71 27.27

INTRODUCTION

A couple of months a ago I thought about sharing an article I came across and then didn’t. This week I came across a reference to the article so this time I decided to discuss it. In the article the two authors state that after testing the DNA of five million samples from a hundred thousand different species around the world they determined that 90 percent of all life – including humans – came into being between 100 and 200,000 years ago. One of the authors noted,

This conclusion is very surprising and I fought against it as hard as I could.

He fought against it because he is an evolutionist and he understands how this finding completely undermines Darwin’s theory of evolution. How could 90 percent of the animal life on earth be roughly the same age, genetically speaking? In other words, why and how did the vast majority of species emerge at around the same time? Our answer of course is God.

What’s not surprising is that you probably never heard anything about this report that come out two months ago. For the most part it went unreported. No one has written to question their findings. In fact, hardly anyone has written about their findings at all. Instead, their findings have been ignored. But not by everyone. Creationists have not ignored it. For his part, Ken Ham, founder and president of Answers in Genesis says the research affirms what scripture says about life’s origins.

Evolution doesn’t expect the vast majority of our species to have arrived at the same time. . . . But this is what we’d expect in a biblical worldview – indeed it’s what creationists have been saying all along, although their time frame of 100,000 – 200,000 years is inflated, due to evolutionary assumptions.

And Nathaniel Jeanson, who holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University in cell and developmental biology adds the two authors don’t seem to realize the hole their punching in the evolutionary model. He asserts that after studying the data released in the report that it suggests many, if not most, of the species were “formed within the last 6,000 years.” That fits very well with a literal seven day creation explanation that says the earth is about six thousand years old.

As one writer commenting on the article said:

Sudden appearance of life seems to validate a creation event. When the timelines for carbon dating are adjusted and calibrated for non-linear decay it fits the Genesis model nicely.

As I’ve mentioned before, we don’t need science or archaeology to prove our faith for us, but it’s nice when they do. They don’t like to admit it, but they haven’t found anything that contradicts what the Bible says.

There’s a good chance you’ll never hear about this article, so I thought I’d share it with you.

SERMON

We are in Matthew 27 this evening. We’ll start the video at verse 1, though I’ll start at verse 27. Before we watch the video I thought I’d give a short quiz. Don’t worry, this one should be pretty easy and it’s just three questions.

1. True or False, Jesus was never crucified

This is absolutely false. There are two main theories that promote this argument. The first suggests that the crucifixion of Jesus was not an actual event and that the writers of the gospels just made it up. While all of the gospel accounts agree on the fact that Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried, they are not the only ancient sources to give us this information. The simple truth of the matter is that the crucifixion of Jesus is one of the most reliable events of all the New Testament because it was so well recorded by Jewish and Roman historians.

Roman historians kept an accurate record of all important executions. Jesus would have been seen as an important figure to the Romans in the area of Israel. Jesus was well known in both religious and political circles, not because he sought attention but because he drew the attention of the masses. The Romans would have taken an interest in Jesus because he had such a large following and because he caused a great deal of turmoil with the Jewish leaders.

The second theory is that the person who was crucified was not actually Jesus. The thinking here is that Jesus got another person to pretend to be him so he could fake the resurrection. This is so far fetched that it is almost not worth mentioning. There is no possible way for a different person to take the place of Jesus at the crucifixion. The religious leaders who were trying to have Jesus killed would not have made such a mistake because they made sure that they had the right person. The crowds at the trial would not have collectively made the mistake thinking that someone else was Jesus. The truth is that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified. Plus, who would volunteer to be crucified?

2. True or False, Jesus did not die on the cross.

Again, the answer is false. The theory here is that Jesus did not actually die on the cross but that he merely passed out on the cross or was given a drug that would make him appear dead. Again this does not seem logical given the rigors of a Roman crucifixion or a decent understanding of basic history. The reality of it is this that all of the attempts to downplay or degrade the reality of the death of Jesus have the purpose to dismiss the resurrection of Jesus. If Jesus never really died then he could not have been raised from the dead.

There are several reasons that Jesus had to have been dead before he was removed from the cross. First, the Roman guards made sure that those being crucified were dead. If Jesus wasn’t dead and got escaped alive, they would have been crucified. Second, Pilate released the body of Jesus for burial. Pilate would have been given a report by the commanding officer that Jesus was dead before the body would have been released for burial. Again the punishment for an inaccurate or false report was death. Third, the fact that the Romans placed a guard at the tomb of Jesus made it clear that he was dead because the desire was to keep anyone from stealing the body of Jesus.

