He Carried the Curse
Notes
Transcript
Intro:
Intro:
The title of the message tonight is, “He Carried The Curse.”
What “Curse” am I talking about?
When you hear the word, “curse,” you might think of a spell spoken by a wizard or a witch-doctor or some other person. Something frightening—but for most of us, confined to books and movies.
But there is a curse far greater than anything like that—far more frightening—and real. And each of us has lived in its shadow. It is the divine curse.
What am I talking about?
Each of our hearts has been darkened by pride and twisted with selfishness into something ugly. Or from God’s perspective, we might say, each of our hearts has turned away from God. And there are no exceptions—everyone has this problem.
And this is where the divine curse comes in: in the beauty of his holiness, God hates evil. God hates OUR evil. And so, as Romans 1:18 says:
Romans 1:18 (ESV)
...the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men...
What does this mean?
It means that to be born human is to be born God’s enemy, in the shadow of his coming wrath. In the shadow of the divine curse. And that is frightening. And we could say, anyone with an ounce of wisdom would do everything possible to escape that curse.
But how strange would it be if the one truly good person—the only person in all history who was without sin, and so not under the divine curse—how strange would it be if that person chose to enter under the curse anyway? Chose to be cursed by God?
I am speaking, of course, of the Messiah. And how strange would it be if his entry under the curse turned out to be the wisest and most beautiful thing ever done? A wisdom capable of ending the curse? A beauty that was the very beauty of God, shining forth?
Forsaken by God
Forsaken by God
In Psalm 22, written long before the crucifixion of the Messiah, we find these words, in verses 1-2:
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.
You might have recognized that first line—“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
It’s what Jesus cried out when he was hanging on the cross. But he spoke it as a quote from the Psalm.
And so, while Psalm 22 was written by King David centuries before Jesus, yet it was written about Jesus—foretelling his death under the divine curse.
And the first thing Psalm 22 tells us about the curse is this: it means being forsaken by God.
Now, let’s step back for a moment and consider this: Human beings were created to know God—to see his beauty and glory, and commune with him. Psalm 27:4 says, “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord...”
And who, more than the Son of God—who shares the beauty of the divine essence with the Father—who, more than him, would know that beauty?
And yet, he chose the curse—he chose to be forsaken into darkness.
No doubt, when King David originally wrote these words, his own deep suffering was in his heart: he was hunted for his life by Saul in the wilderness, he was betrayed by his son Absalom, and more.
And many of you have been in places like this—places where it seems that no light can pierce the darkness: your child has walked away from the Lord; you’ve endure a deep terror of depression; you’re haunted by a wicked past violation of your person.
The Son of God knows your feeling of forsakenness: as Isaiah said, he is a “man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.”
And yet, there was something different and unique about Jesus’ grief:
God may have seemed absent at points in David’s life; God may have seemed to forsake you—but if you are a believer, he never really did. He was always there, even when you could not sense him.
For Jesus, it was different. He took onto himself the full divine curse. He really was forsaken. When he cried, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” he received no answer.
For Jesus, as he was crucified, their was no experience of God’s saving love, no peace, no rest from deadly pain, no covering for his shame.
And so, as he hung on the cross, he carried the divine curse.
Despised by Men
Despised by Men
But I said a moment ago that this was actually beautiful. How could that be? How could the thought of Jesus, crushed under the awful weight of the divine curse, be beautiful or wise? Stay with me: as we go further into the Psalm, we’ll see it.
In verses 3-5, Jesus remembers the Father’s faithfulness:
Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
So, Jesus remembers, hanging on the cross, that God has always rescued his people when they’ve cried to him. God was always faithful to rescue Israel.
But the memory is jarring: if God is faithful to save those who call on him, then where’s his salvation now, when the one truly innocent man who’s ever lived hangs dying in shame?
And so our Lord turns again to cry out, and says,
But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
In the eyes of the world that watched him die, Jesus was a worm—consigned to death by all the powers of both Israel and Rome, torn to pieces by whips and thorns, stripped of his clothing, hung on a cross to die…
They despised him and mocked him.
And they mocked him in the most painful way possible—they mocked the fact that he had placed his hope in the Father, and the Father was not rescuing him.
