[Power of the Word] Easter Special: Victory in the Cross
Daniel Brady
When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished,” and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit, --John 19:30
Easter is upon us—the time when we give special attention to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. While Christmas is my favorite time of the year, the meaning behind Resurrection Sunday is, in a sense, more glorious than Christmas. I say this because without Easter, Christmas has no meaning.
Now, we’ve all heard the story before, and so as I contemplate writing about this great event, I wonder, “How can I write in such a way as to give people a fresh perspective on it? How can I tell the old, old story without making it sound old and tired?”
Well, there is one prevailing view of the death and resurrection that I find rather troubling. I think people too often think of Jesus as a “Rocky” figure. We’re all familiar with the Rocky movies. I, myself, do find them quite enjoyable to watch. But they all have the same theme, don’t they? Whenever Rocky gets into a big fight, he gets the snot beat out of him for several rounds. It looks like he’s going to lose the fight. He can barely stand on his own two feet. Then, somehow, he miraculously finds the strength to make a comeback and win the fight. Often, this is after losing a previous fight in the movie.
The overarching theme is defeat before victory. And, as Christians, we apply this same theme to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The crucifixion is presented as an apparent defeat that precedes the victory of the resurrection. I have even heard many say that Satan and his demons rejoiced to see Jesus die on the cross, only to be struck with terror and dismay when Jesus rose from the dead.
But is this the picture presented in the Bible? No. The Bible does not present the crucifixion as Jesus’ defeat. In fact, quite the opposite is true. For starters, take note of the many ways Satan tried to prevent the crucifixion. When Christ was born, Herod sought to kill the newborn King by killing all infant males throughout the land. After being baptized by John, Jesus went into the wilderness to fast and pray. After 40 days, Satan came to Jesus, seeking to entice Him to sin. For had Jesus sinned, He would no longer be the spotless Lamb of God, sufficient to make the sacrifice for sin.
Satan even sought to use Peter to dissuade Jesus from going to the cross. According to Matthew 16, “From that time on Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘Far be it from You, Lord! This shall never happen to You’” (vv. 21-22). And what was Jesus’ response to Peter? He used some very strong language as He said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to Me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (v. 23).
Satan did not rejoice in the death of Jesus Christ. He feared it. He tried to prevent it. For he knew that the crucifixion would be his defeat, not Jesus’. And this is seen in John 19:30, in which Jesus cried, “It is finished.”
In college, my Major was Computer Science. During one semester, I took a class on Algorithms, which involved some very complex programming. At the beginning of the semester, the instructor told the class, this will be the toughest class you have to take for the program.
He was right. Throughout the semester, we had to write or modify some very complex computer programs. I remember one day in particular, I had been wrestling with a program I’d been working on, trying to get it to work. Every time I tried running the program, I got errors. And for the life of me, I could not figure out where the errors were coming from. Finally, after several hours of working on it, I figured it out. I ran the program, and it worked!
I was so excited, I literally started jumping up and down, screaming at the top of my lungs. Another guy down the hall heard me yelling, was afraid something was wrong, and came down to check on me. In my excitement, though, I was shouting to the world, “Look! It worked! Ha ha, I did it! I did it!” Rocky Balboa would have said, “Yo, Adrian! I did it!”
This was Jesus’ cry from the cross. This was not a sentiment of resignation or defeat. Jesus did not say, “I am finished.” This was a victor’s cry. This was the triumphal announcement of the victorious warrior who had utterly defeated His enemy in battle. He was crying out to the world, “Look at what I did! I came to implement the plan of Salvation, and it worked! Look. Look unto Me and be saved.”
How is it possible that such a cruel and gruesome death can mean victory for the -one being crucified? By the mere fact that this is specifically what He came to do. His purpose was to make it possible for men to spend eternity in heaven with Him by taking the penalty of His own wrath against sin upon Himself. Having done this, He provided for our salvation. And having thus accomplished His task, He declares His victory from the cross, inviting us to celebrate with Him and to partake of the salvation He provides.
Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.