Whodunnit?

Whodunnit?

Do any of you enjoy a whodunnit? [P] You know the old Sherlock Holmes who followed the clues and worked out who it was who committed the crime. Or Agatha Christie, where you tried to work out who the murderer was. There are books, movies, T.V. programs all built on the idea of mystery – trying to work out who was responsible for the crime. The fact that you are all here means that you have all had the experience of appearing in court [P] coming before a judge whose job is to work out whether the one standing before him is guilty of what he has been accused of or not. Well I want to place before you tonight a whodunnit. If you like, you can imagine yourself on the jury – you have to decide who is responsible for a crime – the crime of murder. A totally innocent man who was killed by the deliberate and willful plan – premeditated murder! Last time we came out here John mentioned to me that it would be close to Easter when I was due to speak here next; and it is at the end of this week. What does Easter commemorate? It is the remembrance of the death of Jesus, the Messiah, God’s Son. Now, He had never committed any crime; the Bible tells us that He committed no sin. He was totally innocent, yet He was executed. It was murder! Who was responsible? I am going to place the evidence before you tonight – you decide whodunnit. His death was a long time ago – yet still people argue over who was to blame. At first blush, it is an open and shut case. We have the record: It was the Romans [P] [Luke 23:24–25 And Pilate (he was the Roman governor of the country) pronounced sentence that their demand be granted. And he released the man they were asking for who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, but he delivered Jesus to their will. John 19:16–19 So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified. They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”] The Roman soldiers mocked Jesus, dressed him and robe, put a crown of thorns on His head, beat Him over the head. Pilate had Him scourged with a whip that tore the flesh off Jesus’ back. Pilate pronounced sentence, wrote the accusation held against Him. His Roman soldiers nailed Jesus to a cross. Crucifixion was a Roman punishment. Cut and dried. It was the Romans who put Jesus to death. But if you read the record more closely you will see that Pilate was convinced of Jesus’ innocence and did his darndest to have Him released. He was under extreme pressure from the Jews [P] who were a volatile people to control. They delivered Jesus over to Pilate. With their own mouths they said to Pilate that Jesus blood was upon them: [Matthew 27:24–25 When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.” And all the people said, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!”] In fact, blaming the Jews for killing God (Deicide) has long been an excuse for persecuting the Jewish people. For many centuries, Jews have been persecuted, ostracized, oppressed and killed for this very reason: that they killed Jesus. Bigoted Christians have, and still do, hold the Jews to be responsible. It is behind much anti-Semitism. This whodunnit is not an academic exercise about something remote in history – it is having an impact on people today! The thing is, if you read the New Testament, you will find that the early Christians had no qualms about blaming the Jews for killing Jesus. This is Peter preaching on the day of Pentecost, the birth of the church: [Acts 2:22–23 “Men of Israel, (Jews) listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. ] A few days later, preaching after causing a lame man to walk, Peter said: [Acts 3:13–15 “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. “But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life.] Again: [Acts 4:10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health.] You cannot get around it, the Jews were responsible. But we used to have a saying when I was a kid: “when you point a finger, there are three fingers pointing back at you!” It says in: [Romans 2:1 Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.] To blame the Jews is to miss the whole cause of Jesus death. It strikes far closer to home! It was me! [P] It says, in a very well-known passage in Isaiah: [Isaiah 53:5–6 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.] It was our sin, our iniquity, that was upon Jesus. Jesus died because of my sin!!! If no one had sinned there would be no death. Death is the consequence of sin. Because Adam sinned, death came into the world. [Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death!] Sin results in death! Jesus carried out a death sentence; but, it wasn’t for His own sin. It was for mine. If you believe in Jesus as your Saviour, you believe that He bore your sin, that your sin fell upon Him, that He was bearing the penalty for your sin. So, if He was bearing my sin, paying the penalty for my sin; then, my sin caused His death. I caused the death of Jesus! It says in [1 Peter 2:24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.] If He bore my sin, if I accept that Jesus bore my sin; then, the unavoidable conclusion is that I caused Jesus death. It is my sin that did it! I am responsible! I murdered Jesus! I cannot go blaming the Jews, or the Romans. My sin is the cause of Jesus death! The Gospel that we preach is found in a nutshell in [1 Corinthians 15:1–4 Now I make known to you, brethren, the Gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,] There is the Gospel: Jesus Christ died for my sins; He was buried and He was raised on the third day. My sins killed Jesus! In your program you are being made to face up to the responsibility and consequences of what you have done – we need to face the fact that what I’ve done has resulted in the death of God’s own Son! I am guilty of Deicide! Whodunnit? The Romans? Yes! The Jews? Yes! Me? Yes! But there is another place that the responsibility for Jesus’ death lies. In God Himself!!! [P] If you are astute, you may have already picked it up in the verses I’ve already read: In [Acts 2:23 we read: this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God.] It was God’s predetermined plan. He planned it! We read in [Isaiah 53:6 the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.] The LORD, God Himself caused our sin to be upon Jesus, the sin that killed Him! It is even more explicit down in [Isaiah 53:10 the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,] It was my sin that killed Jesus; but it was God’s plan – a plan that He had worked out from before the world began! He was pleased to crush Him. This was God’s good pleasure! To make His Son, whom He loved; a guilt offering; sacrificed on behalf of others. God put His own Son to death, in order that you and I might live. In that verse that we know so well, it says: [John 3:16 God loved the world in this manner, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.] He gave His own Son, gave Him up to death! Yes, God was responsible for the death of Jesus. But He did not just heartlessly sacrifice His Son; Jesus was totally complicit and in agreement with what His Father was doing. No one took Jesus life from Him – He gave it up of His own accord. [P] Jesus was fully responsible for His own death. [John 10:17–18 For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”] Jesus didn’t have to die; He said [Matthew 26:53 “Do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?] No, Jesus laid His own life down, no one could take it from Him unless He allowed it. It says in: [Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself (or delivered Himself up) up for me.] He freely gave up His own life. Allowed it to be taken. It also says in: [Galatians 1:4 Jesus Christ gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,] He died for our sins, according to the will of the Father. He gave Himself up of His own accord. Jesus Himself said: [John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. And a little further on: John 10:15 the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.] No one took it from Him, He Himself laid down His own life. Because He was sinless, none had any claim on His life. Death had no dominion over Him; He could only die if He willingly and voluntarily and deliberately laid it down. Jesus was responsible for His own death. So, the Romans did indeed put Jesus to death, but the Jews were responsible. However, it was Jesus who laid down His own life because it was His Father’s plan. A great plan but an extremely costly and sacrificial one whereby sinful man might be restored to Himself. There was only one way: and that was going to take the life of an innocent substitute in the place of those who deserved to die. There is not one who is not involved in the death of Jesus. I, you, we all deserve the death penalty. But Jesus died instead! We put Jesus to death. It was for our sins that He died. We sing this song at church, a modern-day hymn, which is very appropriate for Easter:

How deep the Father’s love for us,

How vast beyond all measure,

That He should give His only Son

To make a wretch His treasure.

How great the pain of searing loss –

The Father turns His face away,

As wounds which mar the Chosen One

Bring many sons to glory.

Behold the Man upon a cross,

My sin upon His shoulders;

Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice

Call out among the scoffers.

It was my sin that held Him there

Until it was accomplished;

His dying breath has brought me life –

I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything,

No gifts, no power, no wisdom;

But I will boast in Jesus Christ,

His death and resurrection.

Why should I gain from His reward?

I cannot give an answer;

But this I know with all my heart –

His wounds have paid my ransom.