The cross is undoubtedly the place of unparalleled sorrow. The sympathetic onlookers stood with broken hearts beholding the Just One suffer unjustly. Had not the Lord clearly indicated beforehand to his disciples that they were to ‘weep and lament’? The Saviour too, according to Psalm 69 was spoken of as having a broken heart. ‘Reproach hath broken my heart’, v.20. One might be tempted to ask if there could possibly be any hint of joy at Golgotha that day, as the ‘Man of sorrows’ suffered. Surprisingly, there was, beating deep in His heart, an anticipated joy. – ‘Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross’, Heb.12. 2. This immediately raises the question: ‘What was that joy?’

The Cross of Christ - ‘Who for the joy that was set before Him’

Since the word ‘joy’ is singular, some might conclude that there was only one thing involved. However, just as the sparkling diamond is made up of many facets, we shall discover by exploring the Hebrew epistle, there were many things which, collectively, formed that singular ‘joy’: the joy for which He was prepared to patiently endure the agonies of the cross.

The death of Christ was first and foremost, an offering to God. ‘Who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God’, 9. 23. On the eve of His death, though the cross lay yet before Him, He spoke of it as a completed work and that was a work which glorified God. ‘I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do’, John 17. 4. So delighted was God with that offering, we read, ‘He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied’, Isa.53. 11.

The cross became the alter upon which the suffering Servant offered Himself to God

‘Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me ... Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God’, 10. 4-7. At Sychar’s well He informed His puzzled disciples, ‘I have meat to eat that ye know not of ... My meat is to do the will of him that sent me’, John 6. 34. When saying, ‘a body hast thou prepared me’, the writer is quoting from Psalm 40 in the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures. The Hebrew says, ‘mine ears hast thou opened’. The ears were a most suitable symbol, as they were the organ of the reception of God’s Word and will. Whether we use the word ‘body’ or ‘ear’, both are fitting symbols for the carrying out of God’s will. ‘And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.’ Phil. 2. 8.

The cross was where the will of God was carried out to the full in absolute obedience.

‘Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me ... Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God’, 10. 4-7. At Sychar’s well He informed His puzzled disciples, ‘I have meat to eat that ye know not of ... My meat is to do the will of him that sent me’, John 6. 34. When saying, ‘a body hast thou prepared me’, the writer is quoting from Psalm 40 in the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures. The Hebrew says, ‘mine ears hast thou opened’. The ears were a most suitable symbol, as they were the organ of the reception of God’s Word and will. Whether we use the word ‘body’ or ‘ear’, both are fitting symbols for the carrying out of God’s will. ‘And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.’ Phil. 2. 8.

The cross became the means whereby He would secure those whom He would call His brethren

‘Who  ... when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, Hebrews 1:3. This formal and dignified act of taking His seat was in response to the divine invitation, ‘Sit at my right hand until I put thine enemies as footstool of thy feet’, v.13. Such an invitation could only be issued upon absolute satisfaction, and it was in itself a declaration of the Father,  ‘He did always the things that pleased Me’. ‘Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life ...’, John 10. 17. The sitting down of the Son was also the positive answer to His prayer recorded in John chapter 17. ‘And now glorify me, thou Father, along with thyself, with the glory which I had along with thee before the world was’, v.5 JND

The cross became the pathway to exaltation

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