The old Cross is the only one
NO NEW CROSS
The Old Cross is the only One
Thirty miles to the west of our home in York, PA is the town of Gettysburg. On the west side of this small town lies the well-known battlefield. On July 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of 1863 nearly 50,000 young men were wounded or killed there. It was a critical battle and a turning point in the American Civil War.
Calvary too was a critical battle, no doubt the most important in all of human history. It was the critical point in God’s redemptive plan. God’s plan for redeeming lost souls was based on what was to be accomplished there. Eternity past looked forward to this hour, and eternity future will look back to it.
Jesus spoke of this critical hour on different occasions. In the garden of Gethsemane He mentioned it several times. He prayed that “if it were possible, the hour might pass from him,” and after praying He said to His disciples, “the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.” (Mk. 14:35,41) When speaking to the Father He said, ‘the hour is come.” (John 17:1)
Let’s briefly consider some different aspects of the cross of Calvary.
The Place
And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him ….(Lk. 23:33)
Calvary was a historical place. There was nothing secret about it. Like great battlefields in history, it was open for the world to see. Like Gettysburg and other such fields, many have gone back to the historical place called Calvary.
It was the same place that Abraham and Isaac had gone together many years earlier. “And Abraham rose up early in the morning …. and Isaac his son, and… went unto the place of which God had told him.” (Gen. 22:3)
Calvary was also a horrible place-the place of a skull. There was nothing pretty about the cross. Romans in polite society of that day would not speak of the cross. Men have made the cross attractive. They have hidden its horribleness. In reality, the day Christ was crucified was the darkest day in man’s history. It is one thing for man to mistreat man, but on that day man mistreated God! What men thought of God they poured out upon Christ. “The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.” (Rom. 15:3) It was the day that man spit in God’s face!
Calvary was also a holy place. It was the place where a Holy God’s view of sin was clearly manifested. All the fury of God’s wrath was poured upon the Holy One who was made sin. If any man thinks God will overlook his sin, Calvary clearly states otherwise. If God would not lessen His righteous judgment upon His precious Son who bore our sins in His body on the cross, there are no grounds to think that God would simply overlook man’s sin.