(Pt.1)
32 Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. 33 And they went out to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). 34 The soldiers gave Jesus wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it.35 After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. 36 Then they sat around and kept guard as he hung there.”-Matthew 27:32-35
I want to spend the next few weeks speaking about a couple facets of our faith that seem to be disappearing from the Christian landscape. I am talking about the cross of Christ and the blood of Jesus.
Recently my wife and I went on vacation and on each of the planes we boarded was a little sign that read “Sanitized for your protection”. The goal, I assume, was to ease the conscience of those entering the plane that they would not be subjected to anything harmful. Regrettably, it seems like some in the church have tried to do the very same thing when it comes to the cross of Christ. They’ve tried to sanitize it for the protection of others. They have buffed out the bloodiness of the cross to ease the conscience of those being seated in the worship service.
Let’s be honest, the crosses we have hanging in our churches today are cleaned up versions of a bloody original. They have been scrubbed clean of the blood to make them more attractive and tragically, in many churches, their preaching of the cross has been too. I would contend with you, that if the cross we preach resembles the one hanging behind our pulpits more than the one Jesus died on; then we are not preaching Christ and Him crucified. We are preaching a dignified Christianity devoid of the power to save and transform the souls of mankind!
Are we trying to make the cross more attractive? Do we really believe that a sanitized cross will be more appealing to unbelievers? Are we truly convinced that the imagery of a blood stained cross bothers that many people? It’s funny that we try so hard to scrub the brutality of the cross from our symbols and sermons in an effort to protect the delicate egos of others, when in reality we live in a society that spends hundreds of millions of dollars on scary films that glorify blood, gore, and murder. Think about this, the movie Halloween Kills, that was just recently released, earned over 50 million dollars in its opening weekend.
Obviously, the world isn’t unsettled by the imagery of Christ’s death. They are not disturbed by the blood, gore and brutality of the cross. They are, however, put off by a church that is unwilling to embrace the savagery of the cross. A church that is trying to soft pedal the gospel in a time where people need a Savior that was willing to face the brutality of crucifixion to save their souls.
When we sanitize the message of the cross, the lost don’t get found. Humanity is remains destined to die in their sins. People need to have a life altering encounter with Jesus and the cross. That brings us to this man in Matthew Ch. 27. His name was Simon of Cyrene.
Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church
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