November 18

What do you think is the greatest love story ever told? The Notebook, Beauty and the Beast, Romeo and Juliet, in our home Pride and Prejudice is very popular... I can still hear the words, “Mr. Bennett, Mr. Bennett” ringing in my ears. You might also include some old time movies like “Sabrina,” “My Fair Lady” and even “Singin’ in the Rain.” But none of these even compare with the love story we read today. The greatest love story ever told didn’t occur on some film coming out of Hollywood but on a hill outside the walls of Jerusalem 2000 years ago.

As I read our passage today I felt I needed to read this on my knees. These words are the most sacred ever recorded in the history of our planet. They tell us about a love story so magnificent it has revolutionized millions of lives and caused millions of books and songs to be written over the centuries. There are two vastly different ways to read this passage; we can read this to know about Jesus’ cross and we can read it loving Jesus’ cross. I hope you read it today loving the cross and the Savior, who gave himself for you.

Let me pick apart several elements of this love story.

1. It starts with the Savior who willingly came to this planet to give his life for us as a substitute. It wasn’t the nails that held him on the cross; it was love. It was his love for you and me. It was the only way to save us from our sin. So the cross was not an accident; it was part of the plan from the very start.

2. This was a horrible death. 2000 years of Christianity have largely domesticated the cross, making it hard for us to realize just how vicious it was. Crucifixion itself was so intense that wine mixed with gall was offered to help reduce pain. Jesus tasted the narcotic, but he refused to use it to deaden the pain. Jesus would suffer fully conscious and with a clear understanding.

3. When crucifying someone, the soldiers felt for depression at the front of the wrist. Then they would drive the 6-inch heavy spike through the wrists into the wood. They would allow some slack in the arms so the body could move. The feet would be nailed together with a spike driven through the arches. Other soldiers might possibly tie the victim with ropes to insure not he wouldn’t fall from the spikes. The cross would be hoisted to an upright position and dropped into a hole, immediately dislocating both shoulders of the victim. He would then endure countless hours, even days, of a yo-yo affect - pulling with his arms and pushing with his legs to keep his chest cavity open for breath and then collapsing in exhaustion until the demand for oxygen renewed. We don't like crosses like the one I have just described. We tend to gloss over and avoid the gory aspects, forgetting that crucifixion was the most heinous way to die in the ancient world.

Like the Negro spiritual says, “sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble!!”

4. Of all the scenes of the cross, this one angers me the most. What kind of sick people would mock a dying man? How low and perverted to sneer at one who is laced with pain. Yet we read about the insults of the soldiers, the common people and the religious leaders. They aim their insults and mockeries at him and amazingly he doesn’t fight back. In fact, he forgives them. Just this fact alone proves that Jesus is God. No human being could do this. He refused to fight fire with fire. He fought fire with love. Never has the world seen such love.

5. And finally the cry of “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani” We read these words earlier in the year when we read the first line of Psalm 22. A devout Jew learned the 22nd Psalm for times of great distress and darkness. When they were in such deep distress, this psalm was prayed. This was the sermon Jesus wanted to preach from the cross but he didn’t have the strength. So he recited the first line and meant for us to read it. You will see that the Psalm ends with victory. “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him.” This love story is not a tragedy, but a triumph.

According to Ripley's Believe it Or Not, the longest love letter ever written in the world was by a Parisian painter named Marcel de Lecture in 1875. The letter was simple in that it only contained 3 words. "I Love You." But this phrase was repeated 1,875,000 times. Mr. Lecture forgot one important fact: One cannot prove love by words. Words are cheap... But a deed! The world can't forget the love demonstrated on a cross 2000 years ago. The death of Jesus on a cross was the greatest love story ever told. This love story was more than words; this love story was an act that towers above every act of history.