The New Testament uses many images to describe what the cross is and how we should see it.  It is a ransom(Mark 10:45; 1 Tim. 2:6), a payment for the debt of sin.  It is a substitution – Jesus offers himself in our place (cf.   the meaning of Barabbas in the previous section; see also Luke 22:18-12; John 6:51-52; Rom. 8:3; 2 Cor. 5:21; cf. Isa. 53:10)  It is a propitiation, satisfying the justice of God by dealing with sin (Rom. 3:25).  It presents the “lifting up of Jesus,” and through it Satan is overthrown (John 3:14-15; 8:28; 12:31-32; 18:32).  It is the means y which the church is purchased (Acts 20:28). It is the sacrifice that ends all other sacrifices for sin (Heb. 8-10). It is the precursor to the Lord’s being lifted up and seated at God’s side (Acts 2:16-39; Heb. 1:3). It is the basis on which God sets apart his children as a holy community (1 Peter 1:2, 18-25; 2:1-11).  On the cross Jesus became a curse for us, a mediator of our guilt before God (Gal. 3:13, 19-20).  there reconciliation takes place between God and humanity, as well as between Jew and gentile (Rom. 5:8-11; 2 Cor. 5:20-21; Eph 2:11-22; Col. 1:21-22; 2:11-15).  So God can now justify us, that is, declare us righteous before him (Rom. 3:21-31). (Taken from the NIV Application Commentary)

Luke 23:26-49

²⁶ As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷ A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. ²⁸ Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ³⁰ Then

   “‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
   and to the hills, “Cover us!”’^[b]

   ³¹ For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

 ³² Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. ³³ When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. ³⁴ Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”^[c] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

 ³⁵ The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

 ³⁶ The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar ³⁷ and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

 ³⁸ There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

 ³⁹ One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

 ⁴⁰ But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹ We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

 ⁴² Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.^[d]”

 ⁴³ Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

The Death of Jesus

 ⁴⁴ It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, ⁴⁵ for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶ Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”^[e] When he had said this, he breathed his last.

 ⁴⁷ The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” ⁴⁸ When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. ⁴⁹ But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

Questions

1. Which different people saw Jesus die?
2. Why is Luke careful to indicate the number of people witnessing Jesus’ death?
3. Why is Luke careful to witness the type of people witnessing Jesus’ death?
4. Is the cross central to your life?  How would someone know?
5. How has the cross been emptied of both its horror and its effects by modern humans?

Going Deeper

How does Prince’s song The Cross capture the pervasive nature of The Cross?  What does it miss?

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x62ivq_11-the-cross-lovesexy-tour-dortmund_music

http://www.justsomelyrics.com/114444/Prince-The-Cross-Lyrics