2. What is at the
HEART of our
Christian faith?
Hint:What is the
universal symbol of
Christianity?
3. The cross!
1 Corinthians 2:1-2
And I, when I came to
you, brothers,did not
come proclaiming to
you the testimony of God
with lofty speech or
wisdom.For I decided to
know nothing among you
except Jesus Christ
and him crucified.
5. The Seven Sayings of Christ from the Cross
“Father, forgive them, for
they know not what they do.”
Luke
23:34
Saying
#1
Saying
#2
Saying
#3
Saying
#4
“Today you will be in
paradise with me.”
“Mother, behold your son . . .
Son, behold your mother.”
“My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me?”
Luke
23:43
John
19:26-27
Mt 27:46
Mark
15:34
6. The Seven Sayings of Christ from the Cross
Saying
#5
Saying
#5
Saying
#7
“I thirst.”
“It is finished!”
“Father, into Your hands I
commend my spirit.”
John
19:28
John
19:30
Luke
23:46
7. The Seven Sayings of Christ from the Cross
Saying
#1
“Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do.”
Luke
23:34
Saying
#2
“Today you will be in paradise
with me.”
Luke
23:43
Saying
#3
“Mother, behold your son . . .
Son, behold your mother.”
John
19:26-27
Saying
#4
“My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me?”
Matthew
27:46
Mark
15:34
8. TheTragicTriumph of the Cross
Mark 15:21
And they compelled a passerby, Simon
of Cyrene, who was coming in from the
country, the father of Alexander and
Rufus, to carry his cross.
9. Mark 15:22
And they brought him to the place called
Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull).
TheTragicTriumph of the Cross
10. Mark 15:23
And they offered him wine mixed with
myrrh, but he did not take it.
TheTragicTriumph of the Cross
11. - Not invented, but perfected by
Romans
- Illegal for a Roman citizen to be
executed via crucifixion
- Crucifixion reserved for the lowest of
classes
- The topic of crucifixion was
considered taboo in Roman Society
among the upper classes
FastFacts about crucifixion:
12. Mark 15:23
And they offered him wine mixed with
myrrh, but he did not take it.
TheTragicTriumph of the Cross
13. excruciating - extremely painful;
causing intense suffering; unbearably
distressing; torturing
from Latin, excrucitus which is
derived from the Latin word crux
cross!
14. Mark 15:23
And they offered him wine mixed with
myrrh, but he did not take it.
TheTragicTriumph of the Cross
15. Mark 15:24
And they crucified him and divided his
garments among them, casting lots for
them, to decide what each should take.
Psalm 22:18
They divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
TheTragicTriumph of the Cross
16. Mark 15:25-27
And it was the third hour when they
crucified him. And the inscription of the
charge against him read, “The King of the
Jews.” And with him they crucified two
robbers, one on his right and one on his
left.
TheTragicTriumph of the Cross
17. Isaiah 53:12
. . . because he poured out his soul to
death and was numbered with the
transgressors . . .
TheTragicTriumph of the Cross
18. Mark 15:28-30
And those who passed by derided him,
wagging their heads and saying, “Aha!
You who would destroy the temple and
rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and
come down from the cross!”
TheTragicTriumph of the Cross
19. Mark 15:31-32
So also the chief priests with the scribes
mocked him to one another, saying, “He
saved others; he cannot save himself. Let
the Christ, the King of Israel, come down
now from the cross that we may see and
believe.”Those who were crucified with
him also reviled him.
TheTragicTriumph of the Cross
20. Mark 15:33
And when the sixth hour had come, there
was darkness over the whole land until
the ninth hour.
TheTragicTriumph of the Cross
21. “It was in this time that God turned away
the light of his countenance, refusing for
the first time to gaze on His Son as he
carried the full measure of the pollution
of our wickedness, an obscenity God is
too holy to behold. At the climax of that
period of darkness, Jesus cried in agony
– not the agony of the scourging or the
agony of the thorns and nails, but the
agony of forsakenness.” (R.C. Sproul)
22. Mark 15:34-36
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud
voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which
means, “My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders
hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.”
And someone ran and filled a sponge with
sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him
to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether
Elijah will come to take him down.”
TheTragicTriumph of the Cross
23. Psalm 22:1
My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?
For the first time in all of eternity a “rift”
occurs in the HolyTrinity. God the Son,
forsaken by God the Father.The Son cries
for the Father, and the Father is silent.
Jesus was utterly alone!
TheTragicTriumph of the Cross
24. Mark 15:37
And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed
his last.
John 19:30
“It is finished!”
Luke 23:46
“Father, intoYour hands I commend my
spirit.”
TheTragicTriumph of the Cross
25. Mark 15:38-39
And the curtain of the temple was torn
in two, from top to bottom. And when
the centurion, who stood facing him,
saw that in this way he breathed his last,
he said, “Truly this man was the Son of
God!”
TheTragicTriumph of the Cross
26. Mark 15:40-41
There were also women looking on from
a distance, among whom were Mary
Magdalene, and Mary the mother of
James the younger and of Joses,
and Salome. When he was in Galilee,
they followed him and ministered to him,
and there were also many other women
who came up with him to Jerusalem.
TheTragicTriumph of the Cross
27. Mark 15:42-43
And when evening had come, since it was
the day of Preparation, that is, the day
before the Sabbath, Joseph of
Arimathea, a respected member of the
council, who was also himself looking for
the kingdom of God, took courage and
went to Pilate and asked for the body of
Jesus.
TheTragicTriumph of the Cross
28. Mark 15:44-45
Pilate was surprised to hear that he
should have already died. And
summoning the centurion, he asked him
whether he was already dead. And when
he learned from the centurion that he
was dead, he granted the corpse to
Joseph.
TheTragicTriumph of the Cross
29. Mark 15:46-47
And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and
taking him down, wrapped him in the
linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that
had been cut out of the rock. And he
rolled a stone against the entrance of the
tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the
mother of Joses saw where he was laid.
TheTragicTriumph of the Cross
30.
31. What is at the center of your of
your life? What are you most
passionate about?
32. 1 Corinthians 2:1-2
And I, when I came to you, brothers,did
not come proclaiming to you the
testimony of God with lofty speech or
wisdom. For I decided to know nothing
among you except Jesus Christ and him
crucified.
Today’sTakeaway
33. 1 Corinthians 15:3
For I delivered to you as of first
importance what I also received: that
Christ died for our sins . . .
Today’sTakeaway
34. “Paul here is pointing us to the one
transcending truth that should define our
lives: Christ died for our sins.This, Paul says,
is the main thing. Nothing else – not even
things that are biblical and honorable – are
of equal or greater importance than this:
God sent His Son to the cross to bear His
wrath for sinners like you and me. If there’s
anything in life we should be passionate
about, it’s the gospel!”
(C.J. Mahaney, Living the Cross Centered Life)
35. Are you passionately focused on Christ and
his sacrificial death for you? Passionate in
such a way that you think of it often,
rejoice in it daily, and talk about it at every
opportunity you get?
40. Answer these questions:What is at the
center of your of my life? What am I most
passionate about?
Ask God to help you make the main thing
in your life the gospel of Jesus Christ.
There’s no greater reality than this:
God loved you so much that He put His
Son through hell on the cross so that you
would never have to face His judgment!
Today’sTakeaway
