Why does the Crucifixion Move Us?

WHY DOES THE CRUCIFIXION MOVE US?

Mark 14:26-15:39,16:1-8

(If you don't read along, you won't get much from the message today.)

Why are these passages so emotional? It isn't written that way. The reason is, it isn't just that a man was crucified. These people saw that every day. It was who was ON that cross, and who brought it about. What do we see about the crucifixion that makes it so important? Briefly, let's discuss these things.

Because of Who was Crucified

A Man who was more than what he appeared to be

Who is Jesus? Liar, Lunatic, or Lord?

The Sanhedrin saw Jesus as a rebellious, deceiving upstart.

Pilate saw Jesus as crazy, but harmless.

Disciples knew He was King, yet fled when trouble came.

The question is always before us: Who is Jesus? That determines our reaction to the entire Bible.

Mk. 14:49b “...but the scriptures must be fulfilled.” Jesus knows and shares the importance of all that He is.

A Man who didn't deserve it

Most who disagree that Jesus is the Son of God will admit that He died undeservedly.

Certainly, the proper study of the life of Jesus tells us that He did nothing to deserve such cruel treatment.

Many societal laws were broken in the way Jesus was treated:

Trials could occur only in the regular meeting places of the Sanhedrin (not in the palace of the High Priest)

Trials could not occur on the eve of the Sabbath or Feast Days or at night

A sentence of 'guilty' might only be pronounced on the day following the trial

No arrest could be made at night.

A Man whose death was foretold

Genesis 3:15 NKJV

And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

Isaiah 53:5–12 NKJV

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.

Psalm 22:16 NKJV

For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet;

Zechariah 12:10 NKJV

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

Mark 8:31; 9:31-32; 10:32-34 Jesus foretold of His own death at least three times.

Because of Who Crucified Him

Those who tried Him – His own people

John 1:11 NKJV

He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

The Jews were the best prepared to see the signs and accept the Messiah – but Jesus was not the Messiah they wanted.

They were primarily concerned with power over the people, and they feared that Jesus would pull that out of their hands.

Luke 22:2 NKJV

And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill Him, for they feared the people.

Those who committed the act – the multitude

Twisted to suit the purposes of the Jewish rulers, the people lost all control, and called for the blood of Jesus rather than the blood of a murderer.

Matthew 27:25 NKJV

And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.”

(interesting in light of 70 A.D.)

Those who did nothing – the disciples

Faced with a chaotic situation, and completely different from what they might have expected, these disciples run. Their inaction contributed to what happened.

Matthew 26:56; Mark 14:50 “then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.”

Because of What the Crucifixion Accomplished

God's Word was proven right and righteous

Isaiah 55:11 NKJV

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

Romans 3:23–26 NKJV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

The path was forged for a New Testament

Hebrews 9:11–18 NKJV

But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood.

In tearing the veil, Jesus made one from disparate people.

Ephesians 2:11–16 NKJV

Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

The price for sin was paid

Romans 5:6-10 – This is the moment that it happened.

Romans 5:6–10 NKJV

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Before this, for untold ages, Man's sin was ever upon him, and there was nothing he could do about it but serve God faithfully.

Jesus' death PROVED God's love, and PROVIDED an entrance into grace.

Romans 1:5 NKJV

Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name,

Ephesians 1:6–7 NKJV

to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

Ephesians 1:15-23 - Because of this, Jesus was resurrected and is seated on the throne of His Kingdom.

Ephesians 1:15–23 NKJV

Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

THE MAN WHO WAS CRUCIFIED WAS MUCH MORE THAN WHO THE WORLD THOUGHT HE WAS.

WE CAN OBSERVE THAT THOSE WHO CRUCIFIED HIM WERE SELF-ABSORBED.

THE CRUCIFIXION ACCOMPLISHED EVERYTHING THAT GOD SET OUT FOR IT TO DO.