The Cross-Bearing Saviour (2)

It was necessary for Jesus to die upon the cross, since the Old Testament foretold it. Jesus was a type of the serpent which Moses had raised up in the wilderness. Read ; . Jesus became the Lamb of God! Only through the death upon the cross could we have forgiveness of sin

“Forsaken”

I. THE CROSS MEANT SUFFERING

All things, as John tells us, were now accomplished; the Scriptures of old, the prophecies concerning Messiah, were all fulfilled. Only the consummation of the Great Sacrifice, the actual human death of the divine Son, remained to be completed. For more than three hours Jesus had hung upon His cross, from before noon till mid-afternoon; but the last of those hours was not such as the first. Gradually, imperceptibly perhaps, a darkness had closed round the earth. Was not the “light of the world” fading from it? Men who had mocked Him in the sunshine grew silent as this funereal blackness blotted out the day.

Every gasp of the sufferer must have been audible now in that strange hush. The tragedy was being mercifully hurried to an end. Some victims lived upon the cross for days; Jesus was dying in three hours. One awful cry of anguish was wrung from Him, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” A cry of human heartbreak; for was it not of heartbreak rather than of physical suffering that Jesus died? Of grief for that world of men whom He had so loved, so tended, and who had so basely deserted Him? Of what divine struggle that single outcry was the ending we can not know; perchance only in that last moment were the doors of mercy closed, and the Father finally refused the prayer of Jesus that all men might be saved.

A. Notice the people’s desire—

Page . Exported from Logos Bible Software, 10:50 PM April 28, 2019.A. Notice the people’s desire—

(Jesus, who was perfect was to be killed. This was their wish)

B. Notice the sufferings of Jesus

1. In the Garden——sweat was as blood

Luke 22:24 NLT

Then they began to argue among themselves about who would be the greatest among them.

2. The whipping— lashes

John 19:1–39 NLT

Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip. The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a purple robe on him. “Hail! King of the Jews!” they mocked, as they slapped him across the face. Pilate went outside again and said to the people, “I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him not guilty.” Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, “Look, here is the man!” When they saw him, the leading priests and Temple guards began shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” “Take him yourselves and crucify him,” Pilate said. “I find him not guilty.” The Jewish leaders replied, “By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever. He took Jesus back into the headquarters again and asked him, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave no answer. “Why don’t you talk to me?” Pilate demanded. “Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?” Then Jesus said, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.” Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders shouted, “If you release this man, you are no ‘friend of Caesar.’ Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar.” When they said this, Pilate brought Jesus out to them again. Then Pilate sat down on the judgment seat on the platform that is called the Stone Pavement (in Hebrew, Gabbatha). It was now about noon on the day of preparation for the Passover. And Pilate said to the people, “Look, here is your king!” “Away with him,” they yelled. “Away with him! Crucify him!” “What? Crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the leading priests shouted back. Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus away. Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha). There they nailed him to the cross. Two others were crucified with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them. And Pilate posted a sign on the cross that read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it. Then the leading priests objected and said to Pilate, “Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ to ‘He said, I am King of the Jews.’ ” Pilate replied, “No, what I have written, I have written.” When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the four of them. They also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. So they said, “Rather than tearing it apart, let’s throw dice for it.” This fulfilled the Scripture that says, “They divided my garments among themselves and threw dice for my clothing.” So that is what they did. Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.” And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home. Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. It was the day of preparation, and the Jewish leaders didn’t want the bodies hanging there the next day, which was the Sabbath (and a very special Sabbath, because it was Passover week). So they asked Pilate to hasten their deaths by ordering that their legs be broken. Then their bodies could be taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they didn’t break his legs. One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out. (This report is from an eyewitness giving an accurate account. He speaks the truth so that you also may continue to believe.) These things happened in fulfillment of the Scriptures that say, “Not one of his bones will be broken,” and “They will look on the one they pierced.” Afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus’ body. When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took the body away. With him came Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night. He brought about seventy-five pounds of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes.

3. The crown——made of thorns

John 19:2 NLT

The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a purple robe on him.

4. Spat upon—

Mark 15:19 NLT

And they struck him on the head with a reed stick, spit on him, and dropped to their knees in mock worship.

5. The cross—

Matthew 27:32–54 NLT

Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. And they went out to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). The soldiers gave Jesus wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it. After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. Then they sat around and kept guard as he hung there. A sign was fastened above Jesus’ head, announcing the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. “Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!” The leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders also mocked Jesus. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him! He trusted God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” Even the revolutionaries who were crucified with him ridiculed him in the same way. At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. But the rest said, “Wait! Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him.” Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people. The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!”

C. Notice , “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed …”

Isaiah 53:10 NLT

But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.

NO ONE CAN FULLY UNDERSTAND THE SUFFERINGS WHICH JESUS BORE FOR US AS SINNERS

II. THE CROSS MEANT SEPARATION

Where were the 5,000 which Jesus fed? Where were those whom He healed? Where were those whom He raised from the dead? They all forsook Him, and He died alone

A. Peter denied Jesus—

B. Judas sold Jesus—

C. Disciples forsook Jesus—

D. Separated from God—

(Jesus had all the sins of the world upon Him, and God could not look upon His Son, because God cannot stand sin)

III. THE CROSS MEANT SALVATION

A. He suffered for our transgressions (sins)—I

(Your sins and my sins helped to kill Jesus)

B. Bore the sins of many and made intercession (prayer) for the transgressor (sinner)—

C. “IT IS FINISHED”—

(The price of salvation was now paid for. Now we could have forgiveness of our sins)

D. Reconciled by the cross—. Separated by sin, but joined to Christ again by the cross

E. We have peace through the cross—

F. Salvation is not through the law, but the cross—

G. Salvation by the preaching of the cross—

Jesus died the worst death a person could die! The Bible says, Cursed is anyone who died on a tree (cross)—. Through His death we have life

Croft M. Pentz, 52 Simple Sermon Outlines, Sermon Outline Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1968), 74–75.

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