Jesus’ Mission

45 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). 47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.” 48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49 The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.” 50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. 51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. 54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

Jesus came to earth in human form as a baby.

He grew up as a Jewish boy in Galilee.

He began his preaching, teaching, and healing at around age 30, in Capernaum, close to the Sea of Galilee.

He was only on this preaching, teaching and healing mission for around three years!

Jesus knew his time was short, and he made the most of it.

But why did he have to die in order to complete his mission?

We touched on this last week.

Because sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, every human thereafter was born into sin because they were born of Adam.

God told them if they ate of the tree that they would surely die.

And that’s exactly what happened. But, I’m not sure they knew that every single human after them would die too.

Now, because God is perfect, holy, and without sin, we cannot stand in his presence with our sinful selves and live.

But ,God did not give up.

When he gave his law to Moses on Mt. Sinai, he made a temporary way for his people to come and be in his presence: the animal sacrificial system.

For the wages of sin is death, says Paul in Romans. So because all have sinned, all owe a debt to God, our very life!

But God said, I will accept the blood and death of unblemished animals instead of your death.

Once a year, the High Priest would go into the holy of holies, where the presence of God dwelt, to offer a sacrifice for the sins of the people.

He would cleanse himself, wear special garments, and offer a sacrifice for himself and his household.

He would burn incense as he entered and while he was in there so that he would not see the full glory of God and die.

He would sprinkle blood of a goat onto the ark of the covenant.

He would speak the sins of the people over a live goat, and this goat was released into the wilderness symbolizing that the sins of the people are remembered no more. This goat was called the scapegoat.

Why is all of this important? This day once a year was called the Day of Atonement.

Atonement literally means “to cover over.” The sins of Israel were literally covered over with the blood of the goat.

This is important to us now, because all of this symbolism was pointing the people of Israel to the person of Jesus.

The blood of goats and lambs and bulls could not atone for the sins of humanity forever. It was meant to be temporary. And it had to be done every single day!

But God, in all his mercy, sent Jesus, his son, to be our sacrificial lamb, once for all.

Perfect, unblemished, and more than enough to atone for our sins.

Our sins are covered and we are washed in the blood of Jesus by faith in him.

Jesus had to die, because his mission was to save humanity. We could not save ourselves.

Jesus’ body and blood are the symbols of the New Covenant, in which we have forgiveness of sins, because of his death on the cross.

Jesus’ one sacrifice is sufficient, for all of us.

Hebrews 9:15 “15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.”

Now, Jesus’ mission did not just involve his death. It included his resurrection as well!

Resurrection

Matthew 28:1–10 NIV

1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. 5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” 8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Resurrection of the dead is not a common thing in our world. In fact, I don’t know anyone who has been raised from the dead!

And you probably don’t either!

We know from the scriptures that Jesus had the power to raise sinful humans from the dead, but in the gospels we now see that God has the power to raise Jesus from the dead!

In raising, Jesus defeated death and the grave and by God’s mercy and grace, through faith in his son, we may also share in his victory.

1 Corinthians 15:12–22 NIV

12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

Jesus’ death without his resurrection is meaningless because we would all die anyway!

No one would have the hope of eternal life!

Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again to receive eternal life. He said this because just as we all die in our humanity, in Christ we will all be made alive.

We die to our sinful selves and are reborn into the kingdom of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

An important thing to note is that Jesus’ resurrection was bodily.

There was an actual resurrected body, not just a spirit or a renewal of courage and faith by his disciples.

This is an important point for us first because we look forward to our own resurrected body, and second because it makes the eyewitness accounts by the disciples credible.

Jesus did in fact rise bodily from the dead, which is the cornerstone of our faith as Christians.

Ascension

After Jesus was raised from the dead, he spent just 50 more days on earth before he ascended into heaven.

We don’t know a lot about what he was doing in those 50 days, but we know he appeared to his disciples, that he ate and drank, and he spent time back in Galilee with his disciples.

We can fairly confidently assume that he was teaching them during this time.

Here we read about what his ascension was like:

Luke 24:50–52 NIV

50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.

So why did the resurrected Jesus go back to heaven? Why didn’t he stay forever and ever, teaching and helping us?

Well, we know that Jesus had a body, so he could only be in one place at a time.

But, in John’s gospel, Jesus tells us the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, will come to all of us.

Because He is Spirit, the Holy Spirit can indwell each of us at the same time.

We know that this Holy Spirit could not come until Jesus ascended back to the Father.

Philippians 2:9–11 NIV

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

When he ascended back to heaven, God put Jesus on the throne and gave him authority over all things.

When Jesus came back to the Father, it was a way of God saying, I accept the work that you have done, and the sacrifice that you have made, and you have completed the incarnate work.

Jesus’ saving work on earth is finished.

So what is he doing now? That is the subject of our final part of Jesus’ mission.

Mediation

Romans 8:34 “34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”

Jesus sits on the throne at the right hand of God, and he is interceding for us.

What does this interceding mean? It means that Jesus is talking to God on our behalf!

Jesus is now the mediator between us and God.

Isn’t that incredible? Jesus did not just high-five God when he got back to heaven and put his feet up! Taking a break!

He is still working! For us!

Hebrews 4:14–16 NIV

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

So now, instead of a human High Priest to make intercession and atonement for us to God, we have Jesus as our High Priest.

He knows what it is like to be us. And because we have Jesus, we can approach the throne of God with confidence.

Hebrews 7:23–8:6 NIV

23 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. 26 Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

Our High Priest offered the sacrifice for our sins once for all, and is even now, sitting next to God, praying and interceding for us. Amen.

Conclusion

We have covered a lot of ground today!

I hope that if you didn’t learn anything else, that you learned this:

Jesus is everything.

All powerful, all merciful, all human, all sufficient, and all loving.

If we have Jesus, then we have everything.

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