When reading through the Gospels there seems to be a disproportionate focus on the last week of Jesus’ life (Matthew 21-28; Mark 11-16; Luke 19-24; John 12-21). If Jesus were simply a good moral example, one would expect a larger focus on the life that he lived. Instead, the central concern of all the Gospel writers was the cross. As soon as Mark clearly identifies Jesus as the Messiah (Mark 8:29), he shows us what Jesus came to do: to die in Jerusalem and rise again (Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:32-34). Jesus confidently headed towards Jerusalem where he knew he was going to be murdered because “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45). Jesus is “the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2). As the Suffering Servant Isaiah spoke of, Jesus’s was given a mission by the Father to die a substitutionary death to atone for the sins of His people (2 Cor 5:21). We must never forget that the cross is to be central to our understanding of Jesus, for Paul can even summarize the gospel as “to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2).
