The Call of the Cross
Why did Jesus, facing death in Jerusalem, insist on going up to the famous city? Luke tells us, “when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,” (Lk. 9:51).
Why Did He Go to the Cross?
Why? It was because He heard the call of the cross!
It was a call from God. God sent Him into the world to “seek and save the lost.” If he had turned back, he would have been untrue to the purpose of God. He was teaching us what God was like. So, at the heart of God is a cross. This is the nature of the universe-one where there is suffering. Man could not redeem himself; it took God’s own Son. He knew no sin; he was the “lamb without blemish”; he was the pure one. And he died for us!
It was the call of the world. The philosophy of the world is, “Lord it over the other fellow.” We think meekness is weakness, so we fight back. The cross is not for us. But deep down, the world wants the cross too. We feel the guilt in our own souls, for we put this strange man upon the cross. And we cry for forgiveness from sin and find it in the cross.
It was the call of the future. Jesus looked down the vista of years and saw the needs
of men in all ages. They needed salvation; they needed God; they needed what the cross could do for them-and so he went to Jerusalem. Earlier he had said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (Jn. 12:32). Do you not see Jesus Christ there crucified upon a tree, giving his life for you and does that not draw you
to him today?