At the Foot of the Cross Palm Sunday John 19:25 March 20, 2016 Pastor Keith Johnson www.redeemerlutheran.us John 19:25, “but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.”

Today is celebrated throughout the Christian world as "Palm Sunday." We remember that day when Jesus made His "triumphal entry" into Jerusalem. The crowds that lined the streets welcoming Him were large and enthusiastic. They threw flowers. They spread their cloaks on the road as a carpet before Him. Following the traditional method of welcoming kings, they cut palm branches & waved them in the air before Him. The Pharisees who had been plotting against Jesus cried out in despair, "Look how the whole world has gone after Him!"

But you also know how quickly everything changed. In just a few days the shouts of

"Hosanna!" turned into "Crucify Him!" And crucify Him they did.

Crucifixion was a slow & horrible way to die. It was reserved for only the worst of criminals. It was saved for those whose death could serve as an example to the people of the futility of defying Roman might. As we talk about the cross, we picture the terribleness of that scene. We speak of the nails being driven into His hands & feet. We see Him hanging there. He is suspended between heaven & earth, as the crowd passes by laughing & mocking at Him.

The cross is the answer to the question: Does God really love us? Look to the cross. It says yes.

-By every thorn that punctured His brow.

-By every mark of the back lacerating scourge.

-By every bruise which heavy fists made upon His head.

God said, "I love you!"

-By all the spit that landed on his face.

-By every drop of sinless blood that fell to the ground. -By every breath of pain which Jesus drew upon the cross.

-By every beat of His loving heart

God said, I love you!"

But as Jesus hung there, He was not alone. 4 women were there with Him. "Near the cross of

Jesus stood His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, & Mary of Magdala

They were there because they loved Jesus. They loved Him so much that they were willing to risk their lives to be with Him as He hung there upon that cross. They were bewildered. They were heart-broken. They were filled with sorrow – but they were there. They were there because they loved Jesus. For them, as for so many, perfect love had cast out all their fear.

William Barclay wrote, “Love clings to Christ even when the intellect cannot understand.

It is only love which can give us a hold on Christ that not even the most bewildering experiences can break.”

The cross is God’s way of uniting suffering with love. God’s way of uniting suffering with love.

If you & I had been there, would we have wanted to be near the cross? Would we have dared to climb that hill? To stand by Him as He died? Or would we have been where most of the disciples were? Hiding. Fearful that we, too, might be arrested & crucified along with Him? Would you have watched from far away? Or would your closeness to the cross have forced you to look up? Look up because you were with Him all the way...so close that drops of blood spattered upon you?

If we were there at the foot of the cross, we would have heard things no one else did.

Hammer on nails. T Centurion's whip. A thud as the cross was dropped into a deep hole. Intense, anguished moaning. Screams of unfathomable pain. Mocking & taunting. Cursing & reviling.

We talk and sing about Kneeling at the Cross. “Beneath the Cross of Christ I glory.” “Lead

Me to Calvary. “When I Survey the wondrous cross. “There's Room at the Cross.” “There is a

Fountain.” “There's Pow'r in the Blood.” But what does it truly mean? We are not talking about a literal physical presence at the cross. We are referring to a spiritual position of proximity. We are talking about a special relationship to Jesus Christ. HOW CLOSE TO THE CROSS ARE YOU? Four women were there. They were a very diverse group. There is one, "Mary the wife of Clopas" of whom we know nothing. But we do know something about the other three.

FIRST, WE SEE MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS. We know her story well. We know the angel appeared to her. He told her she would be the mother of God’s Son, the promised Messiah.

We know of His miraculous birth. We know of the amazing events that accompanied it as God protected & provided for His Son. We’re told Mary "treasured all these things in her heart."

Mary had a heart that was completely surrendered to the will of God. Mary, the chosen mother- to-be of Jesus, responded to the angel Gabriel's startling announcement with the words, "I am the Lord's servant... may it be to me as you have said." That’s obedient faith!

