Why Did Jesus Think He Had To Die? Part 3
The Empty Cross of Christ No. 4
Why Did Jesus Think He Had To Die?
Part III--Preached: Morganton Church of Christ, Morganton, NC 3/8/2009 AM
I. Introduction.
A. As John the Apostle closes out his Gospel, he makes this grandiose claim about Jesus:
John 21:25
And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they *were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself *would not contain the books which *were written.
1. One can understand why he would say that.
2. After all, he KNEW Jesus, and knew that there was so much more that could be said.
B. Well, the same is true when focusing on the cross of Christ. There is so much more that can be said. There is no way to exhaust the subject in a brief amount of time.
C. And when we specifically ask the question, “Why did Jesus think He had to die?” the mere fact of the necessity of Jesus’ death calls forth answers on so many levels . . . .
D. We’ve seen thus far that Jesus died…
1. Because it was inevitable.
2. Because it was the fulfillment of Scripture.
3. We’ve noted that His death was ENTIRELY voluntary.
4. That His death was the Father’s will.
5. That in His death, He identified with sinners.
6. That His death spelled judgment upon the world.
7. And we’ve tried to show how His life was a sacrifice, and for this reason, He had to die.
E. But as I said previously, we have yet to exhaust all the reasons for the cross. I’m not entirely sure we can. But, as the Apostle Peter said, we must always be ready “…to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you” (1 Pet. 3:15). And there is need for this readiness.
1. More and more, with less and lesser Bible training going on in the home, our culture is becoming ignorant of the gospel message and of its principal truths.
2. I remember being shocked many years ago in the early 1980’s in studying with a young woman who had heard of the crucifixion of Christ but had never heard of the resurrection! The only way I could understand that was to write it off to her not having much education and growing up in an unchurched home.
3. While that is probably true, when I thought it, I thought of it as an exception and not the rule. Now, twenty-eight years later, it IS the rule and not the exception.
F. So more the need for us to return to the fundamentals, and what more fundamental truth than to examine the reasons for Jesus’ death on the cross. Let us then continue:
II. Body.
A. His Death was The Ransom Paid By God.
1. This was Jesus’ own very clear claim:
Mark 10:45 "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,
and to give His life a ransom for many."
2. This seems to stand in contradiction, however, to a statement in the Psalms, which when taken without reference to Jesus, makes perfect sense:
Psalm 49:7-10 No man can by any means redeem his brother, Or give to God a ransom for him-- (8) For the redemption of his soul is costly, And he should cease trying forever—(9) That he should live on eternally; That he should not undergo decay. (10) For he sees that even wise men die; The stupid and the senseless alike perish, And leave their wealth to others.
3. The word ‘ransom’ was widely used in the ancient world in relation to the release of prisoners of war and the release of slaves. But even here in Psalm 49, it is clear that a spiritual ransom is the subject. The question then becomes, “Who is able to pay the ransom that will ransom men’s souls and guarantee them life?”
4. The word of God is as relevant today as it ever was. That is WHY it is the word of God!
5. People today who have never read the Bible and probably don’t believe it anyway —at least are not sure if it is true—find themselves in perfect agreement with Psalm 49:7-8.
a. Only it comes out in other ways. Often they will say to someone who is rebuking them for their sins, “Who are YOU to judge ME?”
b. How can another human being, another person whose nature is as fallible as mine tell ME how to live? That is the essence of Psalm 49:7-10.
6. There is in this claim of Jesus to ransom us, the necessary but subtle thought that He does not need ransoming, therefore is without sin. Reason itself tells us that the only way those in sin can be rescued is by One who is NOT in sin. What no man can do for another, THIS man will do, not just for another, but for ALL!!!
7. Jesus’ choice of the term RANSOM in Mark 10:45 is crucial.
a. It makes clear that our lives are forfeit; our lives can only be liberated by the surrender of his own. Indeed, the Scripture says:
2 Cor. 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
b. Ransom ALWAYS meant the payment of a price.
1) We are prisoners of a spiritual war, in the power of the enemy. Jesus paid the price to release us.
2) We are slaves of a cruel master, SIN itself; Jesus has paid the price to free us!
3) Paul reminded the Ephesian elders and the Holy Spirit has seen fit to preserve those words for us so that we may know that Jesus paid the price:
Acts 20:28 "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
8. Luke 11:18-22 "And if Satan also is divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. (19) "And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Consequently they shall be your judges. (20) "But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. (21) "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own homestead, his possessions are undisturbed; (22) but when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied, and distributes his plunder.
So when Christ went to the cross to die for you and me, He was paying the ransom price to free us from the power of Satan.
[We may also note that Jesus knew He had to die because He knew that:]
B. His Death was Representative.
1. While it is true that Jesus died on the cross for every man, that He “represented” all humanity by accepting the punishment for their sins, this is not what I mean when I say that His death was representative. Actually, it is the other side of the coin to which I direct your thinking.
