The Shame of the Cross Produces the Glories of Heaven (Mark Sermon 85)

Turn in your Bibles to Mark 15:16-32. As we continue to make our way through this glorious Gospel of Mark, we come at last this morning to the account of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, our savior, in the most shameful and degrading and excruciating way imaginable. Though Christ’s physical sufferings were immense, they were no different than those suffered by thousands of others whom the Romans crucified in that era, even two others who died in the same way that very day.  The Gospel writers do not go into any great detail about the mechanics and physical horror of crucifixion. At the critical moment in our narrative today, Mark simply writes, “And they crucified him.” Look at it right there on the page, verse 24, “And they crucified him.” That’s all. Simple. Nothing more.

We know that infinitely greater than Christ’s physical sufferings were His spiritual ones.  He was bearing the wrath of God against the sins of the world, and the passage we will immerse ourselves, God-willing, next week in Mark’s Gospel will give us an opportunity to draw that out more fully when Jesus cries out, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani,” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” God-willing, next week, we will plumb the depths of that reality for that makes Jesus’ suffering literally immeasurable, immeasurable, far greater than any ever suffered by any human being in all the epochs of time.

But this morning, in addition to simply walking through the account to establish again in our mind the facts of the crucifixion and of the cross, I want to focus this morning on one dominant theme, and that is the shame that Jesus endured for us. Shame. I want to focus on the shame, the degradation, the humiliation, the mockery that Jesus went through, and how His blood shed on the cross transforms that shame into glory, eternal glory. From shame to glory, that’s basically my sermon today.

My focus is on the hearts of people as they esteem Jesus, as they look upon Him, their appraisal of Him, the way they treated Him that day, and the way that the redeemed will treat Him for all eternity. The Gospel writers linger much more on the shame, the shameful degradation of Jesus Christ by sinners than they do, as I said, on the physical details of the crucifixion, so I want to unfold that shame. I want to talk about how in the hearts of those He came to save, there was an infinite movement of degradation and shame to eternal glory, praise, worship, and honor given to the crucified Lord.

For me, the main idea of the sermon came from a meditation on Hebrews 12:2. Listen to what that text says. There the author of Hebrews says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising or scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” That has been incredibly dominant in my mind the last two or three days, how Jesus thought it little to go through the kind of shame we’re going to talk about this morning.

He thought it a small price to pay to bring eternal joy to you and me. Jesus endured overpowering shame for us. He did this, I’m going to make the case, because there is a reasonable shame connected with sin, and He was our sin bearer. So part of our atonement was that He should be shamed. In bearing our sin, He bore the shame connected with it. But He did it to free us from the ultimate and eternal shame of being condemned to hell. There is no shame on earth that even compares with that shame, so that we would be delivered from shame on that great and final day.

“Jesus endured overpowering shame for us. He did this …because there is a reasonable shame connected with sin, and He was our sin bearer.”

He considered it a small price to pay to do that, for the joy that was set not just before Him, but before all of us. We are, because of the atonement, the blood shed on the cross, trophies of His grace, we’re going to celebrate the victories of the cross forever. It will not seem shameful in heaven. Not at all. We’re going to focus briefly on one trophy of that grace, not in our account, but in Luke’s account, and that is the thief on the cross. We’ll talk about that.

The cross is truly the center of Christianity.  This morning we come to the theological center of Christianity. Everywhere around the world the cross is the physical symbol of Christianity. You see it on top of churches, people wear it around their necks. It’s everywhere. But the cross itself is a machine of torture and death, shameful death. Because it is so disgusting and degrading, the cross is effectively a fork in the road for human beings who learn about it.

To be able to see in the implement of torture and death, a display of glory and indeed of all the perfections of God can only happen when the Holy Spirit has worked on your heart and given you faith to be able to survey the wondrous cross and see love and joy and power and victory there. Only the Holy Spirit can work that faith and faith is the eyesight of the soul. To be able to see in a bloody dead Jewish man 2,000 years ago the greatest display of power and love and wisdom there’s ever been is a supernatural act of grace to you.

The cross must ever be central. The Apostle Paul knew this. He made the cross the absolute centerpiece of his apostolic ministry. He says in 1 Corinthians 15:3, “For what I received, I passed on to you as a first importance.” [Top priority] Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.” That’s the centerpiece of everything. Then he said in 1 Corinthians 2:2, “For I resolved to know nothing, O Corinthians, while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

The theology of the cross is clearly laid out in the New Testament in many places. In other words, the explanation of what the cross achieved. You’re not going to get that in Mark’s Gospel, but you get it in the writings of the apostle Paul and other New Testament writings. What did it achieve? What happened at the cross? Paul writes in Colossians 1:19-22, “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Jesus, in Christ, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross.  Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you wholly in his sight without blemish and free from accusation.” I would add in light of the sermon theme, without shame, without shame. Or as he says later in Colossians 2:13-14, “God forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code with its regulations that was against us and stood opposed to us.”

He took it away, nailing it to the cross. The law of God stood opposed to you because you violated it, because you broke the commands of God. It stood against you and accused you. He took all that away, nailing it to the cross. This is the theology of the cross. We don’t get that in Mark 15, we get it later. This is what came. For this reason then, the Apostle Paul said that the cross was Paul’s boast. It was his glory. It was his story.

I like what he says in Galatians 6:14, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.” The cross was Paul’s boast and it should be ours as well. But before we even get to the theology of the cross, we need the facts of the cross. Did it happen or not? What’s the history? That’s what the gospel writers do for us. That’s what Mark does for us. What actually happened? If it didn’t happen, there’s nothing to talk about, but it did happen.

