When You Look at the Cross, What Do You See?
When You Look at the Cross, What Do You See?
Bro Roger Campbell | 13 September 2026 | Luke 23
32 There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. 33 And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. 34Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
And they divided His garments and cast lots. 35 And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.”
36 The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.”
38 And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew:
THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
— Luke 23:32 – 38
Every Day Is a Good Day — Some Are Better
Every day the Lord gives us is a good day. Some days are simply better than others. Thank God for His providence that allows us to be together today.
What Comes to Mind at the Word "Calvary"?
When you hear the word Calvary, what does your mind see? A place where crucifixions took place, correct? Some versions of the Bible use the word Golgotha — meaning "the place of the skull" — for the same location. The NKJV and KJV of Luke 23:33 uses Calvary. The writer simply says, "There they crucified Him." The “Him” refers to Jesus.
The old hymn "We Saw Thee Not" tells the complete story of Jesus in four verses — four stanzas — and every one of them draws us back to this same central truth: that the Christ was crucified on the cross of Calvary. We were not there. We did not see it with our physical eyes. And yet the Bible is the evidence — the record of what happened on that hill outside Jerusalem — and it is by the Bible that we know what took place.
By the Eye of Faith
We look back at Calvary by the eye of faith. Abraham and Isaac themselves lived and died without seeing the fulfilment of many of the promises God had made to them. "Through your Seed…" — a reference to the Messiah — "your descendants…" — they did not live long enough to see the fullness of those promises unfold. But by faith, they embraced them. And in the same way, we now look back at the cross — through the pages of the inspired Word — and we, too, embrace what the Bible says about Calvary and the cross.
Let’s look at five things we ought to see when we look at the cross. Each begins with the letter “P.”
1. THE PERSON
When you think about the cross this morning, What do you see? Not the colour of the wood. Not the quality of the timber. Not whether the nails had rusted. The person who was on that cross is what made it significant. Take Him away, and all you are left with is wood.
Look at Matthew chapter 27. When Jesus died, extraordinary things happened around Him —
There was darkness from noon until three in the afternoon. The veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom. There was a great earthquake.
And a Roman centurion, whose job it was to carry out the crucifixion, watched the whole scene unfold and made a conclusion:
"So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, 'Truly this was the Son of God!'" (Matthew 27:54).
Jesus was more than a common person. He was the Son of God — just as He had claimed to be.
When Jesus was in His early years of ministry, John the Baptist had seen Him and cried out to those around him:
"Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29)
And on the very night before He died, Jesus wanted to encourage and comfort His disciples, and He said to them:
"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)
Who was this Person on the cross?
● The Son of God
● The Lamb of God
● The Way to God
He was more than a good man. He was more than a man who did good deeds. He was — and is — the only way of salvation. If anyone on earth wants to be saved, it must be through Him.
2. THE PRICE
We are not talking about the material cost of the wooden cross. We are talking about the spiritual price that was paid there.
The Bible says salvation through Jesus is a free gift from God. Though our redemption is free, it certainly was costly.
What did it cost God the Father?
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
Whom did God give up? God sacrificed His own Son.
What did it cost Jesus?
The apostle Paul, in appealing to the Corinthians to prepare their contribution, laid before them this description of the Christ's sacrifice:
"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich." (2 Corinthians 8:9)
How was Jesus rich? On earth, He was born to a poor family — Joseph and Mary brought the sacrifice that only poor people offered. He Himself said, "the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." So when was He rich?
He was rich before He came into the world. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1). The One who left the glory of heaven laid it all down. He gave Himself.
"…who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." (1 Timothy 2:6)
It cost the Son His life. And He went to the cross willingly — no one took His life from Him; He laid it down of Himself (John 10:17–18).
And what about us? Is there a price we must pay in order to follow the Man who died on the cross? Yes:
"But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (Galatians 6:14)
In order to follow Jesus, we must be willing to give up our attachment to the world.
