140
April, 1938
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
T h e Appeal o f the C ro ss
By CAPTA IN REG INALD W ALL IS * Weymouth, England
I T IS said that during the Great War an announcement came through on one o f the news dispatches that the British armies operating in Palestine had captured Jerusalem at last. A Christian man com ments on the news account that before the Turks evacuated the holy city, they hastened to the famous tomb of Jesus and “ robbed it of all its treasures.” “When I read this remarkable dispatch,” he remarks, “ I smiled out loud, for I knew better. The real treasures of that broken tomb are secure. They can never be carried off or lost.” It is the unique fact of Calvary which elevates Christianity above all religions. The evangel of the Lord Jesus Christ is not a religion. T o speak of the “ Christian religion” is a paradox. Christianity is as high above “ religion” as the heavens are high above the earth. The doctrine of the cross is a revela tion. It is the central fact in the message and counsels of God. Some one remarked to Talleyrand on on; occasion that he had come to found a new religion. “ Then there is one thing that you must do,” the states man replied. “What is that?” “ You must allow yourself to be crucified, and you must rise again.” The cross is the dynamic of the gospel. Wherever this message of life penetrates, whether in lands of civilization or in darkest heathendom, its mighty appeal is unchang ing. Above the din of human voices, amid the legion of those human appeals which present themselves to men today in the name of “ Christianity,” there may ever be heard the “ still small voice” of the Son of God. When this voice is heard, the dead awaken to life. The gospel message constrains men of all nations and climes and peoples and tongues to visit that “ green hill far away.” Around this sacred spot outside the city wall, multitudes have clustered with bowed heads and unshod feet, thereafter to dis cover for themselves a wondrous appeal and a transforming power which are unique. A Life Unlike All Others What is the explanation of this phe nomenon? One day a star appeared in the * Formerly General Secretary, City of Dublin Y.M.C.A., Ireland.
“The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” (John 18:11). His spirit is torn. “ If it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matt. 26:39); then there is the triumphal emerging—“ Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done” (Lk. 22:42). He is betrayed by a friend. He is wrongly arrested. He faces accusers for whom He has nothing in his heart but love. He is un justly condemned. False accusers are bribed to give evidence against Him because He “made himself the Son of God.” A Death Unlike All Others He is cruelly nailed to a Roman gibbet. He suffers untold agonies of spirit, soul, and body. He descends to the awful depths of Calvary. He cries, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (M att- 27:46). Martyrs could call upon their God in the day of their deepest need, but to this Man, the sky is dark, and the heavens are as brass. He suffers the indignities of the taunting crowd. They spit in His face. He becomes the victim of the relentless fury of a maddened mob of bullies. In due time He cries “ with a loud voice,” bows His head, and gives up the ghost. Refusing the aid of a legion of heavenly angels who eagerly would have come to His help, He deliberately and voluntarily lays dovm His life. A t that moment, something so terrific transpires that Calvary henceforth becomes the pivot of human history. It is so dynamic that it sways a universe. It gives rise to a riotous commotion in the unseen world. The religious world also feels the impact. “ The veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.” The earth is shaken to its very foundations. Physical routine is disorganized. The very sun in the heavens withdraws its glory and hides away in shame. Midday is turned into midnight. The forces of hell are up in arms. For the hierarchy of evil, this has been a fatal blow. Something so vital has happened that a universe is captured, and a whole world turns to see the amazing spectacle. A lonely Man is crucified upon the central of three crosses. Down through the rolling ages of two millenniums, multitudes of all classes have listened to the appeal of the cross. “ Ten
world’s dark night. It was the herald of a tremendous miracle. In humble surround ings, with a manger for His bed, a Babe had been born of a Virgin in Bethlehem. No sooner was the fact announced than occasion was given for intense antagonism on the part of an earthly king. W e read that Herod “ was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” His hatred found practical ex pression in a cruel and uninquiring massacre of innocent children with a view to dispos ing of the heavenly Child. The purpose for which this Holy One came into the world must be realized, however, and the Babe is therefore miraculously preserved from death. In His boyhood He is found in the temple engaged in ecclesiastical discussions with the religious leaders of the day. He confounds their wisdom. From boyhood He passes into young man hood, never failing to give convincing expressions of His sinless nature and of the fact that He has come forth from God. The details of His life until the age of thirty are meager. A t this point, however, He emerges from His seclusion and enters upon a public ministry for three and one-half years. In His Jordan baptism Christ gives a public consent to the great purpose for which He came into the world. This was not to live, but to die. But He must live in a human body in order to be crucified. Dur ing His ministry He makes the most staggering claims. He utters stupendous pro nouncements. He performs amazing miracles. In addition to many marks of omnipotence, He demonstrates His omniscience with equal conviction by penetrating into the hearts of men. He looks through the superficial and exposes their inner thoughts and motives. With unsparing scorn, He withers the un reality and hypocrisy of the Pharisees. He is at once the most devoutly loved and the most bitterly hated of all the sons of men. Such a One as this had never before trodden the soil of earth. “ Never man spake like this man.” He constantly refers to His coming decease. He “must be lifted up.” Then follows the story of the lonely Sufferer of Gethsemane. He sweats “ as it were great drops of blood” as He contemplates the implications of the sin question. Single- handed He encounters the powers of hell.
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