I. Christ Mocked by the Soldiers

Mark gives us the facts. That’s what the Gospel of Mark is for, to lay out the history of Jesus’ crucifixion as the basis of our faith. Now, where are we at in Mark’s account? Remember, Jesus had two phases of his trial, the religious trial and the civil trial. The religious trial has concluded, the Sanhedrin led by the corrupt high priest has condemned Jesus to death and handed him over to the Romans. The civil trial is over now as well in terms of where we’re at in Mark’s gospel.

The Roman governor Pontius Pilate buckled to the will of the chief priest, teachers of the law and elders and of the people and handed over to be crucified a man he said three times in John’s Gospel was innocent. In Mark 15:15, it says, “Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged and handed him over to be crucified.” This begins then the public shaming that I’ve mentioned that will be the dominant theme of the sermon. Jesus is handed over to the soldiers and look what they do.  Christ is mocked by the soldiers. Look at verses 16-20, “The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace that is the praetorium and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, ‘Hail king of the Jews.’ Again and again, they struck him on the head with the staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they let him away to crucify him.”

The palace, which Mark calls the praetorium, was the headquarters of the Roman soldiers there stationed in Jerusalem. It was Fortress Antonia. The scourging has already happened. It was part of the trial and the process is recorded in great detail in John’s Gospel and just quickly mentioned in Mark 15:15. The scourging has happened, and we mentioned last time how horrible the scourging would’ve been. It could have been fatal if it went on long enough, ripping pieces of flesh off of Jesus’ back.

He’s bleeding profusely at this point, but the soldiers have no mercy on Him whatsoever. They take Him into the headquarters. They start to play games with Him. They mock Him. Verse 20, “they mock him.” They bring Him to public shame. The mocking of a prisoner like this, acting like he’s a king or an emperor, this is something the Roman soldiers frequently did. I think it’s a way of them venting their feelings about the emperor perhaps or about their posting there and Judea, et cetera.  They would do this. They would take a peasant or someone with special needs or just an average person and they’d put a kingly robe on him and a crown and then bow down to him like he was an emperor. They did this to Caligula right before they made him emperor thinking he was not qualified, et cetera.

It’s very interesting. They do this regularly. The soldiers may have known about Jesus’ miracles and who He was. They may have heard about the triumphal entry and all that, but they definitely knew what the charge was against Him. “This is Jesus, King of the Jews.” There’s no doubt about that. They’re going to run with it. They take that idea and they run with it for their mockery. They called together the Roman cohort, battalion, in one translation; a cohort is about 600 soldiers. I doubt that that huge number was there, but there’s a lot of soldiers there.

They gather around. Shame is all about public exposure. Shame is horizontal societal force. They’re coming to gawk at Jesus and do things to Him to bring Him shame.  To give Him the appearance of a king for their mocking game, they find probably an old scarlet robe like a king would wear, maybe a horse blanket or something like that, and they put it on Jesus’ shoulders. They draped it across Him. For a crown mocking or imitating Caesar’s golden laurel wreath, they wove together some thorns. Really you could picture very long thorns, and they put it on Jesus’ head. These thorns we know as we look at it must be symbolic of the curse that Jesus came to bear.  God is a God of symbolism. He’s a God of details. It’s not an accident that thorns are pressed into the Redeemer’s brow. Because we know in Genesis 3, God said to Adam, “Cursed is the ground because of you. It will produce thorns and thistles for you.” We know it also says in Galatians 3:13, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” This is a direct symbol of that happening, Jesus wearing the curse on His head.

To make matters worse, the soldiers took a staff, you can imagine like a broom handle or something like that, like a rod, and smashed the crown of thorns down into His scalp, into His brow, causing blood to flow. They also gave Jesus a flimsy reed as a mock scepter. So He’s got the robe, the crown, the scepter, and then they fall on their knees mocking Him saying, “Hail King of the Jews.” They also spat in His face. Complete degradation. It’s the most disrespectful thing I think you can do.

The Jewish guards had already done it to Jesus. So it’s twice that people did this to Him, complete disrespect and degradation. And for us, knowing who Jesus is, the second person of the Trinity, incarnate by the Holy Spirit, this is stunning to us that they would treat Him like this. We need to just pause and think about this. Ultimately, Christ cannot be mocked. God cannot be mocked. It says this in Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked.” Jesus actually is the King of the Jews. We’re told in Isaiah 49, it’s too small a thing. That title is too small a thing. He’s actually king of the universe. He’s king of the ends of the earth. He is the king of every king and the Lord of every Lords. And when He comes in glory, He’s going to be robed in glory. He’ll sit on a throne in heavenly glory. And all the nations are going to be gathered before Him and He will sit in judgment on them. At that point, these same soldiers will be on their knees in front of Him, but not mocking, not at all.  So ultimately, Christ cannot be mocked, but temporarily He was. The temporary mocking is what was being poured on him.

II. Christ Humbled by Crucifixion

Next, of course, there’s the shaming of the crucifixion. Look at verses 20-27,  “When they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country. And they forced him to carry the cross.  They brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha, which means the place of the skull. There they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get. It was the third hour when they crucified him. The written notice of the charge against him read the King of the Jews. They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left.”

This continues the public shaming of Jesus. He’s paraded through the streets of Jerusalem.  Verse 20, “They led him out to be crucified.” Isaiah 53, “He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.” The way out of the city by this time was crowded with people. It was about nine in the morning, and they’re all out. Luke 23:27 says, “A huge crowd of people followed him.” They’re all watching. This is the public shaming going on here. It was shameful to have everyone gawking at Him. Public humiliation is one of the greatest fears that any human being has. If you look in your heart, you know it’s true.  That you would be stripped of honor in front of an onlooking hostile crowd would be one of the greatest fears we ever have. This is what was going on that dreadful morning as He’s being processed through the streets of Jerusalem.

