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STANDING BY THE CROSS OF JESUS

I have it before me to speak to you about the cross. You will observe in chapter 19 it is said that certain ones stood by the cross of Jesus, and I read from chapter 12, having in mind to link on the verses read from that chapter with those in chapter 19. I might, indeed, refer to earlier passages in this gospel, where the cross is alluded to without naming it, as in chapter 3, for example, but I wish to speak of it as specially called attention to by the Lord in chapter 12 — as the evangelist explains, “This he said, signifying by what death he was about to die” What death? The cross.

What I may remark is that this subject, extensive as it is in the epistles as well as in the gospels, bears particularly towards the western world. The apostle, as most of you will remember, introduces it very early in his first letter to the saints at Corinth. He speaks of “the word of the cross” — mark the word of it! “The word of the cross” he says, “is to them that perish foolishness, but to us that are saved” 1 Corinthians 1:18 — that is to say, a class of persons known as the saved — “it is God’s power” (chapter 1:18); and then later he alludes to it, that is, to Christ crucified, in regard to the saints viewed in another way — “to those that [are] called, both Jews and Greeks” 1 Corinthians 1:24; to them it is the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

Now, as I said, its bearing is towards the west, speaking, of course, from the standpoint of the origin, geographically, of the testimony; not that ^[p. 85] one would stress unduly the geographical thought, but we are bound, in dealing with the testimony of God to follow the Scriptures, and if we do, we must take account of it. The division of the race — of the families of Noah — was not accidental. God looked a long way ahead in His governmental orderings. Although He had concealed the church (for “it is the glory of God to conceal a thing” Proverbs 25:2), although He had kept it there hidden for the ages, He always had it in His own mind, and in His governmental orderings He never lost sight of it; so that we find before the testimony actually reached the west, as we speak of it, the Holy Spirit was peculiarly active in the way of limitation. We have to learn negatively as we have to learn positively. In Acts 16, therefore, the apostle Paul was forbidden to speak the word in Asia. The word was preached in that province later, but at this particular juncture he was forbidden to speak it there. And then again he had it in mind to go into Bithynia to preach and “the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them” Acts 16:7 Then, further, we are told that the Macedonian man was seen by him in a vision, saying, “Pass over into Macedonia and help us” Acts 16:9 Thus you see how geographical positions were in view, and so the apostle, concluding that the Lord would have him to go to Macedonia, came westward.

Now what I am saying involves more than may appear on the surface; it involves that, whilst the field is the world which the Lord has acquired a right to by redemption, having already had title to it creationally, and that whilst He commissioned His apostles to go “into all the world, and preach the glad tidings to all the creation” (Mark 16:15), yet He reserved His rights, as I may say, as the Prince of the princes of the Levites, so that no one — not even a Paul — was a free-lance; there is no such thought warranted in the Scriptures; the most gifted, the ^[p. 86] most devoted, the most honoured of the servants of Christ is necessarily under His direction. Hence, as I said, the great apostle comes westward, and in all his epistles you will find those addressed are generally Jews and Greeks, and these are the ones to whom “the word of the cross” specially applies. I do not say that the word of the cross is not applicable to anyone in the world; it is, surely; but we have to do with Scripture, and therefore with those sections of the world, and with those races, in which evil is specially developed on the one hand, and, on the other, with those sections that God knew would yield most for the present specific purpose in view of which He is operating. Thus we find in Matthew that Jesus having been born, the magi come from the east. We have to view their movements in a prophetic way, as, I apprehend, what will come about under God in a coming day. The eastern nations, undoubtedly, are in His mind; every one of the sons of Noah is before Him, and in due course they will come and will recognise the king of the Jews: “Where is the King of the Jews that has been born? for we have seen his star in the east” they say, “and have come to do him homage” Matthew 2:2 We may be sure that however dark the horizon in the east is now, the star will again arise to illuminate it, and that that star is a guide to Jesus, the King of the Jews.