3. True or False, Jesus died for you.

True. Not only did Jesus die, but he died for you. Paul wrote to the Romans saying:

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

Jesus died for you. He died the death that was caused by your sin. He died because it was the only way to bring you back to the family of God. He died because he knew exactly what you needed even if you didn’t. The truth is this; Jesus cared so much about you that he died in your place.

Video

Watching any depiction of the crucifixion is difficult. It’s a little easier to watch when we think that it’s just a movie and the actor is only pretending to be whipped and nailed to a cross. Perhaps the most difficult depiction to watch was in the Passion because they tried as best they could to make it as realistic as possible. If you’ve seen the movie you know just how close they came.

In that movie Jesus was played by Jim Caviezel. Caviezel was and is a devout Christian. He said that he prayed and fasted during much of the filming of the movie. What’s interesting is that his initials are J C and he was thirty-three when he made the movie. A few years ago he gave an interview with a preacher where he described what took place during the filming of the movie. He said the movie was truly birthed in pain. For much of the filming he was sick and throwing up, which certainly made the fasting easier since he couldn’t eat. Caviezel said he weighed just over two hundred pounds before filming began and lost thirty pounds because he was sick. During the whipping scene the guard doing the whipping was actually hitting a small piece of metal placed just behind Caviezel. However, one of the times he missed the board and actually hit him leaving a fourteen inch gash. While carrying the cross to Golgotha Caviezel’s shoulder was dislocated, so the rest of that scene and the crucifixion was done with this very sore shoulder. When it came time for the crucifixion he was sick. He had pneumonia and both lungs had filled with fluid. Because of that and the weight he’d lost, he said they didn’t need much makeup for him. That’s really the way he looked. So day after day he went to the set to film the crucifixion scene with all of this going on. And then, on the last shot of the last day, he was stuck by lightning while on the cross. He ended up needing heart surgery. All this happened to Caviezel while pretending to be Jesus on the cross. As bad as those things were, we know that more happened to Jesus. Jesus was unfairly tried, yet he did not complain. He was beaten, but did not retaliate. He was whipped, and didn’t utter a sound. And he allowed himself to be nailed to a cross.

Before the cross, Jesus healed the sick, fed the hungry, raised the dead, loved the unlovely, taught God’s love, and sought out the lost. On the Jesus’ earthly ministry closed, he called us to take up where he left off. After the cross, Jesus commissioned the church to preach the gospel, minister to the sick, seek the lost, sick, and dying, be constant in prayer, and love the unlovely.

How many nails were used on the cross of Jesus? We think of three, but there were actually four.

The first two nails were driven into his hands.

We might see those nails as restraining his ministry since those nailed pierced the hands of the one who healed lepers, the blind, and the lame. These were the hands that fed thousands from a few loaves and fish were now nailed to a criminal’s cross.

In his book Grace for the Moment, Max Lucado wrote:

When human hands fastened divine hands to the cross with spikes, it wasn’t the soldiers who held the hands of Jesus steady. It was God who held them steady. Those same hands that formed the oceans and built the mountains. Those same hands that designed the dawn and crafted each cloud. Those same hands that blueprinted one incredible plan for you and for me.

Today, Jesus sits at the right hand of God. Since Jesus is not physically here, how in the world is his work going to be done? It is done through us. We need to touch the sick, the hurting, the dying. We need to call the lost to Jesus. We need to restore hope to the hopeless. Our hands are called to the work of the ministry.

Far too many think that following Jesus means dressing up on Sunday and sitting though a worship service. But Jesus calls us to so much more. Jesus calls us to:

Roll up our sleeves and get dirty in the work of ministry

Leave the stained glass in order to reach stained lives

Get out of our comfort zones and lovingly share this message of hope

Very few unsaved people care about West Side. They don’t care that we’re celebrating our eighty-fifth anniversary this year. They don’t care well our choir sings or how well the women of the church cook. They are waiting to see if our walk matches our talk; if our hymns of God’s love and mercy leave the pews and reach the street; if Jesus’ love will be put into action. Then and only then will they sit up and take notice of the risen Savior!

So we need to ask a serious question, When was the last time our hands did the work of Jesus? When was the last time we ministered to the unsaved? The needy? The hurting?

The third nail went through Jesus’ feet.

