Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter

As we approach Easter, Christians everywhere remember Christ's sufferings on the old, rugged cross and the triumph of his resurrection. Indeed, the symbol of the cross is one of the few near universal Christian symbols. Protestants, Catholics and those who view themselves as neither, still cling to the cross. The gospel depends on it, Jesus' earthly life is shaped by it, the Four Gospels almost speak of nothing else. Salvation depends on it, and sanctification is fed by it. And with Paul, we all should seek to boast in nothing but the cross or our Lord Jesus Christ. For this reason I was thrilled at the opportunity to review a book like Nancy Guthrie's Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter (Crossway). I assumed it would be a good read since it is a compilation of several prominent church leaders, contemporary (Tim Keller, John Piper, Ligon Duncan, Phil Ryken and John MacArthur) and from years past (Augustine, Luther, Calvin, J.C. Ryle and Charles Spurgeon). Yet, the book excelled far beyond my expectations, high though they were. Nancy Guthrie did a phenomenal editing job in piecing together various meditations on the Cross into a wonderfully unified book. And the selections she chose were truly the best of the best that these authors had to offer. Finding each of these was an amazing accomplishment in its own right. Here's a small sampling of the topics covered in this small volume. Martin Luther challenges us to find a proper view of self in light of the Cross. Alistair Begg ponders the innocent Christ being crushed by God. C.J. Mahaney unpacks the weightiness of the cup that Jesus chose to drink completely for us. R. Kent Hughes shows the Biblical theological background to the symbolism inherent in Jesus' betrayal in the garden at Gethsemane. Spurgeon marvels that the Lord of the Universe allowed sinners to spit in his face, and he chillingly shows that we too have tragically spit in his face. J.C. Ryle wants us to find ourself in the Sufferings of Christ. Martyn Lloyd-Jones focuses on Christ's destruction of the Devil. John Calvin points out the connection between the Passover Lamb and Christ as shown in the blood and water flowing from his side. Jonathan Edwards shows Christ's sacrifice as not merely satisfying God's wrath, but accruing merit in that it was a sweet smelling, acceptable offering to God. Tim Keller explains how resurrection power should transform our lives. In all of this, our focus should not be on the human authors Nancy compiles. Rather each are gifted with the ability and graced with the desire to show forth Christ in all His beauty and glory. And such a feast, an extended meditation on our Savior, Jesus Christ, is appropriate not merely for Easter and Passion Week, but all the year, and all the days of our life, long. I encourage you to pick up a copy of this fantastic book, start it this Easter and let the message of the Cross grip your heart in the weeks

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross. It is a book to be savored, as it contains 25 short articles on many of the aspects of the Passion week written by some of the great pastor-theologians of the past and present. The luminous names like Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Edwards and Spurgeon are here and their contributions are powerful. But equally powerful are some of the modern figures like Kent Hughes on Gethsemane and Tim Keller on the resurrection. Especially touching is the essay from Joni Eareckson Tada on Sharing His Sufferings. This book would be especially moving if read during Holy Week. One could read Matthew 26-28 on Palm Sunday, then read Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross as follows: chapter 1 on Monday, chapter 2 on Tuesday and chapter 3 on Wednesday, followed by chapters 4-8 on Maundy Thursday, chapters 9-17 on Good Friday, chapters 18-20 on Saturday and chapters 21-25 on Easter Sunday. Reading in this way would track the content of the book as it correlates with the events of Holy Week. Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross is a resource I expect to return to again and again.

I know that Lent is not kept by most evangelicals, and that's okay. There's no Scripture passage forbidding it or advocating it, so whether one decides to prepare for Easter in this manner is left to one's conscience. This season serves as a time of reflection upon the sufferings of Christ. It is a season of repentance, a time of dying to self that anticipates new life on the other side, just like the last days of winter anticipate the arrival of Spring. During Lent, I try to temper my voracious appetite for reading by adding several devotional works to my reading schedule. I am glad to see that Crossway has published several solid collections of devotional material in recent years. One of the recent publications, Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter, is edited by Nancy Guthrie and contains 25 sermon or book excerpts about the suffering and exaltation of Jesus Christ. Guthrie's collection features recent writings from pastors and authors like Adrian Rogers, Joni Eareckson Tada, John Piper, and Tim Keller. But it also features several "classic" sermon excerpts from the past: Augustine, John Calvin, Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, and Jonathan Edwards. I am looking forward to finishing this fine collection of meditations during Lent this year. So let me encourage you - whether or not you "give up something" - at least use these few weeks to prepare for Easter, giving thought to the price paid for your ransom and the extraordinary love of God manifested on Calvary. May Jesus keep you near his cross!

This book comes out well before Easter to make sure that you are able to buy it, study it and then teach its truths to others as Easter comes about. The book is laid out to have 25 short teachings and thoughts on the cross of Christ. It has most theologians that you can think of in the Reformed and Calvinistic circles and then also includes at least one I know that wasn't a Calvinist (Adrian Rogers). Most of the chapters are about 3 to 4 pages which include many different angles to look at the cross. The topics range from Christ's humility in Gethsemane, silence among his accusers, our sin putting him on the cross, propitiation, forsaken by God, etc. I am not going to list every theologian and every topic, but I will say that this book is a very good one to help someone as they study further on the cross of Christ. This book is a book of quotable thoughts for any pastor. Some of my favorites were Martin Luther, C.J. Mahaney, Tim Keller, Adrian Rogers and Augustine. Martin Luther is first up in the book, and in my opinion, it didn't get any better than Luther. I really enjoyed his chapter and found myself continually reading because of his start of the understanding of the "True Contemplation of the Cross." Here is an excerpt from Luther's chapter: Take this to heart and doubt not that you are the one who killed Christ. Your sins certainly did, and when you see the nails driven through his hands, be sure that you are pounding, and when the thorns pierce his brow, know that they are your evil thoughts. Consider that if one thorn pierced Christ you deserve one hundred thousand. The whole value of the meditation of the suffering of Christ lies in this, that man should come to the knowledge of himself and sink and tremble. If you are so hardened that you do not tremble, then you have reason to tremble. Pray to God that he may soften your heart and make fruitful your meditation upon the suffering of Christ, for we ourselves are incapable of proper reflection unless God instills it. But if one does meditate rightly on the suffering of Christ for a day, an hour, or even a quarter of an hour, this we may confidently say is better than a whole year of fasting, days of psalm singing, yes, than even one hundred masses, because this reflection changes the whole man and makes him new... Martin Luther, p. 12 (taken from Martin Luther's Easter Book) Although there were some that stood out, there were also some where I couldn't wait to read and they seemed to fall a little flat. Not only tha, there were some that were just plain bizarre where I will either need to study further or just glaze over for the sake of the other chapters. The odd ones were John MacArthur's take on Christ's forgiveness on the cross. He believes that Christ was only asking for the forgiveness of those who would end up believing in Him and not everyone that was at the cross crucifying him. I believe he ends up making his theology read into this part of Scripture a little too much. Th