There was a shame to His physical weakness as well, because it seems He couldn’t make the journey, He didn’t have enough strength. It’s implied that He fell under the weight of the cross. You should picture not the whole cross, but probably just the cross beam, that would’ve been heavy enough, and He’s carrying that.  Because of the loss of blood, He needed some help apparently, so a man named Simon was pressed into the service to help Him carry His cross.

We’re told he’s from Cyrene, which is a port city on the southern coast of Mediterranean Sea, modern day Libya, almost certainly a Jewish man. A pilgrim would come from that distant place to Jerusalem for the feast. Mark also tells us, interestingly, he was the father of Alexander and Rufus as though his readers would know who that is.  You know Alexander and Rufus. Most scholars believe that Mark wrote for a Roman audience, that he was the mouthpiece of Peter who was in Rome, and so that’s quite likely. Putting all things together, we find another Rufus in Romans 16, verse 13. Paul greets Rufus and his mother “who has been a mother to me too.” I always picture the typical loving Jewish mother who says, “You’re looking a little thin. You need a little chicken soup,” or something like that. But this mother of Rufus has been a mother to Paul too.  We don’t know for sure if it’s the same Rufus, but it’s not that common a name, so it’s quite possible. It’s Simon, his wife, his sons, Rufus and Alexander. All of them became followers of Christ. It wouldn’t be shocking if it began that dreadful morning with Simon helping to carry Jesus’ cross.

Concerning Jesus’ weakness, it is interesting that it seems quite possibly He was almost ready to die in Gethsemane. Remember how He was sweating great drops of blood and was overwhelmed with the vision, I believe, of the cup that He would drink?  God dispatched an angel from heaven to strengthen Him, but He didn’t give Him supernatural power like Samson or something like that. He gave him enough physical strength to get up off the ground there in Gethsemane and go die for us. We see His frailty and His weakness as He’s carrying His own cross.

Jesus was also shamed by the location of the crucifixion. It was outside the city gate. The author of Hebrews explains this for us, the significance of this.  In Hebrews 13:11-13, it says, “The high priest carries the blood of animals into the most holy places, a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp.” Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through His own blood. Let us then go to Him outside the camp bearing the disgrace, or I could say shame, that He bore. There’s a shamefulness to being kicked out of the city, being brought beyond the city gate and dying outside the city gate like He’s a piece of garbage or refuse.  It was carried outside so there wouldn’t be disease in the camp and also a picture of the degradation and disgust of sin.

The author of Hebrews urges us as Christians to be willing to stand with Him outside the gate and bear the shame that He bore. We’ll get to that one more time at the end of the sermon. The place is called Golgotha, Calvary. In Aramaic it means “the place of the skull.” Some scholars think it was that way because it was shaped like a skull, but it was the place of execution. To go there is ultimate shame. By the way, just in passing, the Latin word for skull is “calvaria.” The Latin translated Bible, The Vulgate, was Europe’s Bible for centuries. It’s interesting when scholars translated the translation that became the King James Version, they oddly kept the word Calvary in one verse in Luke 23:33, even though it’s not in any way directly connected to any of the original languages, not to Hebrew or Aramaic or Greek. It’s just the Latin word for skull, so it stuck there. Do you realize how big that word is? I was talking to Wes. We have like 20 Calvary hymns. I rode my bike yesterday by Calvary Baptist Church. It’s everywhere, but it’s only in one place. It’s in the King James Version of Luke 23:33. That’s where it comes from, the place of the skull.

Again, this place was a very public place where Jesus was absolutely stripped of His dignity and His honor physically, humanly. It was a very public place. It was right by the roadside. He would not have been up very high. You probably could have gone face to face with Him. People walked by and were able to look right at Him and see Him in that degradation. They walked by and made snarky and insulting comments to Him as He was stripped and shamed.

He was shamed also to some degree by the sedative that they offered, which He refused to drink. Often to help the prisoners, they offer a wine mixed with myrrh. It’s a sedative to help dull the pain.  Jesus refused it. It seems to me He wanted the full experience. He wanted to drink the cup the Father had given Him to drink to the bottom, to the bitter dregs. He didn’t want to be in any way sedated as He went through it.

And of course, shame by the crucifixion itself. I can’t imagine a more disgusting, shameful, degrading way to die. It’s one of the most vicious and most cruel forms of punishment ever devised. Behind all of the shame is human wickedness. You understand that?  Behind all of this is human wickedness, human to human wickedness. There’s no requirement that people who commit capital crimes be killed in such a vicious, cruel way, but that’s what crucifixion was all about. It was invented it seems by the Persians somewhere around the 6th or 7th century BC. What makes crucifixion so horrible is it’s both hideously painful and not directly fatal. Some victims can last for a day or more on the cross. Pilot was shocked that Jesus had died so quickly because there’s nothing directly killing them.  Their bodies are laid out on the ground on the cross. Their hands are fixed to the cross by long spikes driven through the wrist, each wrist, not the hand, because I’m sure they found that the hand bones were not strong enough to support the entire weight of the body. So it went through the wrist, but it’s considered hands metaphorically. Then the feet generally across one on top of the other and one long spike driven through them both. The cross is lifted up and dropped into a hole prepared for it with a jolting thud, sending spasms of pain through the victim’s body.  The victim sags down on his arms under the weight. Then to breathe, he has to push up on his spiked feet to get breath, and then he sinks back down again. He has to keep doing this to breathe. Generally, the victims die through asphyxiation. They just stop making the effort to breathe.

Death is often hastened by breaking the leg bones of the victim so that he can’t push up anymore. That is exactly what the Roman soldiers wanted to do to Jesus, but Jesus, in complete control of his death, the timing of it, gave up His Spirit.  He said, “No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of myself.” When all the scriptures were fulfilled, He gave up his Spirit. He died. We’ll talk about that more next week. But the soldiers were just coming around to smash his leg bones and they wouldn’t do it. They couldn’t do it because He was already dead, thus fulfilling the scripture. Not a single one of his bones would be broken.

Jesus while being crucified is also shamed by their gambling for His clothes. “You won’t be needing these anymore.  All of your worldly possessions are gone. You have no need for them anymore.” It’s like the vultures circling overhead. Of course, it’s a fulfillment, direct fulfillment of Psalm 22. We’ll get into that next week, the fulfillment aspect. But it’s shaming for them to take His clothes and in front of Him gamble for them.

He was shamed also by the inscription. Pilate ordered a sign over His head, “The King of the Jews”, written an Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek so everybody could read it. Pilate did it to mock the whole Jewish nation.  I’m sure he was more than sick of these people, and he wanted to just stick it to the Jews. So he said, “Look at your king. This is what your king looks like. Behold your king.” In John’s Gospel, they’re very angry about this and said, “Do not write King of the Jews, but this man claimed to be King of the Jews.” He said, “What I have written, I have written.” It’s humbling for Jesus because the Jewish nation as a whole had directly rejected Him as king over them. “We will not have this man as our king. We have no king but Caesar,” they said.

However, isn’t it wonderful that I believe the text over his head, the King of the Jews, may well have been instrumental in the thief coming to faith. Because what did he say? “Remember me when you come in your kingdom.”  And so it could be that God used that to get the man thinking. We’ll get to that more in a moment.

Finally, He was shamed by being killed with common thieves, with common thieves, probably highway robbers, a threat to everyone on the road. Jesus was killed with others just like He was just any other criminal.

III. Christ Mocked by the Citizens, the Priests, and the Thieves

But it’s also a picture of the atonement. “He was numbered with the transgressors,” Isaiah 53 says. He was included with us. In that sense, He was no different than they were. Jesus was also shamed by the citizens and the passersby as they walked by. The passersby mocked. Look at verse 29-30, “Those who pass by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘So, you who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself.’ Throwing his own words so they thought to him.” He never said He would destroy the temple. He said, “You do the destroying, I’ll do the raising.” They were in the process of destroying the temple, He meant, and He would raise it on the third day. But they’re mocking Him, insulting Him. This is more than kicking someone when they’re down. He’s dying on the cross and they think they’ll go by and throw a few verbal javelins at Him. The priests do the same thing. This is their hour of triumph. They’ve wanted Him dead for years.

Now He’s dying. But they can’t help but go mock Him in the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked Him among themselves. “Oh, He saved others,” they said, “but He can’t save himself. Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Of course, if He had done that, their believing wouldn’t have done them any good. The entire world would sink down into hell for our sins if He had come down off the cross.  They had no way of understanding that.

Even the thieves, plural, mocked him. Verse 32, “Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.” This is wave upon wave of shame that has been laid on Him. It’s absolutely over the top. I see Satan behind it, the hatred he had for this man, and he incites human beings to pour it on in this sense. But this is the shame that Jesus thought little of. Just ponder that for a moment. Jesus was willing to pay that price to save you and me.  Hebrews 12:2, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.” Many translations have the words “despising its shame.” The word despise we generally think of wrongly at least in that sense of hating. Like “I despise you” means “I hate you.” But the word there, the Greek word behind it, means “thought little of it,” looked on it as a small thing. Jesus understanding full well this horizontal shaming that’s going on here thought it a small price to pay to save you and me.

For the joy that was set before Him was His own joy at seeing you redeemed, seeing you around His throne in heaven. “Father, I want those whom you have given me to be with me where I am and to see my glory. I want you to have that joy, and I’m willing to pay this price to have it happen.”

IV. But Christ Despised the Shame, Winning Trophies of Glory

Let’s talk about a symbolic real trophy of that cross. Go over to Luke 23:39-43, it’s not in Mark. Mark tells us both of the thieves reviled Jesus, and so they did. Every word of scripture is true.  But this is the beauty of comparing the synoptic accounts one with the other. Because it seems that though one of the thieves, though both of the thieves heaped insults on Jesus, one of them later changed his mind. Look at the account in Luke 23:39-43, “One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him. ‘Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us.’ But the other criminal rebuked him. ‘Don’t you fear God,’ he said, ‘since you are under the same sentence? We’re punished justly for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.’  Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom.’ Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you the truth, today you’ll be with me in paradise.’”

This is stunning, maybe in some ways the most stunning and dramatic conversion in the Bible. I mean, right up there with Saul of Tarsus. Why? Because there was so little time and so little new evidence. Jesus didn’t do any miracles, no new teachings, nothing. He was at His absolute physical visible worst. So what happened?  To get an insight of what happened, you have to go to Caesarea Philippi in Matthew 16 where Jesus asked his disciples, “’What about you? What do you say that I am?’ Peter answered for all believers saying, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” What did Jesus say to Peter? “Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.” Stop there. That is true of every genuine conversion. Every genuine conversion gets Jesus revealed to them by the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit or you’re not converted.  You see Jesus with eyes of faith because the Father sends forth the Spirit to work that in you. Is that what happened with the thief? What else could happen? There’s no other way to be saved. The Father revealed Jesus to the thief on the cross at the last possible instant to save his soul from hell. What did God reveal to the thief on the cross? He revealed the true identity of the bloody dying man next to him, a coming king who would have a glorious kingdom in the future.

Behind that then, apparently, this is not Jesus’ final kingdom day, so that implies the possibility of resurrection from the dead. He did not expect to be saved from the cross, the thief. He just said, “When you come in your kingdom, remember me.” What else did he have revealed to him? God revealed his own sinfulness. “We are getting what we deserve. This man has done nothing wrong.”

He also revealed the possibility of grace to someone who had literally no merit, nothing to offer, nothing in his hands. Just said, “Remember me.” “On what basis should I remember you?” “Because you’re merciful and gracious and because you love sinners like me. Remember me.” That’s an awful lot of revelation by God to that thief on the cross at the last possible moment. Therefore, He gives hope to all of us Christians who have unsaved relatives. You’re going one more time to the hospital, one more time and you think, maybe, just maybe this one last time, they’ll repent and believe.  The thief did it. He is a trophy and he’s included in the words “for the joy that was set before him.”  “Today you’ll be with me in paradise.”

Christ won not just one but many trophies of glory that day. There’s so many verses I could go to talk about this, but Revelations 7 may be the most beautiful picture. Revelation 7:9-10. “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.  They were wearing white robes and they were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’” Many times in the Book of Revelation the redeemed in heaven are depicted wearing white robes. What are those white robes? What do they represent? You know what they represent? A covering of your sin, a covering of your shame. “I counsel you,” he says to the church at Laodicea, “to buy a robe to cover your shameful nakedness.” Imagine redeemed people standing in heaven with no shame at all, covered completely in the perfect atoning work of Christ, worshiping Jesus forever. That’s the joy that was set before Him.

V. Applications

What lessons can we take from this, what applications?  First the cross in heaven when we get there will be the center of heavenly worship. It will not be seen to be shameful at that point. It’ll be seen to be radiantly glorious. Jesus is the lion of the tribe of Judah, but He also is the lamb looking as if it had been slain.  We’ll remember the cross and we will celebrate the triumphs of the cross. It says in Revelation 5:9-12, “They sang a new song, ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priest to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.’ Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, ten thousand times ten thousand.  They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders and in a loud voice they sang, ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, worthy to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!’” That’s the esteem with which Jesus will be focused on in heaven and the cross is at the center of it. Isn’t it beautiful to go from shame to glory? Not just Jesus, but us.

Marvel at the mindset of Jesus. You ever feel like you’re not loved? You feel lonely? You feel isolated? If you’re a Christian, go to this. Jesus thought all of this shame, a small price to pay for the joy of bringing you to heaven. Think about that. For the joy that was set before Him, all of the things that were done, the crown of thorns and the purple robe and the spitting and the flogging and then the parade through the city and the mocking and all of that shame, small price, a small price to pay to bring you eternal joy.

“You ever feel like you’re not loved? You feel lonely? You feel isolated? If you’re a Christian, go to this. Jesus thought all of this shame, a small price to pay for the joy of bringing you to heaven.”

Why the shame? Ponder that. We are becoming an increasingly shameless culture.  It’s like shame is a bad thing. You ought to be ashamed if you think people should be ashamed. That’s about where we’re at now. But sin is shameful. We should feel shame for our sin. That’s why this happened to Jesus. It’s not an accident. It’s what we deserved for our sins. It says in Ezekiel 16:63, a horrible chapter of the degradation of the city of Jerusalem in open spiritual adultery against God. It’s disgusting. Then at the end of that chapter, He talks about the atonement He’ll do for His people.  He says, “’Then when I make atonement for you for all you have done, you’ll remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of all your humiliation,’ declares the sovereign Lord.”

There is a reasonable shame connected with sin. Jesus came to take that on Himself. Therefore, there is an ultimate shame that we Christians will never experience. It says in Romans 9:33, quoting the Old Testament, “Behold I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” What does that mean? I think it means Judgment Day. Judgment Day. Picture these words. When the Son of Man comes in His Father’s glory and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory and all the nations will be gathered before Him. And He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He’s going to put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.

What would it feel like to have all of your sins, in that text, sins of omission? “I was hungry. You gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty. You gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger. You did not invite me in.” Those are all sins of omission. But what about also your sins of commission? The wicked things that God told you not to do and you did them anyway and more times than you could count. Your sins more numerous than the hairs on your head. What will it be like to have all that read out in front of the holy angels and in front of all the people that have ever lived?

And even more, the crowning is to hear these words, “Depart from me you who are cursed into the eternal fire prepare for the devil and his angels.” To hear that spoken about you, there is no greater shame than being rejected by God because of your sins. Then go back to Romans 9:33, “Behold I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him [Jesus] will never know that shame.” You will not hear the shame of “depart from me you who are cursed.”  You will not hear the shame. You will be free from condemnation, as it says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” All I can do is ask you, dear friend, is that you? Have you by faith in Jesus trusted in Him so you will not have the shame of eternal condemnation? Do you know Him? Have you trusted Him? That’s the purpose of the Gospel of Mark, to bring you to faith in Jesus, to trust in Him.

One final word as I close.  To all Christians, we are commanded to come outside of comfortable societal acceptance and stand under the cross where Jesus was shamed and bear the shame that He bore and to do it as a Christian. Let us then go to Him outside the camp bearing the disgrace He bore. He says in Mark 8:38, “If anyone is ashamed of mean and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him, will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his father’s glory?”

We have a job to do and the world’s going to try to shame us for proclaiming the gospel, shame us for saying, “I’m a Christ follower,” shame us for sharing the gospel with lost people. Consider it a small price to pay if you could win some of those people to eternal joy in heaven.

Close with me in prayer. Father, we thank you for this meditation this morning on what Christ endured for us. We thank you for his willingness to drink shame to its bitter dregs so that we could not feel shame on judgment day and for all eternity.  Thank you. And Lord, I pray that you would take the seed of the word that has been scattered now throughout this time and allow it to bear fruit in our hearts by the working of your Spirit. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

This morning, we come at last to the account of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, our Savior, in the most shameful, degrading, and excruciating way imaginable.

Though Christ’s physical sufferings were immense, they were no different than those suffered by thousands of others whom the Romans crucified in that era… even two others who died the same way that very day.

The Gospel writers do not give any great details about the mechanics and physical horror of crucifixion. At the critical moment in our narrative today, Mark simply writes, “And they crucified him.” That’s all. Look at it on the page… verse 24. Simple. Nothing more.

And we know that infinitely greater than Jesus’ physical sufferings were his spiritual ones, bearing the wrath of God… and the passage we will study next week has the central evidence of that in Mark’s Gospel when Jesus cries out, “Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani,” which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” God willing, we will plumb the depths of that reality next week, for that makes Jesus’ suffering literally immeasurable and far greater than that ever suffered by any human being in all the epochs of time.

But this morning, in addition to simply walking through the account to establish in our minds again the FACTS of the cross, I want to discuss the human shame, degradation, humiliation, mockery that Jesus endured for us. And how his blood transforms all of that into eternal glory. From shame to glory, that is the story of this sermon today. My focus is on the HEARTS of PEOPLE… their appraisal of Jesus, and the way they treated him, spoke of him or to him.

The Gospel writers linger much more on the shameful degradation of Jesus Christ by sinners than they do the physical details of his crucifixion. And I want to unfold that degradation and speak of how in the hearts of those he came to save, there was an infinite movement from degradation to eternal glory… praise, worship, and honor to the crucified Lord!

The key witness in that will be ONE of the thieves on the cross, a trophy of Christ’s victory over sin and death. A man who is one of the most remarkable conversions in the entire Bible and who is presently in Paradise with Jesus, praising his glory!

I. Christ Mocked by the Soldiers

A. The Cross the Center of Christianity

1. Everywhere, around the world, the cross is the symbol of the Christian religion

2. But the cross itself is a machine of torture and death

3. Because it is so disgusting and degrading, the cross becomes a fork in the road for a sinner being saved

4. To be able to see in that implement of death a display of glory is the ultimate test of transforming faith

5. Faith is the eyesight of the soul… and to be able to see in a bloody, dead Jewish man the greatest display of love, power, wisdom, justice and glory there has ever been can only happen when the Holy Spirit works spiritual sight in you

B. So, the Cross Must Ever Be Central

1 Corinthians 15:3  For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures

1 Corinthians 2:2  For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

The theology of the cross is clearly laid out in the New Testament in many places. It is by the cross that the law’s demands against us were met and we were reconciled to a Holy God

Colossians 1:19-22  For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in [Christ],  ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.  ²¹ Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.  ²² But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation

Colossians 2:13-14  [God] forgave us all our sins,  ¹⁴ having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.

For this reason, Paul said the message of the cross was Paul boast, Paul’s glory, Paul’s story:

Galatians 6:14  May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

C. BUT the History of the Cross Must Precede the Theology of the Cross

1. What actually happened? What are the historical facts?

2. And that’s what the Gospel of Mark is for… to lay out the history of Jesus’ crucifixion as the basis of our faith

3. Mark’s account: Jesus’ trials are now concluded

a. First, the religious phase, in which the High Priest and the whole Sanhedrin agreed unanimously to condemn him to death

b. Second, the civil phase, in which the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, buckled to the will of the Jewish leaders and crowd and delivered over a man he knew was innocent to be crucified

Mark 15:15  Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

D. The Soldiers’ Mockery

Mark 15:16-20  The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers.  ¹⁷ They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him.  ¹⁸ And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!”  ¹⁹ Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him.  ²⁰ And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

1. The “palace” which Mark calls “Praetorium” was the headquarters of the Roman soldiers there in Jerusalem, in the Fortress Antonia

2. The scourging had already happened, part of the trial before Pilate

3. This scourging was hideous, and could have been lethal in itself… so Jesus had already lost a good amount of blood

4. The soldiers took him into their headquarters and started to play games with him… absolutely no mercy at all

5. The “Mocking of the King”

a. Roman soldiers frequently played games in which they would take a peasant or an insane person and dress him up like the Emperor and mock him; they did that to Jesus

b. The soldiers may have known about Jesus’ miracles; but they definitely knew the charge against him that he was “King of the Jews”… so they ran with that

c. Jesus’ back was already flowing with blood, his face bruised and swollen from the blows the Jewish guards had given him; but they had no mercy

d. They called together the Roman cohort, a large number of Roman soldiers surrounding him and mocking him

e. To give him the appearance of a King for their mocking game, they found an old scarlet robe and draped it across him

f. For a crown, they twisted together a bunch of long, sharp thorns, imitating the golden laurel wreath worn by Caesar himself

g. These thorns were no accident, however… for it brings to mind the curse on the earth as a result of Adam’s sin

Genesis 3:17-18  [God said to Adam] “Cursed is the ground because of you…. It will produce thorns and thistles for you

So also Christ in his death WORE the curse on his head…

Galatians 3:13  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us

h. To make matters worse, the soldiers bashed this crown of long thorns with a rod, driving the thorns into his scalp and forehead and making more blood to flow

i. They gave Jesus a flimsy reed as a mock scepter, and fell on their knees before him, saying with a mocking tone

Mark 15:18 “Hail, King of the Jews.”

j. They also spat in his face… complete degradation and mockery

k. After the mockery, they dressed him, led him out to crucify him

E. Christ Cannot Be Mocked

1. I must pause now to highlight how remarkable this scene is

Galatians 6:7  Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.