We do not know all Mary went through after she conceived the Christ Child by the Holy Spirit.

Certainly she must have looked forward to that day when her son would proclaim Himself to be the long awaited Messiah, the savior of Israel. She must have longed for him to then usher in the great & wonderful "Day of the Lord" all Israelites hoped for.

Then everything she had gone through: the gossip in Nazareth. The flight into Egypt. The years of hardship after Joseph was gone. Even the loneliness of Jesus leaving home to proclaim His message thruout Israel. It all would be worth it when Jesus became the divine King of the Jews.

But suddenly her world came crashing down around her. Had she been wrong all along?

Wasn’t He really the Son of God? Why then was He hanging on a cross? What is happening? Is this the way it’s supposed 2 B? Is this t will of God? How, then, is He to be the Savior of nations?

Maybe Mary didn’t understand, but Mary could love. Her presence there at the cross was the most natural thing in the world. Jesus might be a criminal in the eyes of the law, but He was her son. The eternal love of a mother is seen in Mary at the cross. Countless times over the years she had held the hands that now were held in place with nails. She had bathed and caressed the skin that now hangs in ribbons. She would remove every splinter He got in the carpenter's shop.

Now large thorns have been driven into His skull. She was, for years, privileged to gaze into the eyes of the Son of God for hours on end, and now she could hardly recognize Him.

Mary’s presence there speaks to us. It tell us that "If we dare to stand close to the cross, we’ll discover that even though there are times when things don’t go the way we would like for them to go; & times when life seems to be crumbling & falling apart around us; & times when there are burdens that seem too heavy for us to bear that if we’ll not become discouraged & stay close to the cross, God will take care of us.

The truth is that the Spirit of the living God is guaranteed to ask you to go somewhere or do something you wouldn’t normally want or choose to do. The Spirit will lead you to the way of the cross, as He led Jesus to the cross, and that is definitely not a safe or pretty or comfortable place to be. The Holy Spirit of God will mold you into the person you were made to be. This often incredibly painful process strips you of selfishness, pride, and fear. BUT IT IS THE WAY TO LIFE.

Alexander Whyte wrote this about the atoning work of Christ on the cross. "It is a picture of violence, yet the key to peace. It is a picture of suffering, yet the key to healing. It is a picture of utter weakness, yet the key to power. It is a picture of capital punishment, yet the key to mercy and forgiveness. It is a picture of supreme shame, yet the

Christian's supreme boast. It is a picture of death, yet the key to life. It is a picture of vicious hatred, yet the key to love.” It is the power to transform. It is the power to heal. It is the power to make all things new. Are you ready, with Mary, to stand at the foot of t cross?

SECONDLY, WE HAVE SALOME: SISTER TO MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS. John doesn’t give her name. He simply tells us that she is the sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus. But both

Matthew & Mark make it quite clear that she was Salome, the wife of Zebedee. The mother of

James & John, the apostles of Jesus. This was John’s own mother. By the way, this would also tell us that Jesus & James & John were first cousins.

Now, we don’t know a whole lot about Salome. But there is one brief event in Matthew that shows that she once received from Jesus a very definite & stern rebuke.

Once, when Jesus was near the height of His ministry, Salome & her sons, James & John, had come to Jesus to ask of Him a favor. She said, "Lord, when you come into your kingdom I think you could find no better assistants than my boys, James & John. I know they would be faithful to you. Just put one on your left & one on your right."

But Jesus had rebuffed her request. He tried to teach her how wrong such thoughts of selfish ambition were. Instead, he told her that His way was going to be the way of the bitter cup.

And now, as she stands at the foot of the cross, maybe for the very first time she is beginning to understand the cup of which Jesus spoke.

Jesus had asked, "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" "Sure, we can she said.”

But now she sees the cup. The same cup that Jesus prayed would be removed in the Garden of

Gethsemane. It’s the cup that contains the sins of humankind. Every war that has ever been fought. Every murder that has ever been committed. All the atrocities of human history are in that cup. And for the first time Salome realizes what she was asking for when she asked,

"Would you let my sons be seated one on your left & the other on the right?"

But in a way haven’t we all been like Salome? We want t blessings without the burdens? We want a crown but not a cross? We want the benefits but not the responsibilities that come with them.

Jesus had rebuked her and yet here she was at the foot of the cross. Her presence there tells us much about her. It also tells us much about Jesus. It shows that she had the loving humility to accept rebuke from Jesus and to continue loving Him. It also shows us that Jesus could rebuke a person in such a way that His love shone through the rebuke.

Did her two sons deserve thrones? Thrones are not given away, you have to earn them. Salome had forgotten the true cost of reward. She did not realize that suffering comes before reward.

There’s no crown without a cross. There’s no feasting at the Lord's table w/o the drinking of His cup of suffering. Jesus Himself did not return to the throne of heaven except by way of the cross.

As we contemplate the cross, do we stand rebuked because of our selfish desires? Jesus says to us, “Are you willing to drink this cup?” We say, “Oh no, Lord, we just want blessings and answers to our prayers!” Jesus says, “Are you willing to suffer for me?” We respond, “Oh no,

Lord, I just want things to work out for me, not the suffering!”

Salome says to each one of us, “The cross is a place of rebuke”. Think about what Jesus gave up for us. Think about what He endured and suffered in our place. Then the foot of the cross be- comes a place of correction from our own selfish desires & ambitions. Remember, He purchased us, our life is not our own ... we are His. He is the Lord and Master and we are the servants!

THEN THERE IS MARY MAGDALENE. Her name is familiar to us, but we don’t know very much about her either. Yet what we do know tells us a lot. We know that she was a follower of Jesus.

We know that on resurrection morning she was at His tomb long before any of the apostles.

Mark 16:9 tells us, "When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had driven seven demons."

If you believe in angels you must also believe in demons. They are the counterparts of angels.

They’re the workmen of Satan in the realm of evil. Into Mary’s heart & soul had come 7 of them.

Then one day Jesus came. He commanded those demons to come out of her. For the first time she was free. For the first time her burden of sin was lifted. She was free to become the person

God had created her 2 be. Free to realize there’s something beautiful & good & worthwhile in life.

So Mary Magdalene became a follower of Jesus. Jesus had redeemed her & cleansed her & saved her. And now, at the cross, she saw just how much her redemption was costing Him.

Do you think that God just snaps His fingers & we’re redeemed? Do you think God just waves a magic wand & all our sins are gone? It’s not that easy. It cost God everything that He had to give to make it possible for you & me to be redeemed from our sins. Mary Magdalene at the cross stands as an eternal testimony to the love of God & His willingness to forgive us today.

If you stand close enough to that cross, it will change you. It changed her! That’s the reason I asked at the very beginning of this message, "Are you sure you want to stand there?"

Maybe you’re comfortable with the way you are. Maybe you would like to stay the same. But if you’ll draw near to Jesus, He’ll make you new inside & out.

I hope you want that. I hope you want the grace & the forgiveness & the mercy of God. I hope that if you have never, ever reached out to receive that gift from Him that you’ll respond to His invitation. That you will give your heart & your life to Him. The truth is that the Spirit of the living God is guaranteed to ask you to go somewhere or do something you wouldn’t normally want or choose to do. The Spirit will lead you to the way of the cross, as He led Jesus to the cross, and that is definitely not a safe or pretty or comfortable place to be. The Holy Spirit of God will mold you into the person you were made to be. This often incredibly painful process strips you of selfishness, pride, and fear.

The atonement in Jesus Christ’s blood is perfect. There isn’t anything that can be added to it. It is spotless, impeccable, and flawless. It is perfect as God is perfect. Do you want to stand there?

God did not abolish the fact of evil: He transformed it. He did not stop the crucifixion: He rose from the dead.