When the Cross hid the Crown

Posted on April 19, 2025 | By Iam Kerr

When Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter boldly replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16) Jesus affirmed this confession, declaring that it had been revealed by the Father. And yet, within days of that declaration, Peter would deny even knowing Jesus. The rest of the disciples would scatter in fear.

How could those who walked with Jesus—who heard His teaching, witnessed His miracles, and even confessed His divine identity—fall apart so completely when suffering came?

Faith Disrupted by the Present

Their belief was sincere, but it lacked endurance. They knew Jesus as the Messiah—but on their terms. They anticipated a victorious, earthly King. So when Jesus entered Jerusalem to the cries of “Hosanna!” and palm branches waving in triumph, the disciples must have felt certain that the long-awaited moment had arrived.

Jesus, after all, rode in like royalty. And when the religious leaders told Him to silence the crowd, He responded:

“If these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” (Luke 19:40)

But then the momentum shifted.
Instead of confronting Rome, Jesus wept over Jerusalem.
Instead of being crowned, He was arrested.
Instead of ascending a throne, He was crucified.

What Must They Have Thought?

What must the disciples have been thinking and feeling as their understanding of Jesus unraveled?

Did they retreat into isolation, each replaying the past three years in stunned silence?
Did they remember being chosen by Him—called from fishing boats, tax booths, and obscurity?
Did they think back on the blind receiving sight, the thousands fed with loaves and fish, Lazarus walking out of the tomb?

How could all of those moments now be reconciled with Jesus being condemned, executed, and laid in a borrowed grave?

Jesus had told them this would happen—again and again (see Mark 8:31). He told them He would suffer, be rejected, be killed, and rise again. But in the moment, they couldn’t grasp it. Perhaps they didn’t want to. Their expectations filtered their faith. They clung to the crown, but stumbled at the cross.

They had defined life forward, imagining how things should unfold. But now that reality had broken from expectation, everything felt lost.

When the Present Clouds the Promise

Like the disciples, we often interpret truth through the lens of current circumstances instead of seeing our circumstances through the lens of eternal truth.

We say we believe—but when life unravels, we doubt.
We remember the promises—but question them when pain hits.
We hold to the future—until the present feels too heavy to bear.

But Jesus is patient with faltering faith.

He did not abandon the disciples in their confusion. He came to them—risen, scarred, triumphant—not to shame them, but to restore them. Their faith, once fragile, would become unshakeable. Why? Because it was now rooted not in expectation, but in resurrection.

They had seen the Risen One. And with resurrection clarity, they could now live forward with courage—even unto death.

Faith That Endures Looks Beyond the Moment

Faith doesn’t deny the pain of the present—it reinterprets it through the certainty of the future.

So we ask ourselves:

When we face our darkest moments, do we remember what Jesus has already said?
Do we reflect on His faithfulness, His power, His promises—even when life looks like defeat?
Can we learn to define life backwards—anchoring our present in the glory of what Christ has already secured?

So when we celebrate Easter Sunday by proclaiming, “Christ is Risen!” may we do so with the same conviction the disciples held after they had seen the risen Lord for themselves—no longer shaken by the cross, but emboldened by the empty tomb. With the cross behind us, we can focus on the crown before us.

The victory is secure. The grave is defeated. Death has no sting. Though we live in the shadow of the cross, we walk in the light of Christ’s crown and the promised reward that is His inheritance—and ours in Him.

And let us take heart in Jesus’ words to Thomas:

“Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)

That blessing is for us.

We may not see the scars in His hands or the radiance of His resurrected body, but we believe—and in believing, we find life, courage, and joy that endures beyond every temporary sorrow.

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