When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30

There is a tendency to rush to Easter. People are saying, “Happy Easter”, already which almost sounds inappropriate. Easter is meaningless if we don’t spend time at the foot of the Cross. Christmas is just another commercial event if we don’t understand the Cross. Everything Jesus said and did culminates on the Cross. Easter points us back to the Cross. Christmas points forward to it. If we ignore this event today, then we will never understand the person of Jesus or His ministry.

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday. This is where we begin our walk to the Crucifixion. Jesus was a populist leader. The people adored Him. The gospel tells us that the people wanted to make Him King by force ( John 6:15 ). In a sense, Jesus had the people in the palm of His hands. He was the leader that they desired. However, unlike most populist leaders of this world, Jesus refused this power. This was not the first time he had done this. His whole ministry is marked with his constant rejection of power that the world offered him. It was a constant source of temptation. In the desert, the devil proposed to give Him all the kingdoms of this world if He worshipped the devil. Jesus could have had all the power that he needed to establish Himself as a king. Maybe He could have been a successful leader in this world. Jesus never once said that the devil was lying when he proposed this to Him. Instead, He chose the way of suffering. The crowd would have done anything for Jesus if only He had agreed to be their King. However, this King was not interested in an earthly kingdom established by blood and violence. The disciples offered Him their gift of violence. Jesus shattered their desire to fight for Him by saying, “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” (Matthew 26:52)

Countless of kingdoms have come and gone because they established themselves through the sword. Power in this world is gained through violence. Jesus refused this power. It goes beyond non-violence.He lived out a lifestyle of non-power even though power was within His reach from the very beginning of His ministry.

The people felt useless when Jesus refused their offering. They turned away from Him. His disciples reluctantly abandoned Him. Judas thought perhaps a betrayal might provoke Jesus to see things differently. He was gravely disappointed. He could not bear the fact that this King whom he loved and followed was not the kind of leader he desired. Once again, Jesus successfully defeated the temptation of the devil. He refused to bow down to his ways to win the world over.

The religious leaders demanded a sign from Jesus throughout His ministry. Herod wanted Jesus to perform miracles. Pilate wanted Jesus to say something to defend Himself. Jesus who was known for his miracles, healing and powerful oratory was silent before all his tempters. It was the same temptation the devil proposed when he asked Jesus to throw Himself off the pinnacle of the Temple. The religious and civil authorities were asking the same of Jesus to prove His divine election. He gave the same answer with His persistent silence; “Do not put the Lord your God to test.” (Matthew 4:7)

Jesus had the power to do all the things that the religious and civil authorities demanded. He refused to use this power. Again, He opted for non-power because He refused to succumb to the way of the world which wields its power to convince people of its authority. Jesus did not need to prove Himself to anyone. He could have done it and His life could have changed. Instead, He chose to suffer.

When He was hanging on the Cross, the people mocked Him. Mockery is perhaps one of the vilest sins that exist. It has become a fashionable sin in recent times. It has no place among those who desire to walk in the path of righteousness.
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. (Psalm 1:1)

The people mocked Jesus asking Him to use his healing powers to save Himself from the Cross. It was true that Jesus could heal people and even calm storms and raise the dead. However, He wasn’t going to save Himself. Again, this temptation is an ongoing one in the ministry of Jesus. The devil tempted Jesus to turn stones into bread to meet His physical need. If Jesus had done this, it would be justifiable. On the Cross, Jesus was faced with the need to defend Himself against this crowd of despicable and ungrateful people who take pleasure in the torture and imminent death of an innocent man. Enjoying the torment of someone guilty is abominable and disturbing in itself but these people were beyond redemption. Jesus had the power to pass judgement on them. No one in the past, present or future would blame Him if he unleashed the dormant desire of his disciples to strike in violence against all these people. He had the right to defend Himself. Instead He refused to pass judgement on them to save Himself. His needs were not above God’s will.

“Man does not live on bread alone but every word of God.” (Luke 4:4)

Jesus never put His needs before anyone. Even when they jeered and mocked Him, He did not allow His need for self-preservation or revenge to dominate. It wasn’t because He did not have the power to do it. He chose non-power instead.

On the Cross, Jesus was stripped down literally and spiritually to nothing. The people who followed Him because He was a healer and miracle worker were disappointed. The people who were enamored by His power teachings were disillusioned. The people who wanted Israel to be the center of the world, saw a stumbling block hanging on the Cross. There was nothing left in Jesus. He was just a broken man without any influence or authority in this world. He was just a man who loved and served people with all his heart. He was a man who refused to act like a powerful King and pass judgement on all these wicked people. Instead, He said. “Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34). Most of us would beg to differ. They seem to know what they were doing. They were determined to destroy life of an innocent man. However, Jesus spoke the truth from the Cross. These lost souls thought that they were doing something “good”. It happens today still. People act and do despicable things to each other thinking that they are doing something “good”. Some say that it is necessary to do some evil to achieve some good. Truly, we, humans, don’t know what we are doing. The sooner we realize this, the better. Unfortunately we have eyes but do not see, we have ears but do not ear.

The naked man and the naked God hangs on the Cross. A stumbling block to all those who invest their heart and souls in the power that this world offers. Jesus revealed a God who opts for non-power. For many, this God is useless and irrelevant in this world. Perhaps, God does not want to be relevant to this world. However, Jesus was relevant to the Good Thief who suffered next to Him on the Cross. He saw that the non-power of Jesus was truly the only power that prevails in the eternity. All kings and queens and kingdoms and authority will pass away. Their names will be erased and their actions will be forgotten. The Naked Messiah on the Cross will be relevant to the Good Thief for eternity. He only wants to be remembered by this so-called defeated King. The centurion who had spent his career wielding the power of violence was able to see something powerful in the King of non-power that hung on the Cross. He will always be the first and only one to confess the dying King is the true Son of God.

The women and the young disciple at the foot of the Cross only wanted one thing. They wanted the Man whom the loved to be always present in their lives. They did not follow Him because He was a healer or the messiah. They just loved Him. They saw God clearly in His life. Now, they saw God hanging on the Cross. God who chose to suffer rather than wield His power like the political entities of this world.

This is the God that Jesus presents to the world, we either follow His footsteps or join the rest of the crowd and shout, “Crucify Him! “