So, Jesus chose to be forsaken by the Father and mocked by the people. But in what sense is there any wisdom in that?
The Apostle Paul explained it like this:
1 Corinthians 1:18 (ESV)
…the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
So, the cross has an outward appearance of foolishness: a man who said he was the Messiah dying under the hatred of Jerusalem and the cruelty of Rome. A man dying accursed. And so most everyone who watched him die mocked him—they thought he was an utter fool.
But to those with eyes to see, it was actually what? The power of God.
How so?
As you look at Psalm 22, at the the first 20 verses of it, you’re looking at the terrifying suffering and death of one man: Jesus.
But when you get to verse 21, the Psalm reverses. Jesus is rescued. And then, the Psalm starts to say some incredible things. For example, vs. 26 says:
The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever!
What is that? It’s the end of the divine curse—of God’s judgement—for all who come to him for mercy.
And how was it accomplished? Somehow, according to Psalm 22, the Messiah hung under the divine curse, and as a result, the curse was lifted from all his brothers.
He carried the curse for them—for us—so that all who believe in him might have eternal divine blessing instead.
So that is the unexpected wisdom and power of the cross: the perfect Son of God took the divine curse on himself, and was slain, as the very way by which God would grant eternal life and blessing to those who were doomed under the curse. Eternal life and blessing to his enemies
One song describes it like this:
See the king who made the sun
And the moon and shining stars
Let the soldiers hold and nail him down
So that he could save them
The Dust of Death
The Dust of Death
So, the cross is the astonishing wisdom and power of God, causing sinners to be saved. The cross is wise beyond telling.
But isn’t it a stretch to call it beautiful? Isn’t it backwards to say that a man, mangled and tortured and forsaken by God is a beautiful thing? Shouldn’t we rather say that the cross was horrifically ugly—maybe necessary for the beauty of the resurrection to happen—but not beautiful in itself?
Here again, we need eyes to see.
As the Psalm comes to its climax, in verse 15, the Messiah says to God: “You lay me down in the dust of death.” As we’ve seen, it is a bloody, horrific, shameful, cursed death. And yet, it is the death which brings life to all who believe.
Brothers and sisters: we know what this is. It is the unexpected love of God for his enemies, unveiled at the cross. It is the beauty of divine love.
In John 12:32, Jesus said:
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
He was talking about being lifted up on the cross. And so, he was lifted up on the seemingly ugly cross as the beautiful signal of redeeming love to all nations. And so, it is from the crucifixion itself that the astonishing glory of God’s love shines forth, and pours its light over our souls.
Yes, the cross is wise and powerful. But it is also beautiful beyond telling, because he carried the curse for our salvation.
Communion
Communion
In a moment, we are going to contemplate the wisdom, power, and beauty of Jesus’ death through the practice of communion.
It’s only by his death on our behalf that we can commune with him in these elements of the bread and the cup. And because of his love we don’t have to fear being on the outside looking in. We can participate with joy!
Communion is a family meal—a real participation in Christ. So, it’s not for those who have rejected his message, or are merely familiar with him. It’s for those who belong to him by grace through faith.
So, please don’t take the elements if you have not placed your faith in Jesus for salvation.
But please do place your faith in him! The narrow door of salvation is soon closing, and now is the time to repent and believe!
Communion points backwards to remind us of Jesus’ death.
a. The bread symbolizes the broken body of Jesus—the bread of life.
b. The cup symbolizes the new covenant in his blood.
c. And the Spirit uses these elements to nourish our souls with the grace of the gospel and the presence of Christ.
4. And so also, Communion points forwards to the Great Marriage Supper of the Lamb!
a. It’s there we will recline at table with the family of God, and behold the glory of God’s wisdom and beauty with unveiled eyes—things we see now as precious shadows in this bread and this cup
5. So when you receive the elements, I encourage you to marvel at the wisdom and beauty of God, revealed at the cross.
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1 Corinthians 11:23-24 “…the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.””
[let’s eat together]
1 Corinthians 11:25 “In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.””
[let’s drink together]
1 Corinthians 11:26 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”