But what we find here in John’s gospel is not that. What we find is Greeks coming up to see Jesus — not as having been born merely, but as well known in His public ministry; and they say to Philip, “Sir, we desire to see Jesus” and the Lord says in answer to the desire expressed by them, “The hour is come” — not that the King of the Jews should reign, but “that the Son of man should be glorified” They approach Philip who, the Holy Spirit tells us, was of Bethsaida — a Galilean; and Philip tells Andrew, who was of the same city, and Andrew and Philip tell Jesus, their ^[p. 87] minds filled doubtless with the importance of these personages from the west, famed as they were then and as they are today for their philosophy and education. The Lord makes no allusion to that; but He says, “The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified” The Son of man is certainly not to be glorified in relation to their renown. Let no one think that anything that comes from them as such can add to the glory of Jesus; let no one assume that “words of wisdom” as Paul says (1 Corinthians 2:4), can add in any way to the glory of Jesus! What do these princes of literature care for Jesus? “None of the princes of this age knew” 1 Corinthians 2:8 the hidden wisdom; Paul says, “the world by wisdom has not known God” 1 Corinthians 1:21. It knew not God, whatever else it knew, and so they “crucified the Lord of glory” 1 Corinthians 2:8! Mark you, it is not simply the glory of the Lord that is in view; it is “the Lord of glory” that is to say, One who officially has the dispensing of glory.

Solomon is the great type of the Lord of glory. What you find in him is ability to speak of things. “He spoke three thousand proverbs; and his songs were a thousand and five. And he spoke of the trees, from the cedar-tree that is on Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of cattle, and of fowls, and of creeping things, and of fishes” 1 Kings 4:32,33. We have thus in Solomon one competent to speak of the whole realm of creation; he would bring out in his speaking the glories of it, and so he is a type, as I apprehend, of the Lord as the Lord of glory. Think of what the world lost in crucifying Him! They had cut themselves off from the source of all wisdom — public and hidden; they had thus written themselves down as fools; indeed the wisdom of this world is foolishness; they have crucified the Lord of glory: “the world by wisdom has not known God” 1 Corinthians 1:21 I speak thus lest we may ^[p. 88] be hankering after what the princes of this world can supply. The word of the cross alludes to them: “to the Jews an offence, and to nations foolishness, but to those that [are] called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ God’s power, and God’s wisdom” 1 Corinthians 1:23,24 I would address myself to the youngest here. Think of what it is to be ‘called’! It is not here exactly the calling as we speak of it, what is eternal — the calling on high, it alludes to the call that has come into your heart, as we get it in Leviticus; God called Moses out of the tabernacle. It is God, beloved young people, setting Himself in His own abode and calling you out of the world. Have you begun to move out of it? The call means that you cut your moorings and move out. It is to the called that Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, and if the call is answered to, you are in line to be introduced into the “hidden wisdom” It may not have occurred to you that there is such a thing as the “hidden wisdom” which God, as it says, prepared before the world for our glory, but God would give you a look, as it were, into that world — as the Lord Himself uses the expression, “that world and the resurrection from among [the] dead” (Luke 20:35) — a very different one from this — one where we shall be, as He says, “equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection” Luke 20:36 One look into that world will blind your eyes to this.

Well now, having said so much about the word of the cross and its bearing toward the west, inclusive of the Jews, I want to dwell on the attractiveness of Christ as presented in this passage, and one would again repeat, so that we may have it clearly in view for our consideration, that the fact that the Jews are in view as well as the Greeks does not weaken the thought that the west is in the mind of God. The word of the cross is to break up — is to cut at the roots ^[p. 89] of all western so-called learning, civilisation and renown. The Christian has to overcome these things, and it is a matter of no small importance that this comes out in this very gospel, which is intended for our own time. Three times over the Lord is alluded to as lifted up. Naturally we all wish to be lifted up, but in another way — to be lifted up by worldly things; every unconverted man and woman is aiming at it — to be lifted up to become conspicuous, to be, as they say, in the limelight in the presence of men. The Lord’s own brethren said to Him, “If thou do these things” — if you have things that distinguish you above others — “manifest thyself to the world” John 7:4. He says, “My time is not yet come” John 7:6 The time, beloved brethren, for display is not yet, so that instead of being lifted up in that way, the Lord of glory was lifted up ignominiously, and so we read, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, thus must the Son of man be lifted up” (John 3:14); and again here, “And I, if I be lifted up out of the earth, will draw all to me. But this he said, signifying by what death he was about to die” How much are we prepared to be lifted up in that way — to be “made a spectacle” as the apostle says, “to the world, both to angels, and men ... become as [the] offscouring of the world, [the] refuse of all” 1 Corinthians 4:9 - 13? How real it was to him! “I am crucified with Christ”; “Far be it from me to boast save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom [the] world is crucified to me, and I to the world” Galatians 2:20; Galatians 6:14.

Now what John would bring out is that the work of God is equal to any test that you could bring to bear upon it; that is a point that you will find emphasised throughout this gospel. And another thing is that every bit of the work of God, in whomsoever, is taken account of, whether it be in a Nicodemus or in a Joseph of Arimathaea. In these last days, beloved ^[p. 90] brethren, we are to understand that every bit of the work of God, in whomsoever or wheresoever, is to be taken account of; it is like the precious gold, whatever the surroundings, you can look at it by itself; we are to look at it, as it were, abstractly; we are to take account of it by itself; it is the work of God and it will shine by-and-by, whatever its surroundings are now. And then, as I said, another feature is that, viewed abstractly, it will stand any test you may bring to bear upon it. And that is how this passage is set. The Lord says, “And I, if I be lifted up out of the earth, will draw all to me”; that is to say, in spite of the ignominy, in spite of the disgrace, in spite of the fact that two malefactors were hanged by His side, in spite of the spitting and the shame, the work of God will show itself, it will draw toward Christ. And so it is, beloved young people; if you are true to yourself, you will find that the work of God in you will draw toward Christ. “I myself with the mind” says the apostle, “serve God’s law” (Romans 7:25) — not that I ought, but I do it; “He that has been begotten of God keepeth himself, and the wicked [one] does not touch him” (1 John 5:18); “and he cannot sin, because he has been begotten of God” 1 John 3:9. It is important to learn how to take account of things abstractly in that way, to see them as they really are. There is that in me that abhors the cross, there is that in every one of us that abhors the cross; it is a scandal to us, but if I recognise the work of God in me, it does not abhor the cross, it glories in it. I am to identify myself with that, regarding it as myself. And so the Lord says, “I will draw all to me” It is, as I may say, the test as to whether I am born of God. If I judge myself in the light of God, I shall not abhor the cross, I shall boast in it.

Now I want to show in chapter 19 how certain ones stood by it, “And by the cross of Jesus stood” etc.

^[p. 91] John is the only one who presents this feature. Just contemplate for a moment what this scene was. What terrific opposition! All the forces of evil were concentrated there, directed against that blessed Man as He hung there on that cross. Evil from every direction pressed in there, shame and spitting were common, taunts were common, and yet the Holy Spirit is able to say, “And by the cross of Jesus stood his mother, and the sister of his mother ... and Mary of Magdala” What a trio! They are not here seen as standing “afar off” as elsewhere, they are standing by the cross of Jesus! How delightful to heaven, and how delightful to the heart of Jesus! And there was another there whom Jesus loved standing by. Note that word. How is it with us? How is it personally, how domestically, how is it in our business arrangements, how in our public comportment, how is it in regard of the word of the cross and the cross of Jesus? These beloved women were standing by, and the one whom Jesus loved was standing by.

Then you see how the Lord honours those who stand by. It says, “Jesus therefore, seeing his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, says to his mother, Woman, behold thy son” Was He not positionally equal to that honour? He was, for he was standing there; they were both standing there. And so the Lord says to the one whom he loved, “Behold thy mother” The Lord confides in the one who stands by. Is it here for nothing? Is it a mere historical reference? Not at all. It is to encourage us now as standing by, so that the Lord might confide in us, and in confiding in us might commit to us what is most precious. Could anything be more desirable than to have such a charge committed to us by Christ as hanging on the cross? “From that hour the disciple took her to his own home” Would he ever forget those words from the dying Saviour? Would Mary ever forget them?

^[p. 92] Never! They would be bound together spiritually as no other two could be, and all because they were both standing “by the cross of Jesus” It is a most blessed thing to be confided in by the Lord. I know of nothing to be coveted more, than that He should confide in one.

You find at the end of the gospels examples of the Lord’s confidingness. I refer, for a moment, to Matthew; you will remember how the Lord sent a message to His brethren by a sister, and I would remark, if you will allow me, that certain current references amongst us to sisters tend to divert them from their real calling and service. The Lord would, as it were, elevate them in their own minds as regards His service. We often say, ‘Even a sister could do that’; but what is verified at the endings of the gospels is that the sisters are marked off as confided in, and so in this case the Lord sends a message to His disciples saying, “Go bring word to my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me” Matthew 28:10. It was His message — a message of immense importance; so much so that the enemy moves at once to counteract it: “And as they went, behold, some of the watch went into the city, and brought word to the chief priests of all that had taken place ... they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, Say that his disciples coming by night stole him [while] we [were] sleeping ... and this report is current among the Jews ... until this day” Matthew 28:11 - 15 They tell a lie. As light radiates in these devoted women, Satan’s effort is to counteract it. You may be sure that every movement of this kind the enemy will seek to counteract by a lie. I mention this because of the solemnity of the currency of a lie. If a lie becomes current, it is apt to be crystallised and regarded as traditional, and traditional truth, so-called, is often a traditional lie. And so the lie continued, as Matthew says: “current among the Jews until this day” Matthew 28:15.

^[p. 93] And then in this gospel, need I comment on the wonderful message which was sent to the disciples, again by a woman? What is so touching about it is that she assumed not to be directly sent to the disciples. It says she “comes bringing word to the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and [that] he had said these things to her” John 20:18 She delivers her message in a most comely way; she had the light before the others. And then here, as I said, there is the principle of confidingness on the part of the Lord in those who were standing by the cross. Is it not an incentive to draw near to the cross, not only to hear the word of it, but to boast in it? As we do this, we may be assured that we shall prove that the Lord confides in us. So John is entrusted with the Lord’s mother.

Then another thing with regard to John is that it says, “But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water. And he who saw it bears witness, and his witness is true, and he knows that he says true, that ye also may believe” John 19:34,35 He was a witness of the blood and the water that flowed from the riven side of Christ. He was such an one as could speak of it, as having seen it. Now that is another great matter. There are two ideas in the thought of witness, one is that I am competent, as having seen the thing, and the other is that I am called upon to bear testimony, or witness. And so, beloved brethren, as standing by the cross, we shall be witnesses of much; we shall not present things merely as having heard, we shall be able to say, “I know” We were speaking lately about the public assembly — that the first speakings in it were marked by certainty. The assembly of God should indeed be marked in that way — not only by order, but by the things that are said: they “found the eleven, and those with them, gathered together, saying, The Lord is indeed risen”; Luke 24:33,34 there was certainty as in it.

^[p. 94] The others were also speaking with certainty, saying that He was made known unto them in the breaking of bread. I refer to that in connection with this chapter (John 19) — that there is certainty in the one who stands by the cross; he says, “and he knows that he says true”; John 19:35 he was a competent witness. And so it is that as standing by the cross in these last days we shall have communications, we shall see things, we shall become aware of their certainty, so that we can speak as the oracles of God. “If any one speak — as oracles of God” 1 Peter 4:11. And so John could speak with authority; as he says in his epistle, “We know that the Son of God has come” 1 John 5:20 But it all arises, as I said, from being near the cross, the cross of Jesus.

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