There Is Love in the Cross

Richard RobertsSecond of three parts

3. There is help in times of suffering.

There is suffering in the Cross. Imagine those big Roman nails being driven into Jesus’ hands and feet. Imagine disease striking Him as He took the stripes upon His back so that we might be healed. Jesus was expressing that suffering when He said, I thirst (John 19:28).

Jesus said to His disciples, Take up [your] cross, and follow me (Mark 8:34). There is a price to be paid when you follow Jesus because the devil will try to stop you from serving God. But Jesus said, “Follow Me.” If Jesus said it, you and I can do it! Keep looking to God as your Source, and He will bring you through your suffering.

4. There is reconciliation.

As Jesus hung on the Cross, He cried, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me (Matthew 27:46)? He endured separation from God so that we might be reconciled to Him. Suspended between heaven and earth, Jesus reached up, took the hand of God and then took the hand of the sinner. With His last breath, He pulled God and man together. The Cross was Jesus’ reason for being — that you and I might be saved. Jesus went to the Cross, fulfilled His destiny, and He reconciled man to God. There is reconciliation in the Cross.

5. There is love.

Looking down from the Cross, Jesus saw the tear-stained face of Mary, His mother, and said to her, Woman, behold thy son! And then turning to His disciple John, He said, Behold thy mother! (John 19:26˗27). The Bible says from that moment, John took Mary into his own home. Even in the throes of death, Jesus provided a home for His mother. Now that is real love!

A great psychologist once said, “There are two things that man wants: power and love.” And at the very heart of our desire for love is the love that Jesus gave us on the Cross. God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, Jesus, that we might not perish, but have everlasting life (see John 3:16). There is love in the Cross!

Share the Post: