Why the Cross
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Going on a tour
Going on a tour
Talking about the whole Christmas story on our Christmas light tour.
Had a great time on Friday night
I asked the men, “who did you witness to this past year?” - how many people did I give a tour too?
Last, we talked about the faith that Jesus created when he both walked on water and lifted Peter back up into the boat.
Today, we move on to the story that any person, even if they are not a Christian, even if they only know about Jesus from pictures should know.
We come to the 3 crosses.
I say that every one should know because the symbol for Christianity is the cross. The cross is more famous than the red target at target or the arrow for amazon. Its what later Christians decided to use as their symbol because it’s marked with sacrifice.
Jesus told us often that he came to die.
31 Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. 32 As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things.
33 Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
Jesus knew what he came to do. He told everyone his closest followers how it was going to happen. They didn’t want it to happen.
Would you have tried to prevent Jesus from suffering, from dying?
Would you have tried to prevent Jesus from suffering, from dying?
It would seem good, natural, kind to try and help Jesus not have to die. Yet Jesus came for a purpose.
He came to conquer sin, death and this could only be done in one way.
One woman I met shared with me why she became a Christian. The big question holding her back was
Why did someone have to die for sins? Why death?
Why did someone have to die for sins? Why death?
From the very beginning the punishment for the very first sin would be death.
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”
The Garden of Eden, the way sin enters the world, God draws a clear boundary, sin is so destructive, it can only be eliminated.
Yet where there is death there is no redemption and without death there is no justice.
God provided a system of animals that would die in place of us.
3 “If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he is to present to the Lord a young, unblemished bull as a sin offering for the sin he has committed. 4 He is to bring the bull to the entrance to the tent of meeting before the Lord, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and slaughter it before the Lord.
But the death of animals over and over never permanently changed anything. It was a band-aid on the wound of sin in this world. God would fix what was broken by our sin.
14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.
17 Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.
Only one sacrifice would take away the sins of all the people for all time.
27 He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices every day, as high priests do—first for their own sins, then for those of the people. He did this once for all time when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak, but the promise of the oath, which came after the law, appoints a Son, who has been perfected forever.
The Son, the Christ, the chosen one to reunite us with God forever. Reunite us because he was able to transform our relationship with God as one in which we were horrible sinners who could do no right, to those made right by him.
My friend understood it. Death was necessary to pay for a punishment. Jesus did it.
If your eyes glazed over come back to let me put this whole thing to you simply. It goes back to a popular phrase,
“Hold My Beer”
I would say Hold My Diet Dr. Pepper but there is an internet saying in which someone says something can’t be done at all, or worse or better and then goes in there and does it exactly as it was said can’t be done.
Like no one can bake a meal for 20 family members who decide to show up in just two days for thanksgiving and then picture of grandma saying, “Hold My beer” and there being a beautiful spread.
Like someone saying no one can come back from 28 points down in the final 15 minutes of the Super Bowl and Tom Brady, quarterback of the New England Patriots says, “Hold My Beer” and goes and wins.
No one give Justice and restore humanity Jesus says to that,
“Hold My Water”
goes to the cross for your sins.
It’s one thing to say you would jump in front of a bus or a bullet for someone but Jesus didn’t say he would do that.
He said
31 Then he began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and rise after three days.
He would suffer many things. He would be rejected. I get all hurt when someone doesn’t show up to a place I invited them to or when they say something mean about me.
Maybe you’ve been rejected by people. You’ve had people refuse to be around you. It sucks.
Jesus chose to suffer for us.
I would suffer for my children. I have suffered for my children. So many of us have gone through sleeplessness and much worse. They are our flesh and blood.
God did this while we were still in the midst of our sin.
He was rejected.
He was also betrayed and knew he would be betrayed. He chose to be rejected. He chose to take on the pain of betrayal.
31 For he was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after he is killed, he will rise three days later.” 32 But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask him.
Betrayal is so hard. So hard. I know all of us will experience death of loved ones in life, as this is natural but I hope none of you experience the heart wrenching horror of betrayal.
Yet Jesus chose to be betrayed and then killed. Rejected, betrayed, killed.
Jesus even shared the Last Supper with Judas, his betrayer. Jesus washed Judas’ feet. When Jesus walked on water, Judas was in the boat.
1 After Jesus had said these things, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it. 2 Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas took a company of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees and came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
4 Then Jesus, knowing everything that was about to happen to him, went out and said to them, “Who is it that you’re seeking?”
5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered.
“I am he,” Jesus told them.
Judas, who betrayed him, was also standing with them. 6 When Jesus told them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground.
7 Then he asked them again, “Who is it that you’re seeking?”
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.
8 “I told you I am he,” Jesus replied. “So if you’re looking for me, let these men go.” 9 This was to fulfill the words he had said: “I have not lost one of those you have given me.”
10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)
11 At that, Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword away! Am I not to drink the cup the Father has given me?”
12 Then the company of soldiers, the commander, and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus and tied him up.
The disciples were ready to fight. Peter was ready to kill for Jesus. Yet Jesus ministry, his ultimate purpose was of sacrifice. Just like he told all of us. This would be an unfortunate story of one of the many, many people who have led rebellions in the Roman Empire, and throughout time. It would just be about politics.
This is something so much much more.
Jesus came as a sacrifice. He allowed himself to feel all that we have felt. Rejection, Betrayal, but where most of us would fight back, this was the time when Jesus was allowing all this punishment, the punishment people try to give someone who has done wrong, he took it all
Do you ever look at those crime scene videos or pictures people put up about things that happen in Stockton. Like Stockton Crime, News and Information. Big thanks to Linda Scantling for putting up the Christmas Light Video there.
People will also post pictures of car wrecks. Without knowing a thing about what happened, any investigation, in a matter of seconds posts pop up.
“Slow Down”
“Pay attention”
“Put the cell phone down”
“That’s what’s wrong with stockton to many people smoking and driving.”
Again all of this is written without any idea of what actually happened.
People criticize, reject, talk about, as a way to punish. They also fight, hit, steal, attack, as a way to punish. Betrayal is an act of punishment.
Jesus chose to take all the punishment on himself.
27 Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. 29 They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” 30 And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. 31 When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.
Matthew 27:35–46 (CSB)
35 After crucifying him, they divided his clothes by casting lots. 36 Then they sat down and were guarding him there. 37 Above his head they put up the charge against him in writing: This Is Jesus, the King of the Jews.
38 Then two criminals were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. 39 Those who passed by were yelling insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” 41 In the same way the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him and said, 42 “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God rescue him now—if he takes pleasure in him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” 44 In the same way even the criminals who were crucified with him taunted him.
45 From noon until three in the afternoon, darkness came over the whole land. 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Elí, Elí, lemá sabachtháni?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
In this statement Jesus with his last words recalled Psalm 22 one of the saddest poems in the whole Bible but it was fulfilled at the cross
1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far from my deliverance
and from my words of groaning?
It goes on to say
7 Everyone who sees me mocks me;
they sneer and shake their heads:
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are disjointed;
my heart is like wax,
melting within me.
15 My strength is dried up like baked clay;
my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
You put me into the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded me;
a gang of evildoers has closed in on me;
they pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones;
people look and stare at me.
18 They divided my garments among themselves,
and they cast lots for my clothing.
It was the first part of the Psalm, that was the last question Jesus asked. Then Jesus ended what He chose to do for all of us.
50 Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. 51 At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, 52 and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. 53 They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people.
54 The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!”
What does the Cross matter ?
It is the ultimate sacrifice of God for us. It is the answer to who is going to be punished for all of this.
Jesus did it.
And it changed everything.
13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. 14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.
For all who believe, in the true Spirit of Christmas, you actually believe that only God could make everything right. Only God could be born of a virgin, Only God could love us enough to live a perfect life as poor, refuge, peasant, carpenter, Only God could forgive the sins of an adulterous woman, Only God could forgive a man who even though he saw miracle after miracle still doubted, only God could take the punishment meant for us, rejection, betrayal and death and do it all right.
This is Christmas!
Christmas is the Cross and God’s Victory