3. THE PAIN
Death by crucifixion was one of the most torturous, inhumane manners of taking another person's life ever devised. It was pain from beginning to end. When those nails begin to hold the hands and feet to the cross, the pain never goes away.
Five words in Scripture point to the pain of the cross.
PIERCE
"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Psalm 22:1). Jesus quoted those words when He was hanging on the cross.
"For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones." (Psalm 22:16–17). Yes, for you and me, Jesus allowed Himself to be pierced.
WOUNDED · BRUISED · STRIPES
Turn to Isaiah 53 — one of the richest chapters in the entire Old Testament for Messianic prophecy. The language is fascinating. Isaiah writes in the past tense — talking as though the crucifixion had already happened. But Isaiah lived about 700 years before Jesus was born. It was so certain to happen, “a done deal” in the plan of God, that Isaiah wrote of it as history:
"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)
Three of the five pain-words appear in one verse.
● Wounded — injury and pain
● Bruised — struck and marred
● Stripes — an open wound where blood flows out; the whip that rips the skin. Some men lost consciousness or died from the whipping alone, before the cross was even reached.
NAILS
Remember Thomas — who was not with the disciples when the risen Jesus first appeared:
"So he said to them, 'Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.'" (John 20:25)
The Father, so to speak, said, "We need a sacrifice," and Jesus replied, "I will do it." That meant the Christ had to endure the pain of the nails.
Again, those five words connected with the pain of Jesus’ death that we read from the Bible: pierced, stripes, wounded, bruised, and nails.
4. THE POWER
"There is power, power, wonder-working power in the precious blood of the Lamb."
According to the Bible, we are saved by the death of Jesus, we are saved by the blood of Jesus, and we are saved by the cross.
How much power is there in what Jesus did at Calvary?
"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." (Ephesians 1:7)
The forgiveness of sins — that is powerful. Money cannot buy redemption. Good deeds cannot buy redemption. Only the blood of Jesus can wash a soul clean before God.
But the power of the cross goes further. The cross also broke down walls between people who had been separated for centuries:
"For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity." (Ephesians 2:14–16)
In Jesus, we can become one by the power of the cross.
Which law was Paul talking about in Ephesians? The Law of Moses — the Old Testament. Not to take it out of the Bible — it remains as the inspired Word for our learning. But from the time of Christ's sacrifice until the end of the world, the Old Testament is no longer binding on anyone. It has been replaced by the new covenant in His blood.
And the power of the cross also purchased the church — Jesus paid a great price to buy her:
"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her." (Ephesians 5:25)
"…the church of God which He purchased with His own blood." (Acts 20:28)
Thank God for the great power of the Cross!
5. THE PROPHECIES
And when we look at the cross, we see the prophecies of God fulfilled. Old Testament prophets were guided by the Holy Spirit to foretell a number of details related to the crucifixion of Jesus. And, each one was completely fulfilled.
When You Look at the Cross — What Do You See?
In our lesson, we looked at five things we should see when we look at and meditate on the cross:
● The Person — the Son of God, the Lamb of God, the Way to God
● The Price — the Father gave His Son; the Son gave His life; and by the cross, the world is crucified to us and we are crucified to the world
● The Pain — pierced, wounded, bruised, stripes, nails — the suffering He willingly bore
● The Power — redemption, peace, and the purchase of the church, all by His blood
● The Prophecies — predictions long before Jesus came, and fulfilled in every detail
Aren't we thankful that Jesus paid the price?!
Aren't we thankful that someone loved us enough to tell us about the cross of Jesus?!
By God's grace, through the cross, through Jesus — the invitation stands open to every soul.
Do you not believe that Jesus died for your sins? And because of that faith, are you not ready to repent of your sins, confess your faith, and be baptized into His death for the forgiveness of sins?!
Perhaps you want to study some more. Perhaps you would ask the prayers of the church. Whatever your spiritual need is, do not put it off.
