The Crucifixion of Christ is a moment where all of our hope is rooted. It began as a festive celebration, appearing to be a victory for His opponents and a stunning defeat for Christ. But as events leading to the death of Christ took place, all of this changed: Luke 23:46-48 noted that the crowds were terrified by what they saw, and they left shaken.
Jesus’ death on the cross, ransom us, rescue us, and redeem us from sin - from the eternal death, so that we may have eternal life. His death is not a stunning defeat, but His death bring death to the death itself which is the penalty of sin. His death shows God’s power, but also show His Holy obedience to His father.
But let us flashback to the moment before He was crucified, where Jesus prayed in the garden of gethsemane - this is Christ’s final act before He is arrested, tried, and put to death. I just recently attending one of the church’s good friday production, titled “The Rock” where one of the scene tries to portray Jesus when He was praying at the garden of gethsemane - and i think it is one of the best portrayal i’ve seen. So far what i saw everywhere is a picture of Jesus praying at the dawn, and the emotion feels like a moment of quietness which i think is not biblical. There was an emotional intensity described in the scene: He was struggling very hard, He knows that He is going to face the cross, He was dreaded to face His Father’s wrath. Matthew 26:38 tells that His soul was “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death”. Jesus’ agony was due to the cross which awaits before Him. He was not in agony because He would be forsaken by men, but that He would be forsaken and smitten by God. Jesus was dreading, suffering in the anticipation of His bearing of the sins of the world and the wrath of God which all of us deserved. The scene portrays Jesus speaks something like “Why do i have to die, Father? Why do i have to drink the cup? But let Your Will be done.”
So then, Jesus death on the cross is an act of Jesus’ obedience to His father. It is just like what the title says a “Holy Obedience”. Why does it has to be Holy? Before I answer this, let’s take a moment to describe what is God’s Holiness means. R.C Sproul in his book “The Holiness of God” made a good observation on Isaiah 6: “The Bible says that God is holy, holy, holy. Not that He is merely holy, or even holy, holy. He is holy, holy, holy. The Bible never says that God is love, love, love, or mercy, mercy, mercy, or wrath, wrath, wrath, or justice, justice, justice. It does say that He is holy, holy, holy, the whole earth is full of His glory.”
To be holy, in the scripture means that it has to be morally pure. Isaiah 6:5 describes Isaiah respond’s when he faced with God’s holiness: Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts”. Psalm 24:3-4 also tells us similarly: “3 Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? and who may stand in His holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, And has not sworn deceitfully.” But the holiness of God is not just pure, it is more than that: Holy is not the same as Pure, but to be Holy includes purity - purity is a subset of holiness.
The word meaning of “holy” is “separate”, or “cut above something else”, or “dedicated / consecrated to God”. It has an element of distinctness: an example would be if we found a diamond that is perfect, and it is superior in excellence, very very outstanding, the best of the best, then we say it is a cut above everything else; it is unique and no other diamond can match it. This is the other side of God’s holiness that we sometimes forget, It has an element of uniqueness where there is no one can match it. We might mistakenly think that holiness is God’s attribute: just like God is love, mercy, just, and so on, then we might add up the word “holy” as part of God’s attribute. Nope, God’s holiness pervades His entire being and shapes all His attributes, and so His love is a holy love, His mercy is a holy mercy, His anger is a holy anger, and so on (or His love is a love that is above anyone else, that no one can compare).
These two-sides of truth, is what the cross displayed to us in regards to God’s Holiness. The Cross shows that we can’t ever come to Him because we are sinful, and only through the bloodshed of the lamb (the sacrifice of His Son). Salvation comes when we come to faith in Christ as the One who was innocent (sinless), and yet died in our place, bearing the wrath of God which our sins deserved. Those who reject Christ and His atoning sacrifice must bear the wrath of God, which will be poured out on unbelievers in the future. We are not pure as we have sinned, and Christ is pure, and by sacrificing Himself on the cross, we can see His great love, and mercy to us sinner. God’s grace is displayed. It is a love above everything else, because He sacrifice Himself not to save His friend, or to save someone who accepts Him, but He sacrifice himself to save us when we are still His enemies, who rejects Him. Rome 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus dying on the cross displays His obedience: He asked His father if it is possible for the cup be taken from Him, but be it as His Father’s will. His obedience is a holy obedience, it is far above anyone else, it is a total obedience shown to us, and His obedience is pure as it is not because of himself but for His Father’s sake. Oh what a mystery, meekness and majesty that Christ died for us.
How do we respond to this? When we are met in such holiness and obedience, His sacrifice to save us sinner, can we not praise Him? can we not give our life for Him? should we not follow what God has asked us: to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16, Leviticus 11:44)? Paul in Galatians 2:20 says his response: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Our gratitude and thankfulness must be shown by living in faith in our daily lives. Being Holy as He is Holy, to be distinct from other people, to be doing an extra mile from other non-believers, to love our enemies not like what the world taught to hate our enemies, to have passion to bring the gospel, to have patience towards others just like God has patience towards us sinner.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Paul Hartono
Jesus’ death on the cross, ransom us, rescue us, and redeem us from sin - from the eternal death, so that we may have eternal life. His death is not a stunning defeat, but His death bring death to the death itself which is the penalty of sin. His death shows God’s power, but also show His Holy obedience to His father.