One nail was driven through both of Jesus’ feet. As the first two nails stopped his hands from serving, this nail stopped his feet from going. Jesus said he the reason for his coming was to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). Now Jesus calls us to be his feet. Jesus clearly taught us of the responsibility and privilege to follow in his footsteps.

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. (Matthew 16:24-25)

And where does Jesus expect his followers to travel?

To all nations, making disciples and baptizing them (Matthew 28:19-20)

From wherever we are to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8)

Paul declared that Christians who carry the gospel have beautiful feet. Where have our feet taken us for the kingdom of God?

This last month we’ve been privileged to hear from two missionaries we help to support. These missionaries help take the gospel to Jamaica, Mexico, Suriname, and Guatemala. But we need to know that we have the responsibility to be the feet of Jesus as well. Have our feet taken us to our neighbors? To the sick?

George Barna conducted a nationwide poll and discovered that 67% (2/3) of unchurched people said they never attended because no one ever invited them.

Billy Graham told the following story.

Once while flying between cities on the African continent, I began to share my faith in Christ with some reporters who accompanied me. None seemed interested in hearing the Gospel. Suddenly the plane entered a very turbulent storm. The plane shook and began to bounce up and down. After we successfully came through the storm, one of the reporters approached me and said, “What were you saying about life after death?”

If Jesus is your Lord, you are called to be his feet!

If you haven’t figured it out, the fourth nail was used to nail a sign above Jesus’ head.

As a cruel joke, one nail was used to post the reason for Jesus’ death. Jesus was the king of the Jews. John tells us the sign was written in Greek, Hebrew, and Latin so everyone could read it. When the chief priests complained about the sign Pilate replied, “What I have written, I have written” (John 19:22).

How ironic! Pilate’s statement was absolutely true! Jesus is king! He deserved to be born in a palace, but he was born in a stable. He deserved a throne, but was given a cross. Here was the immortal God, clothed in flesh of mortal man. Jesus, then, is not simply “a” king, he is “THE” King! One day everyone will recognize this. Paul wrote in Philippians that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

On Palm Sunday the crowds welcomed Jesus as he rode into Jerusalem. They were glad to see him and laid palm branches before him. But less that a week later they were sentencing him to death. It’s relatively easy to welcome Jesus as King on Sunday and then forget about him on Monday when we go to work. We shouldn’t join the crowd in turning on Jesus when those around us decide they don’t care about Jesus.

In his book He Chose the Nails, Max Lucado wrote:

The list of our weaknesses. Would anyone like to see yours? Would you like to make them public? How would you feel if they were posted high so that everyone, including Christ himself, could see? Yes, there is a list of your failures. Christ has chronicled your shortcomings. And yes, that list has been made public. But you’ve never seen it. Neither have I. Come with me to the hill of Calvary, and I’ll tell you why. The mistakes are covered. The sins are hidden. Those at the top are hidden by his hand; those down the list are covered by his blood. Your sins are blotted our by Jesus.

Max continued:

God says, “You wonder how long my love will last? Find your answer on splintered cross, on a craggy hill. That’s me you see up there, your maker, your God, nail-stabbed and bleeding. Covered in spit and sin-soaked. That’s your sin I’m feeling. That’s your death I’m dying. That’s your resurrection I’m living. That’s how much I love you.”

A missionary told a group of campers a story of missionaries traveling into a remote village that was rarely visited by outsiders. Living as their ancient ancestors did, the people were fascinated with motorized vehicles and electricity. These missionaries brought in a generator to show a filmstrip presentation about the life of Christ. They invited all the villagers to come and watch. Stretching a white sheet on the side of the largest hut in the village, they prepared for the evening program. The people were aghast to see such a bright light projected on the sheet; and were even more startled when they focused their eyes on the images. As the missionary spoke to them about the story of Jesus, they sat in awed silence. When the crucifixion scene was flashed on the sheet, one of the men jumped up, ran to the sheet, and shouted, “Come down from there, Son of God! That is my place, not yours!”

How sad that so many are no longer moved by this story of love! Realizing the extent of God’s devotion and mercy should cause us all to cry, “Come down from there, Son of God! That is my place, not yours!” Since he took our place, we must take on his ministry! Remember how those four nails used on the cross of Jesus have laid the responsibility of the Gospel upon all who follow him. Are you following Jesus?

We are called to be Jesus’ hands. We are called to be Jesus’ feet. We are called to proclaim to the world that Jesus Christ is King.