There is a story about a young boy who had the annoying habit of speaking in rhyme. One day, his father who was a preacher grew exasperated and said, “Son, I am going to spank the poetry out of you!”
The young boy responded, “Oh father, do some pity take and no more poetry shall I make.”
Well, thank goodness the father couldn’t spank the poetry out of the boy because that boy was Isaac Watts, who would later write the hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” which has been our season of Lent focus for these past several weeks.
Watts who was born in England, wrote this magnificent hymn in 1707. Thanks to his incredible gift of poetry, he is probably the most well known of all the hymn writers.
During this Season of Lent, we have been using this hymn to help us survey the different spiritual areas of our lives. These have included surveying our temptations, our faith, our spiritual thirst, our hearts, and last Sunday we focused on surveying our griefs.
Today, we have finally arrived at the title of this hymn and on this Palm Sunday, we survey the wondrous cross. What does it mean to survey the wondrous cross?
We often refer to this day on the church calendar as Palm Sunday with an emphasis on the crowd who waved palm branches at Jesus as he rode a donkey into the city of Jerusalem. But really, the full title of this Sunday is “Palm/Passion Sunday” because this day marks the beginning of Holy Week, the last days of Jesus before he shared in a Last Supper with his disciples on Thursday, and was crucified on Friday, and then laid in a tomb on Saturday.
This is why our service begins with a parade where we wave palm branches in celebration of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, but around mid-way through this service, it transitions into a more somber and reflective mood. This last part of the worship service helps us to prepare for the difficult events that will be occurring later this week when we observe Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday when Jesus was placed in a tomb.
Several years ago in a church I was serving, we, along with several other churches in our community participated in a Good Friday service. It was the custom for the host pastor to offer a welcome before the service began.
I will never forget the one year that a host pastor greeted everyone before the Good Friday service was to begin. The organist had just finished a very somber, but beautiful prelude to help set the tone for the service.
The host pastor goes to the microphone and with a big smile on his face exclaims, “Welcome y’all! How are you all doing tonight?”
I wanted to respond to his cheery greeting with this snarky but honest comment, “Can’t you read the room?? We’re all really sad! Jesus died on the cross!”
All I could think about was that I sure hope he doesn’t begin his funeral services that way. “How are y’all doing?” What do you mean, how are you all doing?
Holy Week services are meant to help us enter into that very dark and sad time when Jesus was arrested, crucified on a cross and then laid in a tomb. This week is meant to be a time for us to survey the wondrous cross and what Jesus’ death on the cross means to us.
This is why our Maundy Thursday service this week will be more like a funeral service this year to help us appreciate even more the depth of sadness and fear that the disciples would have experienced when Jesus died on the cross. I invite you to join us this Thursday at 7 PM for this creative way to help us to survey the wondrous cross.
A while back, I was listening to a podcast that featured a noted New Testament scholar and he was asked the question, “What part of the Bible would you recommend for someone to read if they are curious about the Christian faith?”
It was an interesting question because in my mind, I could think of a number of different scripture passages that I might suggest to someone. But this scholar’s choice of scripture stood out for me. He recommended that the person read any of the crucifixion narratives that can be found in all four of the Gospels.
He then said, I would have that person not only read the story of when Jesus was crucified on the cross, but really let that story sink into his or her heart and mind of just how much God loves them. I remember thinking to myself, “Yes, that is so true. If only we would take time to survey the wondrous cross.”
We don’t really need to try to convince somebody that God loves them. All we really need to do is to point them to this very powerful and profound story of Good Friday. And then to simply point out that Jesus was willing to take upon his shoulders all of the evil and pain that the world could throw at him, and through his suffering and death, reveal the incredible depth of God’s love for us.
When we survey the wondrous cross, we are not simply reading about a horrible tragedy. We are witnessing the generous love of God for the world personified in the person of Jesus who is the embodiment of God. Do you want to know who God is like? Look to Jesus who emptied himself to the point of dying on the cross for our sake.
