there were anything more glorious than the forgiving love of God. It’s why we forgive—truly, freely, and fully—because we have been forgiven at Jesus’ cross.
It’s not about glory—whether it’s the ever-changing definition of glory for the unbelieving world or the glory of Mount Sinai. It’s about the cross, about self-giving, about returning to Jesus’ sacrifice, which serves all, so that we can do the same. “You know that those who considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them,” Jesus says. “But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.” And why? Why is this the servant life of the believer? Not for recognition or reward or even just to be right. “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Even when it’s our serving each other, it’s still about Jesus and what He has done. It’s about the ransom He won. It’s about Him serving us. It’s always about His cross. In the name of Jesus, the Crucified One. Amen.