2. Jesus actually is the King of the Jews… more than that, the King of the Universe

3. When he comes in glory, he will be robed in glory, and, surrounded by all the angels of heaven, he will sit on a throne in heavenly glory to judge all the earth

4. At that point, these same soldiers will in fact be falling on their knees in terror before him, with hearts filled with awe at his majesty and his power

II. Christ Humbled by Crucifixion

Mark 15:20-27  And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.  ²¹ A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.  ²² They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull).  ²³ Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.  ²⁴ And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.  ²⁵ It was the third hour when they crucified him.  ²⁶ The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS.  ²⁷ They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left.

A. Humbled by the procession

Mark 15:20  Then they led him out to crucify him.

Isaiah 53:7  … he was led like a lamb to the slaughter

1. The way out of the city was crowded with people, because by now it was 9 am… Luke 23:27 says a huge crowd of people was following him

2. It was humiliating to have everyone staring at him

3. Public humiliation is one of the greatest fears and pains of any human being’s life… Jesus was the focal point of many shocked stares and savage comments that dreadful morning

B. Humbled by his weakness

1. He had to carry his own cross himself

2. Most likely, this was the heavy cross-beam, not the whole cross

3. Because of his loss of blood, he needed help

4. A man named Simon was pressed into helping him carry the cross

a. He was from Cyrene, a port city on the southern Mediterranean coast, modern-day Libya

b. He was probably a Jewish man in Jerusalem for the feast

c. Mark also tells us that he was the father of Alexander and Rufus

d. Many scholars say that Mark included those names because they would have been familiar to his readers… and they lived in Rome

e. It so happens that in Romans 16:13, Paul greets Rufus and his mother, “who has been a mother to me too”

f. So Simon, his wife, and their two sons were all converted… probably beginning with this fateful moment when he helped Jeus carry the cross by which he would redeem the world

5. Concerning Jesus’ weakness, it is amazing that the angel came to the Garden of Gethsemane and strengthened him… but not with a supernatural level of strength… just enough to get up and go die like any ordinary man

C. Humbled by the location

1. Outside the city gate

Hebrews 13:11-13  The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp.  ¹² And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.  ¹³ Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.

The bodies carried outside the camp implies defilement, abhorrence… as though Jesus was like toxic waste

Hebrews urges us to stand with him, under Jesus’ cross and suffer disgrace and social rejection for the sake of the gospel

2. Golgotha (Calvary)

The place where Jesus was crucified was called in Aramaic, Golgotha… meaning “The place of the skull”; scholars think it was called that because it was shaped like a skull. Ominous and deadly.

BTW: the Latin word for skull is Calvaria; the Latin translation of the Bible, Vulgate, was the basic Bible for centuries in Europe; so when the scholars translated the King James Version, they ODDLY kept the word “Calvary” in Luke 23:33, though it is not in any direct way connected to the New Testament text—either by Aramaic, Hebrew or Greek. Whenever you see the word “Calvary” in a hymn or song or church name, that its origin

3. Very public place

Again, this place where Jesus was absolutely stripped of his dignity and reduced to the most visibly repulsive level of his existence was a very public place, near a major road where people could pass by and stare and make comments, as they did

D. Humbled by the sedative, which he refused

1. To help him, they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, a sedative,  to drug him and help numb the pain

2. He refused it, wanted to feel the full measure of the pain God ordained for the atonement of the world

3. “Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me to drink?”

E. Humbled by crucifixion itself

1. Crucifixion is one of the most vicious, cruel, and diabolical forms of death ever devised

2. It was invented by the Persians, but later used by Alexander the Great and adopted by the Romans

3. What makes crucifixion so horrible is that it is both hideously painful and not directly fatal… some victims can last for more than a day because there is nothing directly killing them

4. Their bodies are laid out on the cross, their hands fixed to the cross by long spikes driven through each wrist (not the hand, because it would not be able to support the weight); then the feet are put one on top of the other and a single spike driven through both feet

5. The cross is then lifted and dropped down with a jolting thud into the hole dug for it, sending spasms of pain throughout the body

6. The victim sags down, then to breathe, he has to push up on the nailed feet, fill his lungs with air, then sink back down

7. This of course is exhausting, and eventually the victim cannot make the effort any more… death is usually by asphyxiation

8. Death is often hastened by breaking the leg bones of the victim, making it impossible to push up and breathe

9. This is exactly what did happen to the two thieves but not to Jesus; he had already died so not a single bone of his would be broken

F. Humbled by them gambling for his clothes

1. The next humiliation was the soldiers gambling for Jesus’ clothes

2. A powerful symbol of the fact that his physical life on earth is over; he wouldn’t be needing his possessions any more

3. They are like vultures circling overhead

4. It was also a direct fulfillment of Psalm 22, as we shall see

G. Humbled by the inscription

1. Pilate ordered a sign placed over his head, “The King of the Jews”, written in Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek so everyone could read it

2. Pilate did it specifically to mock and rankle the Jewish leaders… as if saying to the whole Jewish nation, “Behold, your king.”