When you are feeling lonely and wondering if anybody cares, look to the cross and remember that this is how much God loves you. When you are in need of direction and guidance because you are facing a challenging situation in your life, look to the cross and remember that this is how much God loves you.
When you are feeling weak, confused and afraid, look to the cross and remember that this is how much God loves you. When you are carrying the guilt of past regrets and shame, look to the cross and remember that this is how much God loves you and forgives you.
When Jesus died on the cross on that Good Friday, God was saying, “I love you more than you can ever imagine, even to the point of absorbing all of the evil, pain, and suffering that the world can throw at you. I love you this much!”
Or copy and paste the poetry of this hymn writer and carry these words from verse 3 with you at all times:
“See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down. Did e’re such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown.” Thank you, Mr. Isaac Watts for putting into poetry what the cross of Jesus means for us. The cross is where love and sorrow met.
Love and sorrow. That’s what we get with the cross. This is why a large cross hangs in front of our sanctuary, to always remind us of the very heart and soul of our faith, God’s unconditional, overflowing, and abundant love for you and me made known to us through Jesus’ death on the cross.
Riley Short is a United Methodist pastor who serves in Florida. He talks about always having a special love for the crucifix. When he was a child, he had a neighbor who was a very committed Roman Catholic. She shared what the cross meant to her and her words had a powerful impact on his life.
She simply said to him, “Jesus died on the cross for you.” That’s all she said! “Jesus died on the cross for you.”
Riley then shares how later, he had a seminary professor who taught a course entitled, “Doctrines of the Redemption” and even that course didn’t come close to explaining the cross the way his neighbor did for him when he was a little boy.
“Jesus died for you.” Those were words that he has never forgotten to this day and it’s what has made a profound difference in his life even to this day.
He goes on to say that there is a world of people who want to hear that message and who need to hear that message. There are hurting, confused, and lost people who want to experience the love of Christ shown so dramatically on the cross. This is what happens when people survey the wondrous cross.
When God created the world, he said at the end of each day’s creation, “It is good.” And notice that in John’s Gospel account of Jesus’ crucifixion, that his last words before he died were, “It is finished.”
“It is good. It is finished.”
When we survey the wondrous cross, we are surveying a God who not only created us but who also sent us Jesus who redeems and saves us from our sins. When we survey the wondrous cross, it leads us to sing, “love so amazing, so divine.”
Several years ago, a man is getting ready to head off for the day. He is anxious about many things and on top of that, he’s already late for work. And as he stands in front of the mirror in his bedroom and puts on his necktie, he can’t help but notice, as he looks over at his closet, that his little three year old daughter has been taking the shoestrings out from several of his shoes.
All he can think about is how this will make him even more late for work. As he continues to put on his tie, he then feels a tug on his pant leg. Annoyed and still in a hurry, he says, “Sweetie, daddy doesn’t have time for this. We’re going to be late getting you to day-care.”
She tugs again at his pant leg and again he says, “Please, not now, honey.” She taps him on the leg again, and this time, she points toward the middle of the bedroom floor and with her eyes beaming she says, “Look what I made, daddy! It’s Jesus’ cross!”
And sure enough, there in the middle of the floor were two of the several shoestrings she had taken out of his shoes. She had one over top of the other, forming the shape of Jesus’ cross.
Thanks to a little girl who reminded her daddy of the importance of Jesus’ cross, somehow, all of those many distractions and worries didn’t seem as important anymore. In that unexpected holy moment, that shoestring cross reminded him of love so amazing, so divine.
And you know what? That day ended up being one of the best days of my life.
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
So they took Jesus, 17 and carrying the cross by himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” 23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. 24 So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the scripture says, “They divided my clothes among themselves,and for my clothing they cast lots.” 25 And that is what the soldiers did. Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.”27 Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. 28 After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
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