03.6. By The Cross Of Jesus
By The Cross Of Jesus
John 19:26 The cross and its results
After the Lord Jesus was taken prisoner and sentenced to death, we meet the beloved disciple again at the cross. A mere handful of the Lord’s followers was left there - the others had fled. The Lord found no comforters in His agony (Psalms 69:20). John, however, was among those few faithful ones standing by the cross (John 19:25-27). Unlike Peter, who denied being a disciple of this Man of sorrows, John faithfully followed his Master in the path of suffering. At first after the Lord’s arrest, Peter had followed Him with John - who in John 18:15 is simply mentioned as "another disciple" (according to some expositors this must have been Nicodemus or someone else). Apparently Peter lacked spiritual power and perseverance to follow the Lord in His humiliation. He showed his weakness. And this confirmed the truth of the words the Lord had spoken to him, that he could not follow Him now (John 13:36-38).John remained faithful, however, and sided with the Lord even in this hour of unspeakable reproach and deepest suffering. What made him do so? Probably it was the happy hours spent with the Lord in the upper room that gave him the strength to meet the test of suffering.
Now it became apparent how strong the ties between the Lord and His beloved disciple really were. Of course, John’s example contains an important lesson for ourselves as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. It teaches us that a life in intimate fellowship with the Lord is an absolute necessity for His followers in this world that has rejected Him. Our fellowship with the Lord who ascended on high - "in the upper room" - enables us to follow the rejected Saviour in His footsteps here on earth and to stay close to Him by the power of the Spirit.Indeed, it is very important to take our place by the cross of Jesus, for there we learn a great deal. There we see Him hanging as the Sinbearer, the One who died for our sins and bore them in His own body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24). There too, He was made sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). The big questions of our sins and of our sin-nature (indwelling sin) were settled there. For by Christ’s offering for sin, God condemned sin in the flesh (Romans 8:3). Our sinful flesh was condemned in the death of Christ, and met its end there. Our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin (Romans 6:6). So by the cross we were delivered, both from our sins and from the power of indwelling sin.
Now, set free from the law of sin and death, we do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.This means that the cross determines our position as Christians to a large extent. Did you take your place beneath the cross of Jesus? Do you realize that your old self has been crucified with Him? And there are more lessons to be learned here. Standing by the cross we also learn that we have been freed from the law. We have become dead to the law, and are now married to Another, to Him who was raised from the dead (Romans 7:4-6). This does not mean, of course, that a Christian is a lawless person, for he is under law toward Christ, and he fulfils the law of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:21; Galatians 6:2). Our rule of life is Christ, and by the Spirit we are enabled to meet this high standard. The law of Sinai demanded from the Israelites to love their neighbours as themselves. The law of Christ - the law of love - asks us to follow in His steps, and even to lay down our lives for the brethren (1 John 3:16).
Reading Galatians, we see that the cross has brought a fundamental change in our relation to the law, to our own sinful flesh, and to the world. We have become dead to the law, to sin, and to the world (Galatians 2:19-20; Galatians 5:24; Galatians 6:14). These important lessons are all to be learned by taking our place in true faith beneath the cross of Jesus. By the cross the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. By the cross the world and the powers that rule it were completely judged (John 12:31; John 16:11; Colossians 2:14-15). The cross also laid the basis for the reconciliation, not only of the redeemed but of all things in heaven and on earth (Colossians 1:20-22).
New family ties
Standing by the cross we also learn that, as disciples of the crucified One, we are not left alone in this world. We are linked with one another, and united into one body, one family. As members of the household of God we should support each other. This is clearly shown by the example of Mary and the beloved disciple. On the cross, Christ created new ties of fellowship between His mother and John: "When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, ’Woman, behold, your son!’ Then He said to the disciple, ’Behold, your mother!’ And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home" (John 19:26-27).This third saying of our Lord on the cross reminds us of His words to Mary at the outset of His public ministry. How different these were: "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come" (John 2:4). On that occasion He had to admonish her, because in His service He could solely depend on the will of the Father.
Now, having fulfilled His task and having reached the end of His life here on earth, He wished to comfort her and to alleviate her sorrow. While going through the most severe sufferings Himself, He yet paid attention to her and eased her pain. The consciousness that death was going to part them must have pierced through Mary’s soul like a sword (cf. Luke 2:35). Therefore the Lord desired John, the beloved disciple, to take the vacant place. By taking care of Mary from that hour on, he fulfilled the wish of the dying Saviour.These new family ties illustrate our mutual ties as disciples of the Master. Believers are linked with each other by the finished work on Calvary’s cross. There the Lord Himself knit us together in love and created very close ties of fellowship between the redeemed. He proclaimed these glorious results of the cross after His resurrection from the dead (cf. John 20:17). We make up one family, one household, for the Father calls us His children, and the Son calls us His brethren.
It comes as no surprise that John, in his first Epistle, has so much to say about the household of God and the relationships within the family of God. As children of God, we are born of God and we have to reveal Him in this world that does not know Him. Our mutual relationships should be marked by the divine features: God is light, and God is love (1 John 1:5; 1 John 4:8; 1 John 4:16).Within this household of faith there are different relationships, both with one another and with the Lord. John speaks of all the believers as "children" of the Father, but he also distinguishes between "fathers" in Christ, "young men" and "little children" (1 John 2:12-27). We should be aware of the relationships that the Lord has given between the members of His household, and take care of one another and help and support each other. We should always remember that in dying, the Lord not only united us with Himself but also with one another.