by Pastor Chuck Ryan
The WAY of the Cross
Text: Mark 10:32-34; John 14:6
Jesus said, “I am the WAY, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Thesis: There are things in life that are inevitable. Jesus teaches, the way of the cross was inevitable. There was no way around it, but God would see him through it. God will always make a way for us.
- “They were on their WAY up to Jerusalem...” (vs32a)
- “Jesus was leading the WAY.” (vs32b)
- Jesus is our Spiritual trailblazer or pathfinder.
- “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
- “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:6).
- “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
- “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36).
- "For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:21).
- Jesus’ going to Jerusalem was deliberate.
- Jesus was in control. (Read John 10:14-18)
- Jesus’ choice was a Divine necessity.
“Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!" Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns." (Matthew 16:22-23)
- “The Disciples were astonished…” (33c)
- The human response is to avoid pain at all cost.
- “No Pain, No Gain” is the motto for any athlete who wants to win.
Hymn refrain:
The way of the cross leads home,
The way of the cross leads home;
It is sweet to know, as I onward go,
The way of the cross leads home.
- Jesus instructs His disciples (us), "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24)
- “While those (the General Public) who followed were afraid.” (vs32c)
- Fear is something the believer is called to surrender to God.
- “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." (Joshua 1:9)
- “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”(1 Peter 5:7)
- God will comfort us so that we can comfort others.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” (1 Corinthians 1:3-5)