But let us flashback to the moment before He was crucified, where Jesus prayed in the garden of gethsemane - this is Christ’s final act before He is arrested, tried, and put to death. I just recently attending one of the church’s good friday production, titled “The Rock” where one of the scene tries to portray Jesus when He was praying at the garden of gethsemane - and i think it is one of the best portrayal i’ve seen. So far what i saw everywhere is a picture of Jesus praying at the dawn, and the emotion feels like a moment of quietness which i think is not biblical. There was an emotional intensity described in the scene: He was struggling very hard, He knows that He is going to face the cross, He was dreaded to face His Father’s wrath. Matthew 26:38 tells that His soul was “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death”. Jesus’ agony was due to the cross which awaits before Him. He was not in agony because He would be forsaken by men, but that He would be forsaken and smitten by God. Jesus was dreading, suffering in the anticipation of His bearing of the sins of the world and the wrath of God which all of us deserved. The scene portrays Jesus speaks something like “Why do i have to die, Father? Why do i have to drink the cup? But let Your Will be done.”
So then, Jesus death on the cross is an act of Jesus’ obedience to His father. It is just like what the title says a “Holy Obedience”. Why does it has to be Holy? Before I answer this, let’s take a moment to describe what is God’s Holiness means. R.C Sproul in his book “The Holiness of God” made a good observation on Isaiah 6: “The Bible says that God is holy, holy, holy. Not that He is merely holy, or even holy, holy. He is holy, holy, holy. The Bible never says that God is love, love, love, or mercy, mercy, mercy, or wrath, wrath, wrath, or justice, justice, justice. It does say that He is holy, holy, holy, the whole earth is full of His glory.”
To be holy, in the scripture means that it has to be morally pure. Isaiah 6:5 describes Isaiah respond’s when he faced with God’s holiness: Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts”. Psalm 24:3-4 also tells us similarly: “3 Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? and who may stand in His holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, And has not sworn deceitfully.” But the holiness of God is not just pure, it is more than that: Holy is not the same as Pure, but to be Holy includes purity - purity is a subset of holiness.
The word meaning of “holy” is “separate”, or “cut above something else”, or “dedicated / consecrated to God”. It has an element of distinctness: an example would be if we found a diamond that is perfect, and it is superior in excellence, very very outstanding, the best of the best, then we say it is a cut above everything else; it is unique and no other diamond can match it. This is the other side of God’s holiness that we sometimes forget, It has an element of uniqueness where there is no one can match it. We might mistakenly think that holiness is God’s attribute: just like God is love, mercy, just, and so on, then we might add up the word “holy” as part of God’s attribute. Nope, God’s holiness pervades His entire being and shapes all His attributes, and so His love is a holy love, His mercy is a holy mercy, His anger is a holy anger, and so on (or His love is a love that is above anyone else, that no one can compare).
These two-sides of truth, is what the cross displayed to us in regards to God’s Holiness. The Cross shows that we can’t ever come to Him because we are sinful, and only through the bloodshed of the lamb (the sacrifice of His Son). Salvation comes when we come to faith in Christ as the One who was innocent (sinless), and yet died in our place, bearing the wrath of God which our sins deserved. Those who reject Christ and His atoning sacrifice must bear the wrath of God, which will be poured out on unbelievers in the future. We are not pure as we have sinned, and Christ is pure, and by sacrificing Himself on the cross, we can see His great love, and mercy to us sinner. God’s grace is displayed. It is a love above everything else, because He sacrifice Himself not to save His friend, or to save someone who accepts Him, but He sacrifice himself to save us when we are still His enemies, who rejects Him. Rome 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus dying on the cross displays His obedience: He asked His father if it is possible for the cup be taken from Him, but be it as His Father’s will. His obedience is a holy obedience, it is far above anyone else, it is a total obedience shown to us, and His obedience is pure as it is not because of himself but for His Father’s sake. Oh what a mystery, meekness and majesty that Christ died for us.
How do we respond to this? When we are met in such holiness and obedience, His sacrifice to save us sinner, can we not praise Him? can we not give our life for Him? should we not follow what God has asked us: to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16, Leviticus 11:44)? Paul in Galatians 2:20 says his response: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Our gratitude and thankfulness must be shown by living in faith in our daily lives. Being Holy as He is Holy, to be distinct from other people, to be doing an extra mile from other non-believers, to love our enemies not like what the world taught to hate our enemies, to have passion to bring the gospel, to have patience towards others just like God has patience towards us sinner.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Paul Hartono
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