3. What’s humbling for Jesus is that they specifically had rejected him as their king… “We do not want this man to rule over us.” “We have no king but Caesar!”

4. HOWEVER… the text of this sign may well have been instrumental in the salvation of the thief on the cross

H. Humbled by being killed with common thieves

1. Probably highway robbers, a threat to everyone on the road

2. Jesus killed with others like he was just another criminal

3. But it is also a perfect picture of the incarnation and the atonement… he became one of us to save us

4. And it was a direct fulfillment of scripture

III. Christ Mocked by the Citizens, the Priests, and the Thieves

A. The Passers-by Mocked

Mark 15:29-30  Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days,  ³⁰ come down from the cross and save yourself!”

B. The Priests Mocked

Mark 15:31-32  In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself!  ³² Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.”

C. Even the Thieves Mocked (Initially!!)

Mark 15:32  Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

IV. But Christ Despised the Shame, Winning Trophies for Glory

A. Fulfilled scripture glorified Christ

1. Based on some manuscripts, KJV added verse 28

Mark 15:28 And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors.

This is Isaiah 53:12… and though it probably wasn’t in the original manuscript that Mark wrote, it is still true

And it opens up the whole topic of the astonishing fulfillments of prophecy in the crucifixion

2. Crucifixion itself was a fulfillment of prophecy

3. The gambling for his clothing

4. The actual comments of the mockers

5. The statement “Numbered with the transgressors”

6. Two key passages: Psalm 22, Isaiah 53

Psalm 22:12-18  Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.  ¹³ Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me.  ¹⁴ I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me.  ¹⁵ My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.  ¹⁶ Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.  ¹⁷ I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.  ¹⁸ They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.

Isaiah 53:4-9  Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.  ⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.  ⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  ⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.  ⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.  ⁹ He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

B. A Trophy Stunningly Won for Glory

1. One of the thieves began his time on the cross reviling Jesus

2. But in the hours in which he was suffering, he began to have second thoughts

3. Even more significantly, God the Father revealed to this man the true identity of the man dying on the cross next to him

4. No one is saved apart from that direct revelation by God of Christ to the heart by the Holy Spirit

Matthew 16:15-17   “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”  ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  ¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.

5. What did God reveal to the thief on the cross?

a. The true identity of Jesus

b. His future coming kingdom… so Jesus’ resurrection from the dead… THINK ABOUT THAT

c. His own sinfulness and complete lack of worthiness

d. YET the boldness to ask to go to heaven completely apart from any personal merit at all

e. All of this at the last possible moment

f. Listen to the stunning account

Luke 23:39-43  One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”  ⁴⁰ But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?  ⁴¹ We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”  ⁴² Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  ⁴³ Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

6. This man did not one single good work except the few things he said right before dying… yet by faith alone he is in Paradise forever with Jesus

7. So this man is in heaven as a clear trophy of grace, and it is specifically because Jesus was paying his penalty at that moment

8. And this man is a timeless example of why we never ever give up on anyone… because of the thief on the cross, we always think someone could repent at the last possible moment

9. How many Christian people have visited dying unsaved relatives in the hospital with this account in their minds, filling them with hope?

C. Many Trophies of Glory

1. The thief on the cross was just the clearest

2. But when Jesus died, the Roman Centurion in charge of the crucifixion said

Mark 15:39  “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

3. After Pentecost, a huge crowd of people whom Peter charges specifically with Jesus’ death were won to Christ

Acts 2:36-38  Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”  ³⁷ When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”  ³⁸ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.

4. Even some of the priests were later converted

Acts 6:7  So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

5. Christ patiently won over his mocking enemies

Romans 5:8  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:10  For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

V. Lessons and Applications

A. Created for Worship… Not Mocking

1. We have seen the terrible account of sinful mocking of Jesus

2. But we were created by God to praise and worship him

3. That means to appraise his worth and value and speak forth words of passionate praise for his glory

B. The Cross is the Center of Heavenly Worship

1. Despite the fact that the cross itself is intrinsically dripping with horror and shame, God brilliantly designed it to be the focus, the absolute center of heavenly worship

2. Revelation 5 is the key text

a. John sees heaven, with the throne of God, and all the heavenly beings surrounding the throne

b. God has a scroll in his right hand, sealed with seven seals, and a mighty angel calls out, “Who is worthy to take the scroll?” But no one is found in heaven or earth or under the earth worthy.

c. John weeps and weeps because no one is found

d. But one of the twenty-four elders tells him not to weep…

Revelation 5:5-7  Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

⁶ Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.  ⁷ He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne.

The Lion is Jesus… mighty, powerful, dominant… but he looks to John like a Lamb that had been slain. The greatest achievement of Jesus’ ministry was won by his death on the cross.

This leads to cascading worship, rolling down forever on Jesus:

Revelation 5:9-12  they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.  ¹⁰ You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”  ¹¹ Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.  ¹² In a loud voice they sang: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”

So what Satan and sinful people designed for Christ’s SHAME ends up infinitely for his glory. And not just his glory, but the eternal blessedness of his redeemed

Therefore, Christ thought that the temporary shame was a small price to pay for our eternal salvation!

C. From Shame to Glory!! Not Just Jesus… But US

1. Jesus bore our shame in our place as our substitute

2. There is a definite shame for sin… that’s why the mocking and shame is such a major theme of his atoning death

3. But by doing that, he takes away our shame forever

Romans 9:33 “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”

When we stand before God on judgment day, despite the fact that we have sinned more than we can possibly remember, in the end we will be clothed in white robes covering our shame forever

Revelation 3:18  I counsel you to buy from me … white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness

D. What About You, Dear Listener?