2. I mean to say and make clear to you that Jesus’ death on the cross became the model for the death we are to willingly undergo and the life which we continue to live.
3. As soon as Jesus began to speak about His death, He also told His disciples that they must take up their cross and follow Him.
Matt. 16:21 From that time Jesus Christ began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.
Matt. 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
4. The principle of costly self-giving must mark the disciple as it does the master! It cannot just be a symbol. It must become the way of life of the disciple.
5. Mark 10:45 speaks of Jesus as our ransom, and in this light of the cross we see Him as our substitute, in leading us out of sin. But Matthew 16:24 (Luke 9:23; Mark 8:34) speaks of Jesus our representative, in showing us the way to God.
C. His Death was Total Darkness.
1. There was an uncanny darkness that fell down and blanketed the world during the crucifixion out of which came that terrible cry, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:34).
a. Never had the spiritual world heard such a plea of helplessness from the one who created all.
b. So separated was Christ from the Father that He dared not even call Him Father, but the more distant and simple designation on the lips of every desperate sinner, “God.”
2. Yet no one else has ever reached the full depths of that cry, which is drawn right off the pages of the OT, in Psalm 22:1. It has been pointed out that Psalm 22 ends on this more encouraging note:
Psalm 22:30-31 Posterity will serve Him; It will be told of the Lord to the coming generation. (31) They will come and will declare His righteousness To a people who will be born, that He has performed it.
3. But this should not diminish the horror and desolation depicted in the earlier part of the psalm, nor should it detract from the real suffering of Jesus as He felt God-forsaken.
4. He had to suffer the total darkness of ALL sin, that He might shine the light of the gospel to ALL people.
[Let us note finally:]
D. His Death was Victory and Total Vindication.
1. Another claim Jesus made about His death, though the basis for it had begun long before He gave voice to it, had to do with His overcoming demonic forces.
2. We see this exhibited in . . .
Mark 1:21-27 And they *went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach. (22) And they were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. (23) And just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, (24) saying, "What do we have to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are--the Holy One of God!" (25) And Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" (26) And throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice, and came out of him. (27) And they were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him."
3. The complete victory, though, over the spiritual forces of darkness was accomplished in the cross, and is a crucial reason Jesus had to die.
a. These wicked spiritual forces were known as principalities, powers, rulers, and/or authorities in the heavenly places (Eph. 3:10).
b. Notice then what is said happens at the cross of Christ:
Col 2:14-15 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. (15) When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.
4. THIS is what Jesus meant about “Binding the Strong Man” in Luke 11:18-22!
5. So just so we understand the stream of events from the perspective of Jesus’ overcoming the wicked forces of Satan:
a. We see Jesus throughout His ministry casting out demons that had overtaken people’s lives. He cast out these wicked spiritual forces and banished them away from their sufferers.
b. We saw in Mark 1:21-27 that these demons acknowledged His power over them, and even feared the time they knew was coming.
1) Here in Mark 1, they asked if Jesus was coming to destroy them.
2) But notice the interesting statement of the demons called Legion:
Matt 8:29 And behold, they cried out, saying, "What do we have to do with You, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?"
c. But now the time has come, and when Jesus is nailed to the cross, He strips them all of their power over mankind; he “disarms” them completely (Col. 2:15).
6. All the while, as He is on the cross, He appears weak, guilty (for why else to the untrained eye would He be executed as a criminal by the state?) and conquered. The crowds hurl abuse at Him, spit at Him; the chief priests invite Him to come down and prove He is the all conquering Messiah He claimed to be. And in this miserable state His last bit of blood drains out of Him and He dies.
7. In the words of Tony Compolo, “It’s Friday. … But Sunday’s comin’!”
a. He died in weakness, but was raised by the power of God, and that changed everything!
b. Jesus was vindicated!!!!
1) When He said, “The ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over Me. The Ruler of this world is judged.” (John 14:30; 16:11), He has by His resurrection punctuated His words!
2) The Devil and his demons were bound by the cross, and lost their power.
3) The crowd that had yelled to Pilate, “His blood be on us and our children!” (Matt. 27:25) now got their wish.
4) Jesus entered the realm of the dead, who had been in a sort of limbo all this time and redefined their destiny—clarifying the condemnation of many, and bringing salvation to others who died in faith looking forward to Him.
5) His empty tomb shut the mouths of His enemies only long enough for them to invent excuses for its vacancy.
III. Conclusion.
Consider these reasons for Jesus’ death PERSONALLY.
1. His death was the ransom paid by God FOR YOU.
2. His death on the cross was representative: He calls YOU to take up YOUR CROSS and follow Him!
3. He died IN TOTAL DARKNESS in order to bring YOU out of YOUR darkness and into the LIGHT!
4. And His death spells victory FOR YOU, if you will accept His terms of pardon.