#51: the beauty of death
the cross & pentecost
“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.” (John 12:27)
The cross is something you have to stare at.
The more you look at it the more it brings up more questions. Beneath the bloodshed, there is beauty. But the cost of bloodshed is misery, so why is it beautiful?
“For this purpose I have come to this hour,” Jesus said.
Jesus carried His cross long before He was crucified. His life on earth was marked with dying daily to Himself. He lived in submission to His Father, with His face set towards Jerusalem.
The rhetoric of our world is so focused on living, while the Bible is focused much more on dying.
The Word of God is from eternity past to eternity future. The world began long before Genesis 1 and the world will continue long after Revelation 22. What gave Jesus courage to die was that He knew He was going to live.
He knew death is the way to life.
The cross is such a mystery to our human minds because it is rooted in eternity. It is the intersection of heaven and earth, the reconciliation of mankind to God, and a promise that Eden will be restored on earth. Everlasting life is abiding forever with our Creator, in a world governed by a perfect Judge and sacrificial King.
Jesus called us not only to marvel at His cross, but trust Him enough to pick up our own.
The cross is not a testimony of our strength but a declaration of our weakness. It is impossible to be religiously perfect while carrying a device of our own destruction. The cross stands in the way of religion, breaking down every facade of godliness we can put on. It is a demonstration that we can’t be holy through our ambition.
Jesus knew we could never carry our cross on our own, that is why He sent the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit gives us vision for eternity.
Not the kind of eternity where we have our mansions and eat wonderful food in the clouds—but the eternal worth of knowing Jesus. He is treasure worth dying for. He is worth suffering the loss of all things for, according to Paul (Phil. 2:7-10).
When the secular world sees an army of slain lambs carrying their cross, it will be a worldwide display that the gospel is not some ancient good news but there is real power behind its proclamation.
However, our cross doesn’t have the power to save. No amount of our sacrifice can deliver anyone from hell. But what we can do is let the Holy Spirit display Jesus and His cross through us, proclaiming salvation through Christ alone. Our lives testify that He rose from the grave.
“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (Jn. 12:32)
We were given this Spirit on Pentecost. It was the day every tribe and tongue could testify of the wonders of heaven in their own language. The great regathering of the nations after the scattering of Babel in Genesis 11. Peter stood on that day and proclaimed the gospel, marking the beginning of the Great Commission—our assignment until the day our King returns.
Death is not the end, but only the beginning.
“And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…” (Acts 2:17)
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